Coco Gauff wins French Open with thrilling comeback against world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in women’s final

CNN Coco Gauff claimed her second career grand slam singles title on Saturday coming from behind to defeat world No Aryna Sabalenka - - - in a thrilling French Open women s final The -year-old s win a repeat of her US Open domination means she is the first American since Serena Williams in to triumph at Roland Garros and only the third this century She is the also the youngest American to lift the Suzanne-Lenglen Cup since Serena Williams did so in I was going through a lot of things when I lost this final three years ago so it means a lot to be here Gauff announced afterward becoming emotional in her post-match interview as she remembered her comprehensive loss to Iga wi tek in It looked in the early stages as if Gauff would be thwarted again as if Sabalenka would have too much for her opponent after a combination of supreme power and a few well-placed drop shots ensured she took an early lead But having broken Gauff twice and finding herself - and - up Sabalenka suddenly began struggling with her serve in the windy conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier Five consecutive points for Gauff two of which came from Sabalenka s double faults meant the American was back in the contest Now it was Sabalenka s turn to look frustrated the Belarusian s serve was broken again in an eight-minute eighth meeting to tie the set at - It was the first of a remarkable five-game stretch which saw neither participant able to hold their serve including a marathon -minute th competition in which Gauff survived two set points The resulting tiebreak however provided the stage for Sabalenka to display impressive tenacity fighting back from - to win a genuinely thrilling set that neither participant deserved to lose It would have been easy for the American to let her head drop having given so much in the -minute first set but Sabalenka had made unforced to errors to Gauff s an indication that the Belarusian was not at her blistering best That fact was made clearer in the second set when Gauff turned the tide once again and broke Sabalenka twice to race into a - lead The -year-old broke back to make it - but Gauff directly replied with a break of her own in a contest which saw Sabalenka make her th unforced error One battle later Gauff had rounded out a set which lasted almost minutes shorter than the first The American had the momentum and she was not about to relinquish it this time Sabalenka let out a yell of satisfaction as she held her serve in the first event of the third set but she could not repeat the feat at the second time of asking double faulting to hand Gauff a - lead The -year-old had the chance to extend her lead to - but could not capitalize on two break points It looked initially as though it would prove costly with Sabalenka current back to level the scoring But this topsy-turvy meeting still had time for one more twist Gauff replying with her own break to re-establish a lead that definitively would not be overturned In the final match the American survived a break point and after Sabalenka s backhand return dropped wide secured her second grand slam title Overcome in the moment of accomplishment she dropped to the floor before getting up with the Roland Garros clay emblazoned on her forehead and heading over to hug her mother I want to thank my group You guys have been a happiness to be around you are consistently pushing me I know sometimes I m not the easiest and I can be so serious but you remind me there s more to life than tennis and I think that s what makes me play better on court she announced afterward I would like to thank my parents from washing my clothes to keeping me grounded you guys ostensibly believe in me more than I believe in myself To my brothers at home you guys are the reason I do this and inspire me more than anything Gauff added I didn t think I could do it but I m going to quote Tyler The Creator who declared If I ever recounted you I had a doubt inside me I must be lying I ll leave you with that On the other hand despite becoming the first performer since Serena Williams in to reach three consecutive Grand Slam finals Sabalenka has now lost the last two to American opponents having been upset by Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January The Belarusian was clearly distraught at the end and could not hold back the tears during her on-court interview Obviously guys this one hurts so much the world No disclosed after a long pause with the microphone in her hand Especially after such a tough two weeks playing great tennis and in these terrible conditions To show such terrible tennis in the final that really hurts Coco congrats she added In these tough conditions you were a better participant than me Well done on a great two weeks and congrats on a second grand slam