As Roland-Garros officials got the court ready for the trophy ceremony, Aryna Sabalenka sat with her eyes fixed on the horizon before she took a towel to shield her face. When it was finally her turn to speak, Sabalenka remained silent for a lengthy moment, seemingly on the brink of tears.
Her evaluation of her own performance, when she ultimately took the microphone to address the Roland-Garros audience, was brutally honest.
“Honestly guys, this one hurts so much,” she expressed. “To display such awful tennis in the final really stings.”
The top-ranked Sabalenka secured the first set with her aggressive style paying off initially. However, as Gauff found her rhythm, the Belarusian’s mistakes became increasingly frequent, resulting in her losing the match between the world’s two top players 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4.
Sabalenka recorded 37 winners but ended the match with an astounding 70 unforced errors, in stark contrast to Gauff’s 30. Sabalenka also had her serve broken nine times.
“I think I was overly emotional,” she reflected. “I didn’t manage my mental state well, I would say. Essentially, that’s it. I was just making unforced errors. I believe she won not because she played exceptionally, but simply because I made all those mistakes, especially on what seemed like easy shots.”
The disappointment was all the more profound since Sabalenka has diligently adapted her game to the slow surface over the years, especially after she halted Iga Swiatek’s 26-match unbeaten streak at the French Open in the semifinals.
“You’ve faced many tough opponents, like the Olympic champion, Iga, and then you go out and perform so poorly,” she said in her post-match interview. “It was honestly the worst tennis I’ve played in, I don’t know how many months.”
Sabalenka also voiced concerns about the weather conditions. The retractable roof over the center court remained open during the final, and she visibly showed frustration as gusts of wind swept across the court.
“Conditions were terrible,” the three-time major champion remarked. “Every time she hit the ball, the wind would make it fly unpredictably, and I was late each time.”
This marked the second major final Sabalenka lost to Gauff, following the 2023 U.S. Open, where she also took the first set. Sabalenka had emerged victorious in their most recent encounter on clay this year in Madrid and believed she had the tools to triumph against the American on the grandest stage.
“It’s another challenging Grand Slam final against Coco,” Sabalenka stated. “Another poor performance from me against her in the final. I need to take a step back, assess this from a distance, and finally learn the lesson because I can’t consistently walk onto the court against her in Grand Slam finals and deliver such subpar tennis, effectively gifting those wins away, not easily, but emotionally.”
