Coco Gauff Gives Sabalenka 'Benefit of the Doubt' After Viral Comment at Roland-Garros

Coco Gauff responded to Aryna Sabalenka's viral comments after defeating her in the women's singles final at Roland-Garros on Saturday.

"I know she was probably a bit emotional after that match, and it was a tough loss," Gauff told Good Morning America on Monday.

"I was a little bit surprised about the comments and everything but I'm gonna give her the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it was an emotional day, emotional match," she added.

Sabalenka told reporters that Gauff won the match "not because she played incredible," but due to the Belarusian's own mistakes following the loss.

She also said that Iga Świątek, who was defeated in the semifinals, would have beaten Gauff if she was in the final.

"I think if Iga would win at me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win," Sabalenka said.

The No. 1 player in the WTA rankings later released a statement addressing her remarks on her Instagram story after the 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 defeat.

Sabalenka wrote that Gauff "handled the conditions much better than I did and fully deserved the win," while adding, "I can't pretend it was a great day for me" after making 70 unforced errors.

Sabalenka jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the first set of Saturday's match, but Gauff fought back to force a tiebreak. While the American still ended up dropping the first set, she won the next two in order to come back and win her second career Grand Slam title.

Gauff previously won the U.S. Open in 2023, as she also defeated Sabalenka to emerge victorious in the tournament.

While the 21-year-old admitted that she wasn't expecting to see Sabalenka's comments after the match, she's also willing to overlook them and move forward.