Looking back: How Coco Gauff Conquered Paris

It’s been exactly three years since Coco Gauff reached her first grand slam final. It was a cloudy day in early June, and Court Philippe Chatrier was packed as the then 18-year-old faced off against the dominant Iga Swiatek who was controlling the tour at the time. Gauff wasn’t able to do much—accumulating a mere four games in a quick 1-6, 3-6 defeat. Three years later, Gauff stepped out onto the same stadium, on the same bright orange clay, to similar overcast conditions and a similar opponent ranked #1 and holding a firm grasp over her competitors in recent results. But this time, Gauff wouldn’t walk away empty handed after just one hour on court. 

Photo credit: ©Rolex.

The first few weeks of Roland Garros 2025 went smoothly for the Delray Beach native. Her only scare came against Madison Keys in the quarterfinals, who won the first set before Gauff raised her level in the next two to clinch her spot in the final four. Her semi-final could have been difficult, as her opponent was Frenchwoman Lois Boisson, the unseeded phenom who knocked out top seeds Jessica Pegula and Mirra Andreeva in the prior rounds. Despite the rowdy French crowd firmly behind their compatriot, Gauff made quick work of Boisson in two sets to secure her place in the final. Even though the American was playing some of her best tennis up to this point, she would have to bring her A-game in the final as world #1 Aryna Sabalenka was waiting on the other side of the net. Just weeks beforehand, Sabalenka defeated Gauff in the final of the Madrid Masters meaning that the odds were against her going into this one. But Gauff was ready for the task. 

Photo credit: ©Rolex.

The first set was extremely lopsided. After just minutes on court, the Belerusian soared to 4-1 with a double break. Already, it seemed as though Sabalenka was in charge and championship Sunday was not the American's day. And the conditions didn't help either; the roof was open and it began to get very gusty as the grainy clay blew furiously around the court. But that's when things started to fall apart for Sabalenka, and Gauff started to use the wind to her advantage. She began to play more consistent, keeping Sabalenka behind the baseline and enabling her from executing her aggressive game style and hitting past Gauff. And very quickly, the score was leveled at 4-4 as a refreshed Gauff began to demonstrate her confident demeanor and pushed Sabalenka out of the driver's seat. Some players would fall apart after losing a double-break lead. But Sabalenka stayed with the American and broke her for 5-4. That's when things got crazy. Gauff broke back. Sabalenka broke her for 6-5. Gauff broke back. Whatever Sabalenka was able to throw at her, the 21-year-old had a perfect response. But this nail-biting exchange couldn't last for ever, and the two entered a tiebreak to decide the first set, which Sabalenka barely won 7-5. 

Photo credit: ©Rolex.

As the players headed back to the bench for the changeover, it was hard to see how Gauff could recover from this. There she was, down by two breaks in the first set. She clawed her way back before being broken again---twice. She found a solution to that problem as well. But after all that effort; after that grueling tiebreak which she almost won, it seemed reasonable that losing the first set could have impacted her mental side greatly. In the last Roland Garros final, Gauff wasn't able to do anything after losing the first set. But here we saw her champion mindset come into play. Here she did something special, something that few could accomplish. She turned the entire match around, and  very quickly she found herself up a few breaks in the second. Those small checkpoints turned into a major milestone---she leveled the match winning the second 6-2. Sabalenka always goes down fighting and held her own for the majority of the third set. But Gauff took advantage of a loose service game and used that gift to become the 2025 Roland Garros champion with a third set score of 6-4. 

Photo credit: ©Rolex.

This victory was a massive achievement for Gauff. This accomplishment suggests a few things about her as a player that are important to analyze at this stage of her career. The first thing to consider is that she's now a multiple time grand slam victor. It had been almost two years since she won her first slam back in New York. Too many times we've seen players collapse after winning their first slam and they never achieve like results again in their careers. The second is that this match was a real challenge for any player, and Gauff handled it masterfully. She played with the conditions, took advantage of Sabalenka's weaknesses, stayed mentally strong even in the most stressful times. This win suggests more than that she's a multiple time major winner. It's shows that she's a champion. On top of that, it's a big victory for American tennis which has seen a drought lately on both the men's and women's sides. And for our home state Floridian fans, it is nice to know that there's some grand slam silverware coming back to the Sunshine State. 

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Written by Florida Tennis Contributor Will Turvey. Photo credit (top): ©Rolex.