Coco Gauff Says She Doubted Ability to Win Roland-Garros After Victory vs. Sabalenka

World No. 2 Coco Gauff defeated No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the 2025 French Open final on Saturday at Roland-Garros, but the 21-year-old divulged after her victory that she had doubts about being able to come out on top.

Speaking to the crowd in Paris, Gauff was open about her insecurities before ending her speech with a powerful message.

“I didn't think, honestly, that I could do it," she said. "But I'm actually going to quote Tyler, The Creator, right here and he said: 'If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying.' So, I would like to leave that with you guys. I think I was lying to myself, and I definitely could do it."

After falling behind early, Gauff battled back to win the match 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, capturing her second career Grand Slam singles title in the process.

While Gauff reached the French Open final in 2022 and the semifinals last year, she was knocked out three straight times by Iga Świątek, who is a four-time French Open champion.

Gauff avoided Świątek this year thanks to Sabalenka, who won each of her first five matches at the 2025 French Open in straight sets before outlasting Świątek in a three-set thriller in the semis.

The 21-year-old Gauff had a similar path to the final, as she won five of her first six matches in straight sets.

Gauff had plenty of momentum on her side entering the final by virtue of a 6-1, 6-2, thrashing of France's Loïs Boisson in the semifinals, although Sabalenka had to deal with tougher competition en route to the final.

That seemed to work in Sabalenka's favor early, as she raced out to a 4-1 lead and had Gauff down 40-0 in the sixth game of the match on Saturday, but Gauff impressively battled back and forced a tiebreak.

While Sabalenka held on to win the tiebreak and the first set, Gauff essentially took control of the match from there.

Unforced errors were unquestionably the difference in the match, as Sabalenka was charged with 70 of them compared to 30 for Gauff.

Gauff was also better on serve, which is no easy task against a player as powerful as Sabalenka. Gauff won 60 percent of her first-serve points and 50 percent of her second-serve points compared to 48 percent and 47 percent, respectively, for Sabalenka.

Saturday represented a major missed opportunity for Sabalenka since a French Open title would have brought her to a Wimbledon title away from the career Grand Slam.

Instead, Sabalenka is still a three-time Grand Slam champ with two Australian Open titles and one U.S. Open title to her credit.

As for Gauff, she added a French Open title to her 2023 U.S. Open title, and she beat the world No. 1 at a Grand Slam for the first time in her career in order to make it happen.