Coco Gauff Hoping for 1st Roland Garros Title After Two Back-to-Back Finals on Clay
World No.3 Coco Gauff won the French Open doubles last year and was the runner-up in singles in 2022.
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Coco Gauff (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)
Coco Gauff is now a finalist in two clay-court events this year, both WTA 1000 ones. She reached the Madrid Open final for the first time and lost the match to World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka, who became a champion in the Spanish capital for the third time.
Gauff then moved into the final of the Italian Open where she failed to move past home favorite Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-2. The 21-year-old, even though disappointed after the loss, has gained a lot of confidence about her performance on clay and she is hoping to produce a better result at the French Open, where in 2022, she lost the final to Iga Swiatek. Gauff told reporters:
They say the third time's the charm; hopefully, it will be in Paris, but to achieve that, I know I have many things to work on this week. My feeling is that I have made it to two significant tournament finals without displaying my best version, so if I manage to play at my highest level in Roland Garros 2025, I trust I will achieve an important result.
It was Gauff’s second defeat to Paolini on clay this season. Before Rome, Paolini went past the 2023 US Open champion in the quarterfinal of the Stuttgart Open.
The Italian ace is now the winner of two WTA 1000 events as last year, she lifted the Dubai Open. Because of her victory, Paolini will start the next week as the World No.4 player, toppling five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek as the Pole, who was the defending champion in the Italian WTA 1000, is currently dealing with a slump in form and dropped to No.5 position. Gauff, on the other hand, will be back to her career-high ranking of No.2.
The 29-year-old, who has now leveled the head-to-head clash with the American at 2-2 has also become the first Italian woman to take home the WTA 1000 on home soil in the Open Era. This is Paolini’s third singles title of her career.
Tim Henman pinpoints two areas Coco Gauff needs to improve before the French Open
This season, Coco Gauff, after losing the Australian Open quarterfinal to Paula Badosa, failed to clinch more than two wins in the next five tournaments she played, before breaking that losing streak in Madrid. Gauff so far has won just one singles title on clay- the 2021 Emilia Romagna Open.
Former ATP ace Tim Henman thinks Gauff, after playing two big finals, will be one of the favorites at Roland Garros, where last year she won the doubles title along with Katerina Siniakova, beating Jasmine Paolini and her compatriot Sara Errani. Henman told Sky Sports:
I think when she is able to let the dust settle, she will be able to sit down and analyze with her team, she will realize she can play better. Her serve and her forehand, if she can get that balance between control and aggression.
Errani and Paolini won the Paris Olympics last year. In the Italian Open too, the pair clinched the doubles and this made the latter the first woman since Vera Zvonareva in 2009 to win both singles and doubles title in the WTA 1000 event in Rome.
The French Open is scheduled to start on May 25. Gauff will enter the Roland Garros as the second seed and will meet first seed Aryna Sabalenka if both of them reach the final.
Last year in singles, the reigning WTA Finals champion lost in the semifinal to eventual winner Iga Swiatek, who later breezed Paolini to clinch her fourth Roland Garros title. After reaching the biggest final of her career, Paolini then progressed to another Major final. At Wimbledon, Paolini lost the final to Barbora Krejcikova.
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