Aryna Sabalenka has come under fire after her post-match comments appeared to suggest Coco Gauff won her first French Open title primarily due to her poor performance in Saturday’s final.
A crestfallen Sabalenka lost her second Grand Slam final of 2025 after she was well beaten by an impressive Gauff, who held her nerve as she secured a 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 victory.
She took Gauff out of her comfort zone throughout, took a less risky approach in windy conditions and was by far the better player as she lifted the trophy in Paris and claimed her second Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka agreed that Gauff was a deserving champion, but she went to suggest the primary reason for the American winning was her poor performance.
She also suggested Gauff was lucky to get balls into court when she wasn’t making a clean connection on her strings.
More Tennis News
The 7 US women to win the French Open title: Gauff joins Serena, Evert in legendary group
“I mean, honestly, sometimes it felt like she was hitting the ball from the frame,” said Sabalenka.
“Somehow, magically, the ball lands in the court, and you’re kind of on the back foot.
“It felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was just staying there laughing, like, ‘let’s see if you can handle this’.
“I was just making unforced errors. I think she won the match not because she played incredible. Just because I made all of those mistakes, kind of like from easy balls.
“It was really honestly the worst tennis I’ve played in the last, I don’t know, in the last I don’t know how many months.
“Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.
“In these tough conditions, I couldn’t really mix it up. It was tricky. It was tricky in these conditions to do stuff that I was doing, for example, in Madrid that I know I have to do against her to get the win.
“Also, I think I was overemotional. I think today I didn’t really handle myself quite well mentally, I would say. So basically that’s it.”
Sabalenka’s frustrations were understandable and they are the mark of a champion who simply cannot comprehend a defeat when she expected to live up to her status as the world No 1 by wining a first Grand Slam title.
Yet the media who attended her press conference in Paris were surprised that the jovial, joking Sabalenka was replaced with a player who decided to belittle the success of the new French Open champion amid her own annoyance.
Social media users have been quick to criticise Sabalenka’s lack of grace, with the joy created by Gauff’s worthy victory acknowledged by tennis lovers around the world.
Former US President Barack Obama was among those who congratulated Gauff on his social media channels, with former British No 1 Tim Henman suggesting this win could give the young American the confidence she needs to kick on and achieve more Grand Slam successes.
“Sabalenka really did start off in top gear. She was hitting the ball so aggressively and not making unforced errors,” reflected Henman on TNT Sports.
“But you’ve got to find a way to get the job done. The resilience from Gauff was so impressive even though she lost the first set and started to turn things around in the second.
“Coco was more accepting of the conditions and therefore wasn’t trying to play perfect tennis, whereas Sabalenka was playing so aggressively all the time and needed to vary it a bit.
“It’s a journey and we’ve been following the journey of Coco Gauff. She was 15 when she played qualifying at Wimbledon and six years on, she’s got her second Grand Slam title. She’s able to deal with all the pressure and expectation away from the court and handles the adversity on the court.
“There is still so much room for her improvement, the second serve, the forehand. if she can make a few more technical changes, then she will be even tougher to beat.”
Sabalenka may well reflect that her unfortunate comments were not befitting of a world No 1 after a compelling Grand Slam final, but this was Gauff’s moment and any suggestion that she was fortunate to get over the winning line should be banished.
READ NEXT: Coco Gauff’s key to French Open triumph revealed as Chris Evert delivers verdict
The post Aryna Sabalenka under-fire after contentious comments ‘belittling’ Coco Gauff’s French Open win appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply