Coco Gauff Reveals Key to Dominate Aryna Sabalenka in Roland Garros Final

Aryna Sabalenka knocked out three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek to schedule the 11th match of her career against Coco Gauff.

Coco Gauff Reveals Key to Dominate Aryna Sabalenka in Roland Garros Final

Coco Gauff, Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka are pitted against each other in the Roland Garros final. In the semifinals they played on Thursday (June 5), Gauff secured an easy win over home favorite Lois Boisson but the Belarusian had to toil hard in the two-hour 19-minute battle against three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.

The 27-year-old is chasing her fourth clay-court title. Before arriving in Paris, Sabalenka’s run in the Italian Open was ended by 2024 Paris Olympics champion Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals. It was the first tournament on the clay swing where Sabalenka failed to reach the final this season.

The three-time Grand Slam singles champion lost the Stuttgart Open final to Jelena Ostapenko but emerged victorious in the Madrid Open final against Gauff. She tied the win-loss record over Gauff to 1-1 on clay as the latter had won their encounter in the 2021 Italian Open third round. Gauff, in the press conference after beating Boisson, stated that aggression is the key to beating Sabalenka.

I have to try to go for my shots and be aggressive. She has big hits, and she will come out aggressive, she will go all out. I think I have to expect that and do everything I can to counter it. In the matches I’ve played against her, we’ve had some ups and downs, somewhere I’ve won consecutive sets, and she the other way around.

This year’s Madrid Open was Sabalenka’s third clay-court title of her career. She is chasing her fourth title of the season after the Brisbane International, Miami Open, and the Madrid Open. Gauff, however, has not yet claimed a trophy since winning the 2024 WTA Finals. She has now reached her third consecutive final on the clay swing this season, following the Madrid Open and the Italian Open.

Aryna Sabalenka says Iga Swiatek has lost some confidence

Aryna Sabalenka surprisingly bageled Iga Swiatek in the final set, ending her 26-match winning streak in the tournament. It was her first fifth victory over the five-time Grand Slam champion in their 13th meeting.

Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (3)
Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/News Aryna Sabalenka, Jimmie48 Photography)

Sabalenka started the match strongly, racing to 3-0 before squandering her lead as Swiatek started to reach for the balls and play aggressively. The first set was eventually extended to a tiebreaker where Sabalenka played better than the Pole to clinch the set before losing the next.

It was for the first time in the tournament that Sabalenka dropped a set. Swiatek couldn’t capitalize on the momentum, failing to win even a single game in the third set as Sabalenka, with a 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-0 win, reached her seventh final of the season.

Later in the press conference, Sabalenka said it was a “high-level” match against the 24-year-old but thinks Swiatek was not reaching for the balls because she lost some confidence.

Yes, I think she is playing great tennis. Maybe she lost a bit of confidence, that’s why sometimes she lets go of balls she shouldn’t let go of. But overall, I think today was a high-level match, and I think she played great tennis today.

Swiatek’s trophy-less run this season continues. The last title she won was by beating Jasmine Paolini in the final of the 2024 Roland Garros. Swiatek later clinched her bronze medal at the Paris Olympics. Since her fourth victory in Paris last year, Swiatek hasn’t year progressed to a championship match.

This season, except for the Stuttgart Open, she has made it to every quarterfinal and multiple semifinals. She will next start her preparation for the grass swing to chase her first title on the surface. At Wimbledon, Swiatek is a quarterfinalist, reaching the stage in 2023.

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