Coco Gauff knows she has skills — and won’t let an opponent’s words put her down.
The tennis pro, 21, reacted to Aryna Sabalenka’s claims that she only won the 2025 French Open because her competitor made mistakes in a post-final press conference on Saturday, June 7.
Gauff defeated Sabalenka, 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 in the women’s singles match on Saturday — the first French Open final between the world No. 1 and 2 since 2013 (and a rematch of the Madrid final five weeks prior, which Sabalenka, 27, won). With the win at Paris’ Roland Garros, Gauff earned her first French Open singles title and second major singles title overall. She also became the first American woman to win the title since Serena Williams in 2015.
Following Gauff’s victory, Sabalenka criticized her own performance, in which she made 70 unforced errors, calling the match “really bad” and “the worst final I have ever played.” She also claimed that defending champion Iga Świątek probably would’ve won against the American superstar.
“Like I think Iga … I think she would go out today and she would get the win. It just hurts. Honestly hurts. I’ve been playing really well, and then in the last match, go out there and perform like I did, that hurt,” Sabalenka said at the press conference.
She added of Gauff: “She was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow magically the ball lands in the court. It felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was there laughing, like, ‘Let’s see if you can handle this.’ … I think she won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes.”
Gauff responded to Sabalenka’s unfair claims, solidly standing behind her match-play on the clay court.
“I mean, I don’t agree with that,” she replied, sitting beside her French Open trophy. “I’m here sitting here [as the champion]. No shade to Iga or anything, but last time I played her I won in straight sets. I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.”
She added: “The way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favorite to win. So I think she was the best person that I could have played in the final. Her being No. 1 in the world was the best person to play, so I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone.”
Gauff previously lost the 2022 French Open final in straight sets to Świątek, 24, the three-time defending champion.
“I was going through a lot of things when I lost here three years ago,” Gauff said after her victory on Saturday. “I’m just glad to be back here. I was going through a lot of dark thoughts. Three finals … I guess I got the most important win. That’s all that matters.”
Gauff shared her thoughts about her momentous victory via Instagram on Sunday, June 8, confessing she had a lot of doubt to overcome.
“Waking up and starting to realize it was indeed not a dream,” Gauff began, posting a series of images from the women’s singles final. “Losing in the finals here 3 years ago had created a lot of doubt in my head. I thought I could never overcome the pressure, I thought holding this trophy would never happen. I thought my dreams were so close to happening but would never come true. So to be here…. means absolutely everything.”
She continued: “The more I started to dig deeper into my thoughts, I realized deep down I didn’t truly believe any of those thoughts, deep down I realized that I can do it and I refused to let those thoughts consume me. the younger coco would have looked at me crazy because that girl never doubted a thing in her life especially when it came to tennis. But needless to say, I learned having doubt enter your head is impossible to escape but not impossible to overcome. Yesterday was a result of that. I overcame… and if I can, so can you.????????’I ain’t never had a doubt inside me and if I ever told you that I did I ‘m lying’ – Tyler the Creator.”
Gauff also celebrated her win via Instagram on Saturday after the match, posting photos and writing, “Wow. this means so much to me truly….french open champion????I worked so hard for this moment and for it to have happened is insane. thank you God ❤️ and thank you everyone. this means the world…. I ‘m still in shock honestly can’t find the words but all I can say for now is just thank you and never give up on your dreams????????.”
