Coco Gauff has faced the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, ten times in her career so far. Although she has a 5-5 H2H record against the Belarusian, we must not forget that recently, Sabalenka defeated her at the 2025 Madrid Open final by 6-3,7-6(3). It was only the second defeat in a WTA tour final for Gauff after the 2022 French Open. Following that defeat in Madrid, Gauff said, “I hate losing a lot, and especially in finals, because it’s like you’re so close.” Even while sharing her thoughts about her defeat to Iga Swiatek at the 2022 Roland Garros final, she said, “It was a heartbreaking match. It felt like seeing your dreams kind of snatched away.“ However, she now has a chance to get a second bite at the cherry as she’s all set to face Sabalenka in the 2025 French Open final on Saturday. Who has the edge in this epic battle? Well, it seems the American tennis experts have a lot to say about this at the moment!
With her 6-1,6-2 win against the local favorite, Lois Boisson, Coco Gauff has now become the youngest player since the Madrid Open’s inception in 2009 to reach the finals in Madrid, Rome, and Roland Garros in a single calendar year. She’s now also the fourth player competing for the US to claim multiple women’s singles finals at the French Open in the Open Era after Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Serena Williams. What are her chances of getting the better of the Belarusian in the grand finale? Well, her opponent in this match recently snapped the four-time champion, Iga Swiatek’s 26-match winning streak at this venue. So, stopping the ‘Tigress’ won’t be easy!
However, according to Roger Federer’s ex-coach, Paul Annacone, “Well, it just showed me, I think it showed everybody that Sabalenka is the best player in the world so far this year. She just has been better than everyone and to see her rebound after that second set very easily could have taken her a little bit of time to get going after losing that second set and it was amazing. Zero unforced errors, power play, hit right through the clay court surface.“
He further claimed, “So I just think she’s the best player on the planet this year, but before the tournament started, I did say Coco Gauff was going to win, I think, and I still think Coco is going to make her overplay. I think Coco is going to win tomorrow. I think her defense, sorry, on Saturday, I think her defenses are going to make Sabalenka overplay, it’s going to really test her composure and her patience.” But what do the other American bigwigs have to say on this?
Well, according to Lindsay Davenport, “My initial thoughts right off the bat is Sabalenka with how she’s played and trying to defend against that. Let’s wait to see what the weather brings if the roof is closed or open on Saturday. That could be a big difference as well. Coco, the first week, the level that she played, probably not good enough to win this tournament. The level that she’s shown in the last three sets that she’s played. The third set against Keys and the two sets today, we’re talking about a much different Gauff.” Even during the recent episode of the ‘Served’ podcast, Andy Roddick claimed, “Sabalenka is like there’s an argument…she’s the best big match player in the world right now. 6-0 in the third against the person who has won four of the last five years..“
Mutua Madrid Open – Aryna Sabalenka Wins Her Third Title Coco Gauff of Etats-Unis and Aryna Sabalenka of Biélorussie during the Mutua Madrid Open 2025, ATP, Tennis Herren Masters 1000 and WTA, Tennis Damen 1000, tennis tournament on 03 May 2025 at Caja Magica in Madrid, Spain. Photo by Laurent Lairys/ABACAPRESS.COM Madrid Spain PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRAxUK Copyright: xCoustxLaurent/ABACAx
What do other tennis experts have to say about Coco Gauff‘s chances in the epic battle? Serena Williams’ ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, highlighted, “Although the one area where she (Gauff) needs to be concerned about in the final is 1st serve %. Needs to up that against Aryna as she will make her pay for that.” However, on the other hand, the former British number one Greg Rusedski showered praise on the 21-year-old American by saying, “She is great for the women’s game. She is a huge asset and I think she is going to win multiple majors. If she can continue to get better and clean up that second serve to make it more solid, there is no reason why the sky is not the limit for her.“
Now, since we’ve seen quite a few reactions from the tennis experts surrounding in match. Let’s check out what Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka had to say before this mega duel.
“Anything can happen” – Coco Gauff shares her honest take on her faceoff against the world number one
There is a lot at stake for these players, and guess what? This will be the first time since 2013 that the world number one will take on the number two at the Roland Garros final. Aryna Sabalenka is aiming for her fourth Grand Slam title and the first one outside the hard courts. If she wins this match, she will become the only active player to have won singles titles at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
On the other side, Coco Gauff is chasing her second Grand Slam singles title. Interestingly, her first one came after toppling the same opponent at the 2023 US Open. A win in this match will make her the youngest American to win the French Open singles title since Serena Williams in 2002. Although Gauf has committed 33 double faults in her six matches at the 2025 Roland Garros, the good thing is, she kept it tight in the previous match against Boisson.
What does she have to say before entering the battlefield against Sabalenka? “My first final here I was super nervous, and I kind of wrote myself off before the match even happened. Obviously, here, I have a lot more confidence just from playing a Grand Slam final before and doing well in one. I think going into Saturday I’ll just give it my best shot and try to be as calm and relaxed as possible. Whatever happens, happens, and knowing that I put the best effort forward.“
She also added, “[Sabalenka is] someone who has great big shots, and she’s going to come out aggressive, she’s going to come out swinging. I think I just have to expect that and do my best to kind of counter that. I think the past experience that I’ve played her, we had some up-and-down matches, we had some that I won straight sets and her vice versa. Anything can happen on Saturday. But I’m looking forward to it, and glad to be going up against a World No. 1 too.“
Even Sabalenka is quite wary of the threat against someone like Gauff. So, even after defeating the ‘Queen of Clay’, she was heard saying, “The job is not done yet. And I have to go out there on Saturday, and I have to fight, and I have to bring my best tennis, and I have to work for that title.” This is Sabalenka’s best record in this tournament, but can she make full use of this opportunity against someone like Coco Gauff?
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