Before Coco Gauff lit up French clay with her fire, her loss to Jasmine Paolini in Italy was a reality check, “I lost to two quality opponents, Aryna in Madrid and Jasmine here. So yeah, I think I have a lot to improve, a lot that I can work on,” she admitted. That hunger for growth powered her through a field of 128 at Paris. But just as the American flame burned bright, ex-pro CoCo Vandeweghe stepped in with a reality check, casting doubt on the manner of her semifinal win. Backing Sabalenka with conviction, she threw a cold dose of truth into the mix. With final fever peaking, Vandeweghe’s verdict might just prove to be prescient.
Coco Gauff silenced the roaring French crowd with clinical precision as she dismantled local hope Loïs Boisson 6-1, 6-2 yesterday. Under the closed roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier, the American ace delivered a masterclass, rock-solid forehand, sublime backhand, and relentless consistency. Boisson crumbled under pressure, tallying a staggering 33 unforced errors to Gauff’s 15, and winning only 17 of the 51 extended rallies. Gauff broke early, surged ahead 4-0, and never blinked, even when Boisson briefly threatened in the 2nd set.
As Boisson hid beneath her towel in frustration, the stage was already being set for the ultimate showdown in the final. But even with Gauff’s dominant win, Vandeweghe didn’t let victory cloud her analysis.
“Gauff managed the heavy topspin of Boisson and kept to her backhand. We didn’t see many forehands from Gauff consistently, maybe in one or two shots, but not any more than three. That’s where Coco was able to get control of this match. For Gauff, this is where the match really starts to turn,” Vandeweghe remarked during her appearance on the TNT broadcast. Although Gauff appeared to dominate the match, a closer look revealed it was a closer contest than the score suggested.
Then came her deeper warning: Gauff’s road hasn’t been paved with the same fire as the top seeds. “Coco isn’t as tested as Aryna is. She had a tough match against Madison Keys, but where was the test in the semi-final? That’s where you usually see the best of the best, and that’s where the Cinderella story upsets that a little bit. I am wondering where Gauff will be mentally as far as being tested and matched up,” she added.
Mutua Madrid Open – Aryna Sabalenka Wins Her Third Title Coco Gauff of Etats-Unis and Aryna Sabalenka of Biélorussie during the Mutua Madrid Open 2025, ATP, Tennis Herren Masters 1000 and WTA, Tennis Damen 1000, tennis tournament on 03 May 2025 at Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Laurent Lairys/ABACAPRESS.COM Madrid Spain PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxUK Copyright: xCoustxLaurent/ABACAx
Indeed, on the other side of the draw, Aryna Sabalenka didn’t just win; she demolished the ‘Queen of Clay’, Iga Swiatek. Their semifinal was a dramatic saga of momentum swings. Sabalenka, who already lost a Grand Slam final earlier this year, surged to a double break in the 1st set, got pulled into a fierce battle, then pulled away with a devastating 7-1 tie-break finish.
Swiatek hit back in the set, though, but her fire was short-lived. In the third, the Belarusian exploded. In just 22 minutes, she served up a ruthless 6-0 bagel, not dropping a single unforced error; just pure dominance under pressure against a 4-time Roland Garros winner.
So, now, as the final looms, with both women chasing their milestones, the reality has been spoken loud and clear. However, do you know the massive milestones riding on tomorrow’s showdown between Gauff and Sabalenka?
What’s on the line in the Roland Garros WTA final?
Saturday in the French capital is not just another GS final, it’s a battle between the best. For the 1st time since 2013, Roland Garros will witness a World No. 1 vs. 2 clash as Aryna Sabalenka locks horns with Coco Gauff in a showdown bursting with history, hunger, and high stakes. The last time this happened, the iconic Serena Williams overpowered Maria Sharapova. Now, two of the game’s fiercest competitors will aim to write their names alongside legends.
On the top seed’s side, she isn’t just playing for a title, she’s chasing legacy. Already holding three Grand Slam crowns, all on hard courts, she now eyes her 1st major on clay. One more win, and she becomes the only active player with singles titles at 3 different Grand Slams. If she wins, she’ll join American Serena Williams as one of the rare few to clinch Madrid and Roland Garros in the same year.
But Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, knows how to stop Sabalenka, as she’s done it before. From runner-up in 2022 to potential champion now, this is a full-circle moment for the second seed. A win here would crown her the youngest American Roland Garros winner since Serena Williams in 2002, and thus, Gauff isn’t just chasing a trophy; she’s chasing history.
Now, with two warriors, one trophy, and countless milestones are on stake, the question is: who finishes the job on Saturday? What do you think?
The post Coco Gauff’s French Open Dreams Snubbed as Ex-American Pro Makes a Bold Verdict Days Ahead of the Final appeared first on EssentiallySports.
