The 6 US women to win the French Open title: Gauff looks to join Serena & Evert

Coco Gauff is the last US woman standing at Roland Garros in 2025 – and will look to end a ten-year wait for an American French Open champion.

American success has sometimes been hard to come by in Paris, but here we look at the six US women to claim the title at the greatest clay-court event of them all.

Nancy Richey – 1968

A player whose success spanned the amateur and professional ages, Richey made history by becoming the first Grand Slam women’s singles champion of the Open Era at the 1968 French Open.

Seeded fifth, Richey rallied from a set down to stun top seed Billie Jean King in the semi-final, before defeating second seed and two-time winner Ann Jones 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 to lift the title.

Billie Jean King – 1972

Tennis icon King won 12 major singles titles across both the amateur and professional eras, and completed the Career Grand Slam with her sole French Open victory in 1972.

The third seed beat Helga Niessen Masthoff in the last four, before downing top seed and reigning champion Evonne Goolagong 6-3, 6-3 to triumph.

Chris Evert – 1974-75, 1979-80, 1983, 1985-86

Evert remains the most successful French Open women’s singles champion of the Open Era, with an impressive seven titles to her name.

The former world No 1 beat Olga Morozova to win her first title in 1974 and then defended her crown in 1975, defeating legendary rival Martina Navratilova.

Evert skipped the event for the next three years but regained her title in 1979, defeating Wendy Turnbull in the final, and then claimed her fourth title in 1980 by beating Virginia Ruzici.

She defeated Mima Jausovec to seal her fifth title in 1983, before consecutive victories over Navratilova in the 1985 and 1986 finals.

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Martina Navratilova – 1982, 1984

Though born and raised in modern-day Czechia, Navratilova represented the US for the bulk of her career, including her two triumphs at Roland Garros.

Navratilova saw off former teen prodigy Andrea Jaeger in straight sets in the 1982 final, and two years later breezed past Evert to claim her second French Open singles crown.

Jennifer Capriati – 2001

One of just two American women this century to triumph at Roland Garros, Capriati triumphed at the tournament back in 2001.

Just months after winning her maiden major at the Australian Open, fourth seed Capriati beat top seed Martina Hingis in the last four before an epic three-set victory over Kim Clijsters in the final.

Serena Williams – 2002, 2013, 2015

Only Iga Swiatek and Justine Henin have won more French Open women’s titles this century than Williams, a three-time Roland Garros singles champion.

The tennis icon kicked off her first ‘Serena Slam’ with triumph at the tournament in 2002, beating Venus Williams in the first of four consecutive major final victories over her older sister.

Serena then ended her 11-year wait for a second title by beating Maria Sharapova in the 2013 final, before edging Lucie Safarova in a three-set thriller in 2015.

Read Next: The 7 women with highest French Open win percentage: Iga Swiatek one of two over 90%, Serena Williams 7th

The post The 6 US women to win the French Open title: Gauff looks to join Serena & Evert appeared first on Tennis365.

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