Coco Gauff clinched her long-sought French Open title and second career Grand Slam by harnessing self-belief, capping a personal and professional breakthrough at just 21 years old.
Gauff defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday to add to her U.S. Open title two years ago.
Sabalenka had been the more in-form player heading into the final and Gauff felt she needed some extra motivation.
So she drew inspiration from Gabby Thomas, who became the women’s Olympic 200-meter champion at last year’s Paris Olympics. Thomas had kept writing down that she would be the Olympic champion in her Notes app, so Gauff tried adopting the same approach and grabbed a piece of paper.
"I wrote, ‘I will be French Open champion 2025’ like a bunch of times," Gauff explained. "She (Thomas) wrote ‘I will be the Olympic champion’ and she ended up winning the gold. I think it’s a great mindset that she had."
Eight lines on a piece of paper written by Gauff late on a Friday night, then it was finally time for bed, time to rest.
Not quite.
Gauff then persuaded herself a little bit more by staring at the mirror and convincing herself she was looking at the face of a soon-to-be French Open champion.
"Looking at myself in the mirror, so I was trying to instill that belief, and obviously it happened. I didn’t know if it was going to work or not. (But) it did," Gauff said, then laughed as she added: "When you’re desperate, you’re just trying anything to think that it’s going to help you win.”
Gauff also posted on Instagram another message she wrote to herself four years ago, which started with the words "I had a dream last night that I will win (the) French Open.”
Job done.
What also stood out during the 2 hours and 38 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Saturday - in a gritty final punctuated by swirling winds due to the open roof - was how Gauff stayed calm while Sabalenka imploded and continually remonstrated with herself.
All the screams and shouts were coming from Sabalenka's side of the net, while there was an almost quiet, steely focus on Gauff's side.
That's largely because these days, Gauff gets her frustrations out before matches.
"I know how important it is for me to let out those emotions so that when I come on the match court I can try and be as calm as possible," the No. 2-ranked Gauff said. "I'm more cool-headed in matches. But in practice, I can get pretty upset. Just let me be upset. If I'm upset, I’d rather be upset on the practice court than the match."
Gauff will now switch to the grass-court season and may play in Berlin, Germany in a week's time before heading to London for Wimbledon, which starts on May 30.
When she gets to London, Gauff will indulge in one of her favorite hobbies: trying to get out of Escape Rooms.
"For sure, I love it, and I'm going to definitely do it,” she said.
And how about Sabalenka? How will she be coping with the defeat and the frustrations she so clearly felt?
Will she be analyzing footage of the match over and over again, trying to understand where she went wrong and what she must do better?
Far from it.
She's off to indulge herself in Greece.
"I already have a flight booked to Mykonos and alcohol, sugar. I just need couple of days to completely forget about this crazy world,” Sabalenka said. "Tequila, gummy bears, and I don’t know, swimming, being like the tourist for couple of days.”
