Coco Gauff’s title triumph at the 2025 French Open against Aryna Sabalenka has not only made her the first American woman to win this title after Serena Williams (2015), but also the first player to win women’s single major final against the world number one after losing the first set since Venus Williams in Wimbledon 2005 (against Lindsay Davenport). Interestingly, Gauff is now also the first player to defeat the same opponent twice to secure her first two singles major titles since Amelie Mauresmo. Following this incredible comeback win against Aryna Sabalenka, Gauff said, “I think this [Grand Slam] win was harder than the first because you don’t want to get satisfied with just that one.” With this win, she has now taken her H2H record to 6-5 against the Belarusian. But what really sealed the deal for the American in this match? 

After her 6(5)-7, 6-2, 6-4 win, Coco Gauff thanked her family, team, and fans for their incredible support throughout the campaign. On the other hand, the Belarusian was extremely distraught after giving away the match, despite having a solid start. Sabalenka contributed 70 unforced errors (the highest in any women’s singles main draw at the 2025 Roland Garros), with 39 coming off of her backhand. Following the defeat, she admitted, “It was honestly the worst tennis I’ve played in I don’t know how many months. Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me.“

What was the secret to success in the middle of these windy conditions at Philippe-Chatrier for Coco Gauff? Well, in a recent interview with Vogue, the American tennis star was asked to break it down. She said, “I think what worked best was just the mentality, honestly—stepping out on the court and accepting that it was going to be a tough one, and kind of an ugly one, because the conditions were so tough.“

Then later on, while spilling the beans about making Sabalenka more frustrated in the later stages of the match, Coco Gauff added, “She made a lot more errors than usual. When I walked on court and felt the wind, my game plan was to just be as aggressive as possible given the conditions, and not be the one running as much—I mean, obviously when I play Aryna, I know I’m going to have to run. In the beginning, I thought I was making too many errors, too, so I was like, Okay—I need to scale this back. I think it really was all improvisation from there. Literally just taking it point by point.“

With this win, Coco Gauff is now the youngest player to win the women’s singles Grand Slam titles on multiple surfaces since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon (2004) and the US Open (2006).

After having a successful outing on clay, can Coco Gauff win the title at Wimbledon? Only time will tell, but for now, let’s find out what the tennis experts have to say about her key to success against Aryna Sabalenka at the 2025 French Open final.

The seven-time French Open champion analyzes Coco Gauff’s incredible win against Aryna Sabalenka

Aryna Sabalenka has stirred quite a lot of controversy with her reactions after this epic battle. She initially said that Gauff won the match not because she played incredibly, but instead, it was more due to her own mistakes, which took the match away from her grasp. Following that, she took another dig at the American by stating that Iga Swiatek would have won the final if the Pole had reached this stage. So, there has been some buzz in the tennis world surrounding this reaction. But what, according to tennis experts, could possibly have sealed the deal for Coco Gauff?

According to the tennis legend, Chris Evert, “She (Coco Gauff) really kept her calm after losing the first set. She’s a fighter, she came back and figured out she needed to match Aryna’s power, she did that. She did that and stayed calm under the pressure when Aryna got a little bit flustered and sensed the errors. All is happy in the Gauff camp. She proved what a great all-court player she is. The defending she did was incredible. It came down to the wire, and she kept her cool better than Aryna, we can safely say that.”

Former tennis player Mary Joe Fernandez claimed that Gauff’s incredible maturity and not letting frustrations creep into her head was her secret to success at Roland Garros. On the other hand, Roger Federer’s ex-coach, Paul Annacone highlighted Sabalenka’s high number of unforced errors and said, “So she to me really did shoot herself in the foot, I mean she’s a great player I feel terrible for her because she’s been the best player on tour this year and today she wasn’t and I think today most of it was her own undoing.” Even Annacone hailed Coco Gauff’s calm, cool, and composed nature as the key factor to her victory in this epic battle. What are your thoughts on this match, though?