Coco Gauff won her first career junior Grand Slam tournament title at the 2018 French Open. Four years later, she played her first Grand Slam final at the senior level against Iga Swiatek at the 2022 French Open. Gauff couldn’t hold her emotions and broke down in tears after losing to the ‘Queen of Clay’ by 1-6,3-6. With the runner-up trophy in her hand, the youngster had then said, “This is a first time for me so I’ll try to get through this.” A year after that, she won the US Open title! Gauff is now ranked second in the WTA singles ranking, whereas the defending champion, Swiatek, has dropped down to number five ahead of the 2025 French Open. The American has been in red-hot form on clay this year, but is it enough to put the ‘favorite’ tag beside her name at Roland Garros? Well, former ATP pro Steve Johnson has something to say about this.
Coco Gauff was initially struggling to perform on the hard courts this year, but on clay, she first reached the QF in Stuttgart and then made it to the finals in Madrid and Rome. Will these two long runs put her on the front foot ahead of Roland Garros? After losing to Jasmine Paolini in the 2025 Italian Open final, Gauff said, “I am proud of my performance in both tournaments, but also disappointed that I couldn’t showcase my best level in the finals.” Speaking on this same topic, during the recent episode of the Nothing Major Show, Thompson said, “If you’re looking at this from a big picture you know I’d say everybody maybe but her right now like around her is thinking what a great couple of tournaments this has been to make the final to get back on track to win a lot of matches to give herself a chance to compete for a title.”
However, having said that, he also added, “She might still be feeling a little bit of annoyance that she hasn’t you know, that she lost both finals which is as a competitor you would expect nothing less but in the big picture to where her year started to where it’s going now, she has really turned it around playing some great tennis.”
Gauff currently has a win-loss record of 24-8, and looking at her form, her fans may consider her a favorite at the French Open. But according to Thompson, “I think going into the French Open for the women’s draw, I think for the women’s, I think the one through four is a little concerned that Iga will be the fifth seed in Roland Garros…I don’t think anybody really wants to play her in the QF.“
Coco Gauff has a 4-11 record against the Pole. However, the American has got the edge over the former world number one in the previous three meetings. Although the four-time French Open champion may be struggling a bit recently with her form, Gauff is well aware of the threat that Iga Swiatek possesses on the Parisian soil.
During the Italian Open, she was asked to reflect a bit on her dominating win (6-1,6-1) against Swiatek in the SF of the Madrid Open. Replying to that, she had then said, “Yeah, I mean, I think for sure it changes some things when you maybe see someone who won Roland Garros that many times not having the best results. You also have to respect that she’s a four-time champion at Roland Garros. I always think if someone wins a tournament that many times, regardless of what shape they’re in, they can definitely figure out a way to win again. If I were to play her at the French Open, I would throw away the results in Madrid, not even think about it, expect her to play her best tennis.”
Before the French Open, Gauff’s high number of double faults raised a bit of concern among the tennis experts surrounding her chances at the mega clay court event. Now, it seems the ‘Iga Factor’ could also possibly play a role when it comes to her chance at the 2025 Roland Garros. What does Gauff have to say about the possibility of winning the French Open this year?
Despite being cautious about the possible threats, Coco Gauff wants to take a positive approach at the French Open
Coco Gauff’s “double trouble” seems to be a never-ending thing now! She committed 42 double faults at the Italian Open this year. In fact, 16 of them came in her SF match against Qinwen Zheng. After seeing that different tennis experts like Rick Macci, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier, and Jimmy Connors came up with various types of suggestions. In fact, Connors even made it clear what Gauff’s inner circle has to do to improve her daunting flaw.
In a recent episode of the ‘Advantage Connors’, he said, “I would think the coaches and those around her would be straightforward enough to say, ‘Listen, this is where you are playing like this and look at what would happen if you wouldn’t do that, which is make so many errors and make your opponent earn it a little bit more, as opposed to giving too many free points away.”
Seeing her constant giveaways in vital stages of her matches, perhaps some experts have already started to put other names about her when it comes to naming the possibilities at the 2025 French Open. For example, tennis insider Prakash Amritraj recently picked Peyton Stearns over Coco Gauff as a favorite for the French Open. But does Gauff herself see herself as a favorite here?
Talking about her chances in Paris, Coco Gauff said, “Yeah, I think it’s both confidence and motivation to do better. Hopefully, I can get to the final in Roland Garros and maybe the ‘third time is a charm’ thing is a real thing. That’s looking so far ahead. Overall, 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. I made the final with those errors. Made the final, maybe not playing my best tennis. It just gives me confidence if I can find that good form heading into Roland Garros, I can do well there.” Do you see Gauff making three consecutive finals on clay? Share your thoughts in the comment box.
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