Gauff sets the standard for her generation

Seven years ago, at the age of 14, Coco Gauff was the Roland Garros junior champion. Since that breathtaking breakthrough, Gauff has raced to meet mounting, sometimes staggering, expectations.

She beat Venus Williams the following year at Wimbledon on her way to the fourth round and later collected her first title, in Linz. Still a teenager, Gauff won her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2023 US Open. Last fall, with the tour’s best gathered in Riyadh, she was the year-end champion at the WTA Finals. A few weeks ago, Gauff returned to No. 2 in the PIF WTA Rankings.

That resume would be a wonderful career for most players, but because of her spectacular early success, it felt vaguely unsatisfying for some, something short of the mark. On Saturday, in blustery, difficult conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier, Gauff played with uncommon poise and guile, defeating World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4.

It was a classic Gauff comeback win as she overcame eight double faults and, using her unique speed and anticipation, relentlessly pressured Sabalenka. The 21-year-old was more passive in the first set, playing three feet behind the baseline, relying on defense as she did early in her career. 

But in the last two sets, when Gauff stepped inside the baseline, she dominated. One of the best returners in the game, she broke Sabalenka’s serve nine times and — regardless of the semantics of forced or unforced — induced 70 errors, 40 more than Gauff. 

Gauff’s first major final, at the 2022 French Open, ended quickly. But that loss to Iga Swiatek left her hungry for more.

“I just remembered trying to take it all in and pay attention to every detail and just feel like I wanted that experience for myself,” Gauff told reporters. “I was crying before the match and so nervous, and literally couldn’t breathe and stuff. I was, like, ‘If I can’t handle this, how am I going to handle it again?’

“I vividly remember watching her, pretty emotional when the Polish anthem got played. I was, like, ‘Wow, this is such a cool moment.’ So when the anthem got played today, I kind of had those reflections.”

Gauff was the best on clay this year, reaching the finals at Madrid, Rome and winning the title in Paris. She finished with a tour-high 18 match-wins on the surface. Both players were in tears afterward, but Sabalenka was in a position to win a major title on what was once her worst surface and distance herself from the field.

“I already have a flight booked to Mykonos and alcohol, sugar,” Sabalenka told reporters afterward. “I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy — if I could swear, I would swear right now, but this crazy thing happened today.

“Tequila, gummy bears, and I don’t know, swimming, being like the tourist for couple of days.”

That’s what a cup of Coco, coming in piping hot, will do to you.

As usual, Gauff sent the statisticians scrambling to the record books in search of precedents. And as usual, her achievement echoed some of the sport’s best and brightest:

• She’s the first to win a Grand Slam final after dropping the first set to the No. 1 player since Venus Williams two decades ago at Wimbledon, and the first at Roland Garros since Steffi Graf in 1999.
• The youngest to win major women’s titles on multiple surfaces since Maria Sharapova at Wimbledon 2004 and the US Open 2006.
• The youngest American to win the singles title at Roland Garros since Serena Williams in 2002.

Gauff is now one of only seven currently active players with multiple Grand Slam singles titles. She’s the youngest by nearly three years: Iga Swiatek (5 titles) just turned 24, Naomi Osaka (4) is 27, Sabalenka (3) 27, Victoria Azarenka (2) 35, Petra Kvitova (2) 35, Barbora Krejcikova (2) 29 — and Gauff (2) at 21.

For context, consider that Sabalenka won her first major four months shy of her 25^th birthday. Gauff is also the youngest of the nine active women to win one major title, a year behind next-youngest Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion.

Gauff and Sabalenka warmed up with the roof closed and, when it opened before the match began, Gauff said she understood the difficult conditions meant it would come down to willpower.

“It really came down to the last few points, but overall I’m just really happy with the fight that I managed today,” she told reporters. “It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done, and that’s all that matters.”

On Sunday, Gauff took a few minutes to field questions from wtatennis.com:

Take us through your last 20 hours or so.

Gauff: Honestly, I haven’t had much time to chill and reflect — but I’m looking forward to the flight home to do that. I finished press around 9 p.m., then went back to the hotel, changed in like 15 minutes. Then we went out. I had lamb chops and fish and fries, mostly finger foods. I’m still hungry from last night. We were high on energy, so I didn’t eat as much as I thought I would. I went to bed around three and woke up around eight. I’m definitely going to hit a crashing point later today or tomorrow.

Does it feel real yet?

Gauff: No, it doesn’t, not yet. The [2023] US Open, it took a couple of days for it to hit. So I think this might take a little longer, honestly. Because that match [with Aryna Sabalenka] was crazy.

Seven years ago, at the age of 14 you won the Roland Garros junior title. How have you evolved as a player since then?

Gauff: I think a lot. That fight that I had in that junior final was very similar to the fight I needed yesterday. Obviously, I’m a much better player. But I honestly think the mentality was the same. I felt like as I’ve gone on tour, I’ve felt like I needed to go back to that junior mentality I had — where I had that belief in every match. Paying attention to myself. There’s a lot fewer distractions as a junior, with press and attention from fans and all that. I channeled that mentality a little bit yesterday.

That junior title marked you as a future champion and then you beat Venus a year later and reached Wimbledon’s Round of 16. How have you managed those great expectations that you created?

Gauff: I think just realizing that the expectations that matter are the ones I put on myself. Obviously, I did a lot when I was young, so a lot of people expected a lot for me. It was tough for me — I thought that maybe I would never live up to it. Every day I’m just trying to be the best version of myself. I think once I put that as my goal, my perspective on tennis and success changed.

How did you manage YOUR expectations?

Gauff: They’re honestly day by day. I try not to be so result-minded, but it’s hard because as an athlete we all want to base our success on results. But being on tour, I’ve learned that you can’t win every tournament, it’s so hard. Just trying to take the positives, even from the losses — which is something I didn’t do much before — I do now and it makes life a little bit easier when you can find some positivity even in losses.

You’ve always been the youngest to … fill in the blank … You are now one of only seven currently active players to hold multiple major singles titles — and the youngest by nearly three years. Going forward, what do YOU expect of yourself?

Gauff: I think just really enjoying the moment. I want to enjoy this moment. I know I’m going to want more [laughing], because the feeling that I felt. I said at the US Open when I won it, was like a drug — and I’m back on it at the French Open. I definitely want to keep feeling this feeling as many times as possible. I definitely expect me to be hungry, and I’m the one that has to tell myself to enjoy this because usually I’m already thinking about Wimbledon and beyond. For now, I’m just trying to stay in the moment.

What are you looking forward to most in the next month on grass?

Gauff: I think I’m going to approach it a lot more freer. Because I know when you do well in Paris, it’s such a quick transition to grass. I’m going to feel less pressure, regardless of how I do there. Just because it’s my first time experiencing a win and going to a Grand Slam so soon. Just being free and accepting the result regardless of what it is. But I’m definitely going to try my best to win it.