Coco Gauff has brushed off Aryna Sabalenka’s assertion that Iga Swiatek “would have won” the French Open had she played in the final.
World No 2 Gauff produced a stunning comeback to defeat top seed Sabalenka in the Roland Garros showpiece match, winning 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 to secure the trophy.
It is the American’s second Grand Slam title as she also won the 2023 US Open trophy with Sabalenka once again on the losing end.
But it was a match littered with errors from the reigning world No 1 as the Belarusian made 70 unforced errors compared to Gauff’s 30. She also faced 21 break points, saving 12, while her opponent saved seven of the 13 she faced.
Sabalenka, who described the match as “the worst final” she has ever played, overcame four-time French Open champion Swiatek in three sets in the semi-final and she feels the Pole would have won had she played in the final.
“If Iga would win me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win,” the 27-year-old said. “Yeah, it just hurts.
“Honestly hurts. I’ve been playing really well, and then in the last match, go out there and perform like I did.”
Gauff was asked for her response to Sabalenka’s comments and feels her recent record against the five-time Grand Slam winner shows her pedigree.
“I don’t agree with that. I’m here sitting here (laughter),” she started off. “Last time I played – no shade to Iga or anything – but I played her and I won in straight sets.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.”
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Although Swiatek lead their head-to-head 11-4, Gauff has won their last three encounters as she beat the Pole 6-1, 6-1 at the Madrid Open recently, while she also won in straight sets at the United Cup in January and the WTA Finals last November.
She continued: “Honestly, the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win. So I think she was the best person that I could have played in the final.
“Her being No 1 in the world was the best person to play, so I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone.
“Obviously, Iga being a champion here, it was going to be a tough match either way. But I think regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win.
“I definitely had that belief. If you asked me, honestly speaking to you guys who I wanted to play, it was Iga just because I felt Aryna was playing so good, and she was.”
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