French Open 2025: Gauff Hits Back At Sabalenka's Claims Over 'Not Fair' Final Claim

Aryna Sabalenka has claimed Coco Gauff did not have to play incredible tennis to win the French Open final and suggested Iga Swiatek would have beaten the American.

Sabalenka followed her 2025 Australian Open defeat to Madison Keys with another heartbreaking grand slam final defeat on Saturday, with Gauff winning 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4.

The Belarusian was far from her imperious best for much of the encounter and made 70 unforced errors 바카라“ the most in any women's singles match at the 2025 edition of Roland-Garros and 40 more than Gauff.

A tearful Sabalenka congratulated Gauff and apologised for her "terrible" performance at the on-court trophy ceremony.

Later, at a post-match press conference, Sabalenka suggested she had thrown victory away without Gauff needing to be at her best.

"Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me," Sabalenka said. "I think I was overemotional, and I didn't really handle myself well.

"I think she won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes from, if you look from the outside, easy balls."

Sabalenka appeared to struggle with the wind with the roof open on Court Philippe-Chatrier, losing eight of 10 games on her own serve between the end of the first set and the start of the third.

She continued: "She was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow, magically, the ball lands in the court... It felt like a joke, honestly.

"It was like somebody above was just sitting there laughing, saying, 'let's see if you can handle this.'"

Sabalenka defeated four-time Roland-Garros champion Swiatek in the semi-finals, but when asked how the Pole would have fared against Gauff, she said: "I think she would go out today and she would get the win."

Gauff took issue with that comment at her own press conference, saying: "I don't agree with that. I'm sitting here.

"No shade to Iga or anything, but last time I played her, I won in straight sets. Yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen."

Gauff has only won four of her 11 career meetings with Swiatek, though she has actually won each of their last three, at the 2022 WTA Finals, and in the United Cup and the Madrid Open this year.

Gauff's win rate of 26.7% versus Swiatek is only marginally worse than Sabalenka's, with the Belarusian winning 33% of her matches against the Pole (four of 12).

Gauff is the first player to win a women's singles final in the French capital after losing the first set since 2018, when Simona Halep fought back against Sloane Stephens.

At the age of 21, she is also the youngest woman to claim the US Open and French Open trophies since her compatriot Serena Williams won Roland-Garros in 2022, as a 20-year-old.