In suboptimal conditions on Saturday, Coco Gauff managed to defeat Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to win her first French Open.
While dealing with winds and poor weather, Sabalenka felt like she played terrible tennis and gave far from her best in the final. After playing tremendously in recent weeks, Sabalenka underperformed in the final and made numerous unforced errors, costing her a chance at her own French Open title.
Following the match, Sabalenka expressed how much her play and the loss hurt. She went on to say that she believes if she had lost the semifinal to Iga Świątek, that Świątek would have gone on to win the final.
"That hurts. Especially when you’ve been playing really good tennis all week. If Iga had beaten me the other day, I think she’d come out today and get the win," Sabalenka said.
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Sabalenka did congratulate Gauff right after the match and called Gauff's victory "well-deserved," but her later comments did not necessarily echo that statement.
Gauff was later asked about Sabalenka's comments while speaking to reporters, and disagreed that Świątek would've won, pointing to her recent win in straight sets at the Madrid Open.
“I don’t agree with that. I mean, I’m sitting here," Gauff said. "No shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say. Anything can really happen."
Gauff added that she felt Sabalenka was the best opponent she could've faced in the final. "Honestly, the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favorite to win," Gauff said. "I think she was the best person I could’ve played in the final. Her being No. 1 in the world, she was the best person to play. I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone."
"Obviously Iga being a champion here, it was gonna be a tough match either way," she continued. "But yeah, regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win and I definitely had that belief. If you ask me honestly who I wanted to play, it was Iga. Just because I felt Aryna was playing so good. Obviously Iga is a tough opponent too. Honestly neither of them would’ve been the better shot. But it played out how it played out and that’s why I’m here today.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Coco Gauff Responds to Aryna Sabalenka's Revisionist Take On French Open.
