Coco Gauff wins 2025 French Open, defeating Aryna Sabalenka
Coco Gauff launched a stunning comeback to force a tiebreak in the first set before dominating the next two sets to win her second Grand Slam title
Two years after winning her first Grand Slam title, Coco Gauff has taken home her second crown. The 21-year-old American — and the No. 2 player in the world — won the 2025 French Open with a strong 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 win over world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.
The victory at Roland-Garros came three years after Gauff last made the final, where she fell to Iga Światek in a disappointing loss. This time, she got to lift the trophy.
On a windy day in Paris, with rain threatening to fall, Sabalenka showed her power early in the match, taking a 4-1 lead in the first set. Gauff rallied to tie Sabalenka and later force a tiebreaker. Sabalenka, who grew visibly frustrated, was able to win the tiebreak after a comeback of her own.
The second set was all Gauff’s: The young American controlled the pace, forcing the increasingly unhappy Sabalenka to make several crucial mistakes. In the third set, Gauff took an early lead, but Sabalenka stayed right behind her, finally getting some momentum of her own.
Sabalenka had a stunning 70 unforced errors throughout the match. Gauff, who stayed calm the entire match, was able to take advantage of those in order to get the victory.
The final game was intense: Gauff dropped one championship point but came back to secure the title. Sabalenka hit the shot just out of bounds, and Gauff immediately dropped to the court, overwhelmed with emotion.
Gauff’s win makes her the first American woman to take the French Open title in a decade, after Serena Williams won the Slam in 2015.
Notably, Gauff’s second major title came in much the same way as her first. Gauff defeated Sabalenka to win the 2023 U.S. Open, beating the Belarusian after dropping the first set.
Both players are better than they were three years ago, even playing with very different styles. Sabalenka’s strength tends to come from her power, whereas Gauff’s typically comes from her quickness and creativity on the court.
Sabalenka will have to settle for second after making her first French Open final, and she was emotional in the ceremony after the game. But the 27-year-old, who is the reigning U.S. Open winner, is much stronger on the hard court as opposed to the clay, and will have another chance at a title this summer.
In a postgame speech, Gauff thanked the crowd for their support, joking that she didn’t know what she did to deserve such support from a French crowd.
She also slipped in a (slightly cleaned up and paraphrased) quote from Tyler the Creator, about not doubting herself.
“If I ever told you that I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying” she said.
During a teary speech, Sabalenka apologized to her team for “a terrible final,” but ended with a note of hope.
“As always, I’ll come back stronger,” she said.
