Aryna Sabalenka offered a fairly brutal assessment of her French Open final against Coco Gauff that did not necessarily go down well with everyone watching.
Gauff beat Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 in Saturday’s final at Roland Garros in Paris, with Sabalenka losing her cool at several points during the match. The match was played with the roof open amid windy conditions that impacted both players.
Sabalenka made an astonishing 70 unforced errors and was shouting confrontationally at her coaches for a large part of the final set. She paid tribute to Gauff in her runner-up speech, but also gave a harsh assessment of the match as a whole.
“Honestly, guys, this one hurts so much. Especially after such a tough two weeks,” Sabalenka said. “Playing great tennis and then in these terrible conditions to show such terrible tennis in the final, it really hurts. But it’s OK. Anyway, Coco, congrats. In these tough conditions, you were a better player than me.”
Aryna Sabalenka after losing to Coco Gauff in the Roland Garros final:
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 7, 2025
*Aryna starts to cry and the crowd cheers for her*
Aryna: “honestly guys this one hurts so much. Especially after such a tough two weeks. Playing great tennis and then in these terrible conditions to show… pic.twitter.com/NKqn9Ou7f8
Sabalenka’s comments rubbed some the wrong way. Some on social media criticized her for being ungracious, and felt that her comments about the match being “terrible” were disrespectful to Gauff.
I appreciate disappointment and hurt BUT Sabalenka is such a salty loser. So ungracious in her defeat speeches. Not keen at all #RolandGarros
— Ella (@Damerella) June 7, 2025
What a pathetic speech from Sabalenka.
— KING Zyon 👑 (@zyonbets) June 7, 2025
I get it, you just lost a Grand Slam Final, no one is happy at that moment. But do you have to try and discredit Gauff’s trophy that much?
Every other word out of her mouth was “terrible final” “terrible conditions”
Aryna Sabalenka says to her team,
— notyourcountryclub (@showfortennis) June 7, 2025
“Sorry for this terrible final.”
Save that for the locker room. Coco doesn’t want to hear all that right now
Wow, Sabalenka needs to work on her speeches when she loses. "Terrible tennis". Do better.
— kate davidge (@RafalitoFan) June 7, 2025
Former WTA pro Rennae Stubbs also disliked the speech, calling it “rude” and arguing that the tennis was not terrible, but Gauff simply had better composure.
ugh….the tennis was not that bad. You made a bazillion unforced errors because youre playing against the fastest players in the world who is as gutsy as hell and had better composure then u!! but to say it was horrible…..ugh!!!! Damn that was rude. I said what I said.
— Rennae Stubbs ♈️ (@rennaestubbs) June 7, 2025
Seven-time French Open champion Chris Evert, speaking on TNT’s broadcast of the final, also did not seem too impressed with what she saw as excuses from Sabalenka for her poor play.
“When you heard Ayrna say it was the worst, I’m like, whoa,” Evert said. “You have to adjust. It’s the same on both sides. You have to adjust on both sides. You’re No. 1 in the world. You should know how to play on windy days by now.
“It was swirling. Well, you know what? You really have to get ready and get prepared for the shot quicker, and you have to be aware of that, and you have to make the court smaller and not go for the lines all the time if it’s that windy. It was the same for both of them, and I think Coco really adapted to it much better.”
Sabalenka made 70 unforced errors to Gauff’s 30. Her frustration was understandable, but Evert is correct. One player simply dealt with the conditions better than the other did, and that is why Gauff won.
We have seen that Sabalenka is capable of giving good speeches after falling in a major final. This one, however, missed the mark for some.
