I'm gonna give her the benefit of the doubt" - Coco Gauff ‘surprised’ by Aryna Sabalenka’s comments after French Open victory

2025 French Open champion Coco Gauff responded to her opponent, Aryna Sabalenka’s post-match comments. Gauff,after her victory, appeared on the ABC show Good Morning America, which aired on June 9. In reference to the comments made by Sabalenka, Gauff said:

“I know she was probably a bit emotional after that match and it was a tough loss, I was a little bit surprised about the comments and everything, but I'm gonna give her the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure it was an emotional day, emotional match.”

Belarus’ Sabalenka faced off against Gauff in the final of the French Open on June 7. After losing to Gauff in the tight match, Sabalenka, during the post-match conference, said:

“I was just making unforced errors, like I don't know I have to check the statistics, I think she won the match not because she played incredible, just because I made all of those mistakes.”

Sabalenka’s comments drew sharp criticism on the internet. It is important to note here, however, that prior to Coco Gauff’s comments, Sabalenka had issued a statement. According to People Magazine, Sabalenka took to social media to write:

“Coco handled the conditions much better than I did and fully deserved the win. She was the better player yesterday, and I want to give her the credit she earned…I made over 70 unforced errors, so I can’t pretend it was a great day for me.”

What Coco Gauff revealed about her strategy

Aryna Sabalenka’s controversial comments were not the only subject of conversation during Coco Gauff’s appearance on Good Morning America. Gauff revealed that she suffered from bouts of self-doubt, and further opened up about her strategy to overcome it, saying:

“I realize that I just try to redirect those into positive thoughts, even if you don't truly believe them. But eventually, when those moments are tough and you don't know your back is against the wall, you don't know where to lean on, you try to lean on the positivity and the belief, I think that's what carried me through that match and honestly throughout the whole tournament.”

During the show, Gauff went on to point out that surprises and unexpected challenges are part and parcel of competitive sports. Sharing an instance from the day of the final, Gauff said:

“When I stepped on the court, I was aware of the wind, we both practiced with the roof closed so I honestly wanted the roof to be closed before the match because my quarterfinal and semi -- it was closed and I thought I was playing good tennis. But when I found out it was open, I saw how windy it was on the court, I knew it was gonna be an ugly win.”

While reiterating that beating a tough opponent like Sabalenka requires some form of planning wherein the playing technique is based on forcing the opponent to make errors, Gauff revealed:

“I know that when I play on a windy day, you're not going to win by hitting winners, you're not going to win by playing pretty tennis because the ball is moving, your footwork, everything…feels like you're in space and you don't know what is happening…when you're playing Aryna, she's such a tough hitter, so you know she's going to hit winners. You kind of have to make her make those mistakes.”

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This year was not the first time that Gauff played in the finals of the French Open. Gauff was also a finalist of the 2022 edition of the French Open. She was 18 years of age at the time. However, Coco Gauff, who was appearing in a Grand Slam final for the first time, lost to her opponent, Iga Świątek.

Meanwhile, in the men's edition of the French Open, Carlos Alcaraz won the trophy.

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