Coco Gauff won her second Grand Slam title at the French Open on Saturday, June 7. She defeated World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a gripping final, 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4.
Gauff became the first American to win in Paris since Serena Williams in 2015. The 20-year-old also became the youngest champion at the claycourt Major since 2002.
Meanwhile, Sabalenka once again missed out at a Major by losing in Paris. She had reached the summit in Melbourne as well this year, but couldn’t pass the test against Madison Keys.
Emotions ran high after Saturday’s French Open final, with Aryna Sabalenka reeling from a heartbreaking defeat. The Belarusian didn’t hold back in her post-match press conference, speaking candidly about the emotional toll and even taking a few pointed digs at Coco Gauff.
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Let's look at what Sabalenka said in her post-match press conference and how fans reacted to her statements:
"Coco Gauff won the match not because she played better, I made those easy mistakes" - Aryna Sabalenka on losing the French Open final
Surprisingly, in a match of such high stakes, both players combined for 100 unforced errors. Gauff was responsible for 70 of them, while Sabalenka contributed the rest.
The top seed felt she played some of the worst tennis of her career on Saturday. She blamed the wind for causing discomfort during the match and credited Gauff with adapting well to the situation.
"I definitely played at a better level than I did in the final. Honestly, it was the worst tennis I've played in the last I don't know how many months. The conditions were terrible, and she was simply better in those conditions than I was. I think it was the worst final I've played in my career," Aryna Sabalenka said
Sabalenka then created a stir by claiming that Gauff won the match only because she committed unforced errors.
"At 4-1 in the first set, the wind started to get stronger. Also, I think I was too emotional. I didn't handle myself very well mentally today, so that's basically it. I was making unforced errors; I have to check the stats. I think she won the match not because she played incredibly, but because I made all those easy ball errors," she added
She felt she needed to control her emotions better and vowed to do so before facing her again in a final.
"I have to take a step back and put things into perspective and try to learn the lesson, because I can't go out there every time I face her in a Grand Slam final and play terrible tennis and lose emotionally," she said.
The Belarusian took another dig at Gauff by stating that Iga Swiatek would have won the final if the Pole reached this stage.
"That hurts. Especially when you've been playing really good tennis all week. If Iga had beaten me the other day, I think she would have gone out today and gotten the win. It just hurts. I've been playing really well, and then in the last match, to go out there and do what I did, it hurts," she concluded.
Fans react to Aryna Sabalenka's negative comments about Coco Gauff after losing the French Open final
After Aryna Sabalenka shared her feelings about Coco Gauff, tennis fans around the globe came to the American's rescue and disagreed with the Belarusian's stance.
While some reminded Sabalenka that Gauff had recently beaten Swiatek in straight sets on clay, others called her a sore loser. Here are some of the best reactions from fans after Sabalenka's post-match press conference at the French Open:
One user wrote:
"Coco fans mad at Sabalenka for presser comments, Sabalenka mad at Coco for being the better player today, Sabalenka fans mad at Sabalenka for losing, Iga fans mad at Sabalenka dragging Iga into it. Whole of America mad at Sabalenka for attacking Coco, Sabalenka mad at the wind."
Another fan felt relieved that Gauff defeated Sabalenka on Saturday and said:
"So glad @CocoGauff beat Aryna Sabalenka. Coco knows this woman doesn't respect her. Here she basically says Coco didn't beat me, I just played bad. Then talks about how well she played against players she does respect. Sweet victory Coco Gauff! #FrenchOpen."
Another user took a dig at Sabalenka for claiming that Iga Swiatek would have defeated Coco Gauff in the final, writing:
"The same Iga Swiatek that Coco Gauff has beaten over and over again? She never respects Coco’s smarts, skill, hard work. this entitled jealous loser behavior is why a lot of people don’t root for Aryna Sabalenka,"
One fan shared his feelings for the Belarusian and felt that if Gauff had said the same, the American would be labelled a racist.
"I strongly dislike Sabalenka. The demonstrative behaviour she shows gets accepted as passionate, yet if Coco Gauff behaved like that, she would be called so many racist names just like Serena used to be called," they wrote.
One user highlighted the real problems Sabalenka faced during the match and urged the World No. 1 to get better, writing:
"Sabalenka isn’t nearly as good as Swiatek or Gauff in the wind. Iga has the best footwork on tour and takes 8 million adjustment steps to get around the ball and has lots of margin with her heavy spin. Coco is very intelligent with her higher loopier shots. Aryna must get better."
After winning the French Open this year, Coco Gauff extended her lead to second place in the WTA Rankings. She will be almost 2500 points above third-place Jessica Pegula on Monday, June 9.
