The Best And Worst Of Both Worlds
Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka went through their best and both Worlds on Saturday. Novak Djokovic is still too good to retire, but he still might do it.
Welcome back! In today’s free edition, we’re, of course, talking all things women’s final at Roland-Garros with the triumph of Coco Gauff and the collapse of Aryna Sabalenka.
Read what Gauff’s coach, Jean-Christophe Faurel, told me about Gauff’s mindset and work ethic.
Also, in this edition, how Novak Djokovic is still way too good to retire but might still do it nonetheless.
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ROLAND-GARROS (F)
The Best And Worst Of Both Worlds
Coco Gauff, winner in juniors here in 2018 and finalist against Iga Swiatek in 2022, showed the worst of her at times this year but still fought through it all and then showed the best of her world when it mattered the most in that Roland-Garros final. Aryna Sabalenka was living the best of her world most of the time this year but got dragged back to the worst of her world when it mattered the most. Tennis Remains A Mental Game.
The dramaturgy of that Roland-Garros final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka was amazing. The level? Not so much. Please, we’re here to be real, not to sell an alternate reality. We landed in the 100 unforced errors combined area, 70 of these for Sabalenka. It was a messy, nervous, and windy mess, but it took serious courage to emerge as the winner, and Gauff was both the braver one and the cooler head. The braver one because she did what so many players of her standards would have hated doing: she accepted the fact that she’d win that match by doing three things: "1) Winning Ugly, 2) Grinding instead of playing flashy, 3) Accepting it would not be won on her terms.
“Gauff was both the braver one and the cooler head.”
Gauff won on Saturday because it had been months of her having to grind and win with her B game. Sabalenka lost because she refused to go down a few notches and grind it out. I am convinced that the World No.1 would have won that final in straight sets had she held that serve at 4-1 40-0. She was zoning out there, and it was already windy. But she opened her eyes and, for the first time in at least two years, she went back to being that incredible player who just couldn’t control the tornado inside of her. She suddenly focused on that wind, and she was gone. Serve, gone. Forehand, gone. Footwork, gone. It was impossible not to feel for Sabalenka on Saturday because this match was on her racquet.
“It’s the second time, after the Australian Open final, that Sabalenka comes in as the overwhelming favorite and can’t deliver. It cannot be a coincidence.”
It’s been months of her proving she’s right now the best player in the world. She beat Iga Swiatek at Roland-Garros. She cleaned a very tough draw, including Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen. And yet, if it was in her racquet, it wasn’t in her brain. She collapsed in a deluge of (horrendous) mistakes, 80% of them not provoked. She couldn’t calm down even after clinching the first set. She imploded live. Her serve on Saturday ended the weak one, not Coco’s. And so Sabalenka cried on that podium, awfully aware of the amazing opportunity she had blown away. It’s the second time, after the Australian Open final, that Sabalenka comes in as the overwhelming favorite and can’t deliver. It cannot be a coincidence. It’s also proof that you can’t fully change your nature. Let’s see what type of champion she can really become in the way she’s now getting back up, or not, from that Parisian nightmare.
I’ve said for such a long time now that I deeply admire the way Gauff can find ways to win without her A-game. Not only for a couple of matches but for weeks. She reached the finals in Madrid, Rome, and Roland-Garrors by struggling her way through. She has been struggling with her serve and forehand since after the Australian Open. She went through tennis hell during the Sunshine Double. With the pressure on her shoulders and how ambitious she is, Gauff could have entered her existential crisis era. But she didn’t, she just accepted and kept believing she could still find her way to the trophies.
So she was actually in her best-case scenario when a miracle happened, and Sabalenka started to blink. When the wind started to find its way into her opponent’s brain. She knew how to grind through that. She knew how to add a layer to the wind on Sabalenka’s brain. As champions know how to, she fixed her biggest flaws at the best moment: That serve kept quiet, and that forehand was hanging tight. Gauff may not have the biggest game out there (yet), but she already has the strongest mind. She is so tough under pressure. She is such a competitor. She will get that one more ball back. She will throw that kitchen sink. She will fight. Rain, wind, mud, whatever: she will stay there.
Gauff has a flashy personality and so much charisma that she can do without being the flashiest game on Tour. And imagine if she could use that renewed confidence to (finally) find the technical answers to the issues that remain in her tennis. We’ll see soon if that second Grand Slam title could have unlocked Gauff’s game again. She was incredible by the end of last year, and her potential remains quite unreal, which is something scary when you see all she has already achieved.
Gauff’s triumph in Paris is, in the end, a good lesson for Swiatek and Sabalenka: Sometimes, you need to tell your perfectionism and your ego to shut the hell up, and you need to grind. And you need to grind without complaining about it. You need to get back to basics: it’s about winning, whatever it takes, and so it’s about getting that ball back inside and between the lines. It’s about refusing to go away. As I’m writing this line, I have flashbacks of Maria Sharapova as surely one of the greatest champions when it came to finding a way to win and refusing to go away. Was it always pretty? no. Was it freaking efficient? Yes. Did she build an empire and become a tennis icon? Yes.
Rafael Nadal repeated throughout his whole career that he had won so many more matches by playing ugly than by delivering on his A-game and that he’d improve more by finding a way again and again than playing lights out. In the end, we’ll remember Coco Gauff won Roland-Garros in 2025, not the way it happened. Tennis history will remember she found a way to win, and that’s it.
Side note: Tennis history might also remember how touching her mom was through that last service game and how Gauff was extremely Gen Z after the trophy ceremony when she took her time to stage some nice social media content, sending the top of her trophy flying in the process. Good times.
SHE SAID, SHE SAID:
Coco Gauff:
“It was super tough when I walked on the court and felt the wind because we warmed up with the roof closed. I was, like, this is going to be a tough day, and I knew it was just going to be about willpower and mental. Yeah, it really came down to the last few points, but overall, I'm just really happy with the fight that I managed today. It wasn't pretty, but it got the job done, and that's all that matters.”
“Honestly, after I lost the first set, I told myself, like, I'll just give it my all, and if I lose this match, then at least I can say I gave it all out there, and I'll go and go home and get to see my boyfriend and everything like that. Honestly, I've been telling myself that every day."
“I just remembered that ceremony when Iga won. I just remembered trying to take it all in and pay attention to every detail and just feel like I wanted that experience for myself. So when the anthem got played, I vividly remember watching her, pretty emotional when the Polish anthem got played. I was, like, Wow, this is such a cool moment. So when the anthem got played today, I kind of had those reflections. It was a tough time. I was doubting myself, wondering if I would ever be able to circle it, especially my mentality going into that match (in 2022). I was crying before the match and so nervous, and I literally couldn't breathe and stuff. I was, like, If I can't handle this, how am I going to handle it again? Then obviously US Open happened, which credit that reaction, and now I just felt really ready today, and I was, like, I'm just going to leave it all out there, and regardless of what happens, I can leave proud.”
“Just to be able to be a representation of that and a representation of, I guess, people that look like me in America who maybe don't feel as supported during this time period, and so just being that reflection of hope and light for those people. I'm proud to represent the Americans who look like me and people who kind of support the things that I support.”
“For sure, I'm going to rest and enjoy it and not go into training too quickly just because I feel like this stuff doesn't happen too often, so I just got to enjoy it.”
Aryna Sabalenka:
“I have to say, in the past two weeks, I played really tough matches, really incredible players. I played at a better level than in the final. It was really honestly the worst tennis I've played in the last I don't know how many months. Conditions were terrible, and she simply was better in these conditions than me. I think it was the worst final I ever played.”
“It was tricky in these conditions to do stuff that I was doing, for example, in Madrid, that I know I have to do against her to get the win. Honestly sometimes it felt like she was hitting the ball from the frame. Somehow, magically, the ball lands in the court, and you kind of, like, on the back foot. Yeah, it's just, you know, like -- it felt like a joke, honestly, like somebody from above was just staying there laughing, like, let's see if you can handle this.”
“It got more windy. Also, I was overemotional. I think today I didn't really handle myself quite well mentally, I would say. So basically, that's it. I was just making unforced errors. I think she won the match not because she played incredibly; just because I made all of those mistakes from -- like, if you look from the outside, kind of like from easy balls. It's another tough final in the Grand Slam against Coco. Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final. I have to just step back and look at this from the perspective to try to finally learn the lesson because I cannot go out there every time against her in the finals of the Grand Slam and play such terrible tennis and give those wins emotionally.”
(Comparing with Melbourne) “In different ways, I can actually see the same thing. Just the level was much better in the third set against Keys. She just basically overhit and went for crazy shots, and it went in. Kind of like overpowered me in the last couple of games. And today was just, you know, she literally just put an extra ball on the other side than I did, so... Yeah, I definitely have to, you know, step back and learn something, because I cannot keep doing the same mistake.”
I already have a flight booked to Mykonos and alcohol, sugar. I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world and this crazy -- if I could swear, I would swear right now, but this crazy thing that happened today. I think everyone understands. I'm just trying to be very polite right now, but you know, there is no other word, you know, that could describe what just happened today on the court. But yeah, tequila, gummy bears, and I don't know, swimming, being like the tourist for couple of days.
Jean-Christophe Faurel: “We talked a lot after the Miami tournament. We put a lot of things on the table.”
French coach Jean-Christophe Faurel wasn’t at the US Open with Coco Gauff when she clinched her first Grand Slam title, but he has been working with her on and off since she was 15. And so this time, he was there for that Roland-Garros triumph. He’s not a fan of speaking to the media, not a fan of being too much in the spotlight, but he still agreed to sit down before the final to have a quick chat. He’s convinced the best for Gauff is yet to come, and he also admires how she got through some rough patches this year.
Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: People will say that Coco going far here is logical, but if you go back to how she struggled through the Sunshine Double, isn’t it actually a huge performance to even be in that Grand Slam final?
Jean-Christophe Faurel: Of course, it's a huge performance. When you look at the Top 50 right now, there’s not a single player you want to play against. It’s getting more and more physical, and the players can do more and more things. When you look at the draw of a WTA 1000, you see that even to get to a fourth round or a quarterfinal, you’re going to have to work very hard because it's going to be complicated. So yes, of course, it's a huge performance.
“She was a little lost.”
Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: What was the speech before the start of the clay season, as she was so disappointed in the way she played in Indian Wells and Miami? How did you help her get back on track? Were there talks happening?
Jean-Christophe Faurel: Of course, we talked a lot after the Miami tournament. We put a lot of things on the table, and we hit the set button on a lot of things, too. About the way she was playing, about little details that maybe sometimes weren’t clear enough. She’s a competitor, and she’s really focused on the biggest events. She had a very good start to the season in Australia she played great at the United Cup, even if it was a little less good in Melbourne, but she still reached the quarterfinals.
After that, it’s true that she struggled, but she’s not a machine, and it was also our fault at times when we might not have done the right things. She was a little lost. So, we really put everything on the table after Miami, and since then, in her mind, it’s become clearer how she needs to play and what she has to do. That’s why she won a lot of matches, but, again, there’s not a single one of them when she goes on court thinking it’s going to be easy. Every day, she has to be at her best. And one of her greatest qualities is her mentality, the way she never gives up on anything.
“There’s still everything to do in terms of her game”
It's the same here, she made the final in Madrid and the final in Rome, but she was down a set in the first two rounds. She could have lost in these first rounds, and people would have been like, “What’s going on?”. So it’s really her mental strength that’s been making the difference. Also, Coco remains a very young player. She’s been there for so long that people think she’s 27 or something, but she’s just 21. There’s still everything to do in terms of her game and how she deals with some moments in the matches. We work on a lot of things, so perhaps some older ones can be set aside, but the matches she lost were against great players.
Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: Perfectionism: many players can’t play through mistakes, but she doesn’t seem to have an issue with it. Is she less of a perfectionist, or is she masking it well? She won an incredible number of games with her B game this year, been struggling so hard with that serve…
Jean-Christophe Faurel: She hates to fail more than I've ever seen anyone. She’s so angry when she makes a mistake. She hates it, but she hides it. But she's ultra, ultra, ultra perfectionist. I won’t brag about anything there because, in the way she deals with that, it’s all her. Obviously, we tell her to take her time and all that. But I'm always impressed by what she’s able to manage emotionally during some of these matches. what’s also one of her strengths is that after victories or defeats, she will quickly switch to something else. When she wins, she's happy, but the highs aren’t wow high. It’s always about what’s next. It's a quality.
Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: How did you build that trust with her throughout the years, making her feel she needed you back in the team after winning the US Open with someone else? It’s not that common on Tour these days?
Jean-Christophe Faurel: That's a good question. I don't know. When I met her, she was 15 years old. At 15 years old, you're a little girl. Her father was very present, which is no longer the case. So it's true that today it's much easier to have discussions. But above all else, she's exactly the same girl: super easy-going, super nice.
“She impresses me every day in training.”
Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: Did you have a vision for her game from the start?
Jean-Christophe Faurel: Yes, I had a vision from the very beginning. It will take time.
Carole Bouchard, The Tennis Sweet Spot: Was there a moment when you were particularly impressed with Coco in these past two weeks here?
Jean-Christophe Faurel: She impresses me every day in training. She's still young. At 21, you don't manage your emotions like you do at 25 or 30. One thing I'm certain of is that it will take time, but when everything comes together, it will be something else.
🎧 Aryna Sabalenka’s coaches, Anton Dubrov and Joe Stacy came to press on Friday ahead of the final, and they shared a lot of interesting things about their work and mindset with her. Things that are maybe even more interesting in the light of what happened in the final. Especially when they talked about things that fall under the “Don’t feed it” mandate and how emotional control was at the heart of everything with Sabalenka:
ROLAND-GARROS (H)
ENDS AND BEGINNINGS
A chapter comes to an end, and another starts. The Big 4 Era is ending, and the Sinner/Alcaraz era might be opening. It’s quite the perfect timing that this Roland-Garros might end up being the moment the guard changed for real. When Novak Djokovic lost that semi-final against Jannik Sinner, the image was even too perfect. Were we in a movie? Djokovic being beaten by Sinner, whose game has been built on the Djoker’s one. (His first mentor Riccardo Piatti told me this year that it was the goal for Sinner, like Alcaraz, to build their games in order to beat Djokovic and Nadal and so to also build these games on these two legends because these were the game styles that were winning big.)
Djokovic paused to salute the crowd, hand on heart, bowing down to a French crowd that was pushing behind him from start to finish. Again, a movie-like moment. Will it end up being the last bow of the Last One Standing Of The Avengers? Or the moment that could Djokovic to keep going? The thing is, Novak Djokovic is facing something none of the other three Avengers ever faced. He is still, at 38, way too good to retire, and yet he might still do it. Contrary to the other three, his body isn’t retiring him.
“I don't know really what tomorrow brings in a way at this point in my career.”
Yes, he has lost some of his superpowers with age, but we saw in Paris that what remains is still enough to hope for winning Grand Slam titles. Nadal didn’t want to retire: He had to. Murray and Federer, the same. Djokovic doesn’t have to in such an obvious way. It took a lot for Sinner to get each and every set out of him. So, yes, the end of the road is coming for Novak Djokovic, but not at a fast pace, and so it leaves him with some big decisions. His motivation is clearly going away faster than his fitness level.
“This could have been the last match ever I played here,” he now infamously told the press after the match. “That's why I was a bit more emotional even in the end. But if this was the farewell match of the Roland Garros for me in my career, it was a wonderful one in terms of the atmosphere and what I got from the crowd.”
But the more the press conference lasted, the less certain Djokovic seemed about it all. “I don't know really what tomorrow brings in a way at this point in my career. I’m going to keep on keeping on, yes (smiling). Obviously, Wimbledon is next, which is my childhood favorite tournament. I'm going to do everything possible to get myself ready. I guess my best chances maybe are Wimbledon, to win another slam or faster hard court, maybe Australia or something like that. (…) I said it could have been my last match. I didn't say it was. So I don't know right now. 12 months at this point in my career is quite a long time. Do I wish to play more? Yes, I do. But will I be able to play in 12 months' time here again? I don't know. I don't know.”
How could he now? At 38, he’s still in Grand Slam semifinals. He’s still one win away from the record of Majors titles. He’s still so good. Even Jannik Sinner, when asked about it, hoped Djokovic would keep going. “We hope that it's not the case (that Djokovic retires) because I feel like tennis needs him in a way because having someone different than the younger guys is so nice. It’s amazing to see him in the locker room and then having this energy. It's a true role model for all of us.” Ends and Beginnings: just here, the timeline is still blurry.
Read More:
A feature about Jannik Sinner’s new returning position
My interview with Jannik Sinner’s co-coach Darren Cahill:
SOME BREAK POINTS…
Andy Roddick got Andre Agassi, who will be handing the trophy to the winner on Sunday at Roland-Garros, on his podcast, and you can watch it here.
In an all-German final in the Juniors event, Niels McDonald took over Max Schoenhaus (6-7(5), 6-0, 6-3). He became the first German to win here since Daniel Elsner in 1997. What else to know? McDonald trains at the Good To Great Academy in Sweden, mentored by experienced coach and former player Mikael Tillström.
Austrian Lilli Tagger did some damage in the girls’ draw, including ousting seeds 1 and 3, and was rewarded by clinching the title against British player Hannah Klugman (6-2, 6-0). What else to know: One hand on that backhand and Francesca Schiavone in her coaching box.
The French Tennis Federation and Warner Bros. Discovery have renewed their partnership in Europe (France excluded) until 2030.
A wee humble brag moment: I won the 2025 Media Award, given by the Tennis Black List. “Your outstanding commitment to tennis has been recognised by the Tennis Black List Steering Group. This award celebrates excellence in tennis journalism across all platforms — including broadcast, audio, digital, and written media. It’s a fitting recognition of the impact your work continues to make across the sport. In association with Dante Talent, the Tennis Black List Awards celebrates inspiring role models from the Black and mixed-Black heritage community at all levels — from grassroots to elite,” they said. I’m stocked about that, and I want to thank you all of you who keep reading and engaging with my content.
Brilliant work. Nuance gets lost a lot in sports coverage. But several things can also be true at once. Coco can both deserve to win AND the level can be far from elite AND the conditions can be suboptimal AND Aryna is fully entitled to express HER truth and frustration in a post match press conference AND Coco could perhaps stand at the edge of greatness if she can continue to elevate her level AND that doesn’t mean she’s not great already.
I'm no fan of Sabalenka (too noisy!) but am wondering what you think about all the grief she's been getting over her press conference response. I give her credit for saying what she really thought and felt whether or not it was fair to Coco.