Coco Gauff wins Roland Garros: ‘I lied to myself. I could do it ‘

When the last ball of Aryna Sabalenka flies out, Coco Gauff is sobbing on the gravel. The disbelief can be read from her face. « Oh my God, oh my god, oh my God« , She shouts, a hand hit in front of her mouth. The 21-year-old has just become the new Roland Garros champion.

« To be honest, I did not expect that I could do it, » she tells the audience in her victory speech. She quoted rapper and producer Tyler The Creator: « If I ever told you that I had doubts, I was lying. » I think I was lying to myself, I could do it. « 

The expectations were high in advance. This was the first time since 2013 that the numbers 1 and 2 of the world were both in the final of Roland Garros. Moreover, both players have recently worked hard on their gravel game, with success. Sabalenka won the large gravel tournament in Madrid last month (where she defeated Gauff in two sets in the final), and Gauff did not win any tournaments, but was already in two finals for Roland Garros.

Final -worthy

The level was changeable, but the competition was absolutely final in terms of tension and drama, with breaks back and forth, long rallies, momentum changes, a tiebreak. Gauff started moderate. She made many mistakes and her service faltered. It is more often a point of care. Her first service is often hard and dangerous, but her second service is weak and gives the opponent the chance to attack immediately. That also happened in this final, and she soon fell behind great. For a moment it seemed as if Sabalenka, who immediately started sharp and offensive, would roll over her.

That didn’t happen. The young American managed to fight back. She eventually lost the first set in a tiebreak, but was therefore not fooled. It says a lot about the mental growth that Gauff has undergone that after the loss of that exciting set, in which she had worked so hard to come back, she continued to play tennis undisturbed. She remained calm and patient, recalled many balls in long rallies and was often rewarded for Sabalenka, who made more and more mistakes and was able to release her frustration.

The peace and patience eventually gave Gauff the victory. Her first competition point was wiped away by a hard ball from Sabalenka, in response to the umpteenth weak service from Gauff. But the American did not give a kik. She just went ready to serve again, as if nothing had happened. She even got a breakpoint, but she also worked it away. She parried the last attacks of her opponent, and only then did she let her emotions run free.

The tears also arrived at the stage at Sabalenka. For years, the Belarusian powerhouse believed that she would never be good on gravel. Winning Roland Garros had been the ultimate way for her to prove the opposite. The disappointment about her own game was therefore great, and she was hard for herself. « Sorry for this terrible final, » she told her team.

Revenge

Gauff’s victory can safely be called a revenge. At opponent Sabalenka, but also in herself and on the first final she played in Paris, in 2022. She then lost Dik van Iga Swiatek, who then won the tournament three times. The tears after that final were mainly caused by the realization that she had not played her best tennis at the age of far from. She had taken the success herself before the game, because she didn’t really believe she could win him. Now she has proven the opposite to herself.

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