Gauff defeats Sabalenka to claim first French Open title

The second seed Coco Gauff became the first American woman to win the title since 2015 by defeating top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 in Paris. 

The Belarusian broke twice to lead 4-1, but Gauff figured out the windy conditions on Court Philippe Chatrier and delivered a drop shot to help her break back to narrow the gap.

Sabalenka then squandered the set point with a double fault and Gauff went on to force a tiebreaker. The world number one, who defeated three-time champion Iga Swiatek to reach the final, came back from 3-0 down in the tiebreak and won it 7-5 to take the opening set.

Gauff was chasing her second grand slam after winning the US Open in 2023 and the 21 year old dominated the second set 6-2 by winning 63 percent of her first serves and 67 percent of her second.

In the third, the American had an early break, but Sabalenka broke back to tie it at 3 when Gauff went long. Gauff broke again and won the third set 6-4 when Sabalenka hit wide.