When she burst into the world of tennis at the age of 15, knocking out Venus Williams at Wimbledon 2019, Coco Gauff was expected to have a bright future. But perhaps only now is she confirming those predictions.
"My dad told me when I was eight years old that I could do this. Obviously, you never believe it. And I'm still not 100 per cent sure. You never know what's going to happen. But I want to be the best," she said in her post-match press conference.
Her transformation from a 15-year-old talent into a true champion has not been easy at all. Expectations that she would win every match weighed on her, but she was steadily improving. She even reached the final of the French Open in 2022 and, a year later, won her first major title at the US Open.
However, then came five lacklustre Grand Slams. And only now is she celebrating a major triumph again. On her way to it, she knocked out the winners of the last two Grand Slams - Madison Keys (Australian Open 2025) and Aryna Sabalenka (US Open 2024).
Coco's key moments in Paris
Coco Gauff vs Marie Bouzkova (6-1, 7-6)
After two smooth victories over Olivia Gadecka and Tereza Valenta, came her first tough test. Marie Bouzkova broke Gauff's serve four times in the second set, led 5-3 and was serving for the win.
But the American switched into winning mode, forcing a tiebreak and not letting the match descend into drama. Still, she spent 106 minutes on court in a match full of long points.
Coco Gauff vs Madison Keys (6-7, 6-4, 6-1)
Keys, who won the previous Grand Slam in Melbourne, played very confidently for a long time, and despite a lot of unforced errors, she took the first set for herself. It was the first set that the future champion lost in Paris.
In the second set, Gauff started to be the better player, and she even managed a crisis moment when she went down 4-1. From 4-4 onwards, Gauff then cleared her game of unforced errors and, for the third time in the last four years, advanced to the last four in Paris.
The match was played under a closed roof, and possibly because it was two Americans playing against each other, it did not attract many spectators at all.
The final: Coco Gauff vs Aryna Sabalenka (6-7, 6-2, 6-4)
Gauff wasn't phased by the poor conditions in the final. She kept her head after losing the tiebreak in the first set, where she led 5-3. And even though she hit seven fewer winners than Sabalenka in the match, she managed to win it for herself.
She played consistently, didn't make any mistakes, and saved the key moment for the seventh game of the third set. Immediately after losing her serve, she broke back and went on to claim the victory.
Coco's key numbers
2 - Gauff won her second Grand Slam, triumphing in Paris for the first time since the 2023 US Open, where she also beat Aryna Sabalenka in the final. And just like then, she had to deal with losing the opening set. It was also her second Paris final, but unlike her 2022 clash with Iga Swiatek, she succeeded in this one.
11 - At Grand Slam tournaments, Gauff has already notched up 11 wins over former Grand Slam champions. At 21 years and 77 days, she is the youngest player to do so since Serena Williams (2002).
58% - That's the American champion's success rate when returning serve. In all seven matches, Coco benefited from an excellent return game and, especially on her rivals' second serves, she went after her prey uncompromisingly. She won 121 out of 179 exchanges of her opponents' second serves.
It's been 10 years since the American flag flew at the French Open. During her exceptional 2015 season, Serena Williams won Roland Garros for the third time, beating Lucie Safarova in the final. The American superstar was at the peak of her career, but she narrowly missed out on the calendar Slam.
A decade after the USA's last triumph in Paris, the winner at Roland Garros happens to be the one who has been billed as 'the next Serena Williams' since childhood.
Gauff has shown that she can build on her compatriots' success. She is only 21 years old and has already won two Grand Slams. The sky is the limit for Coco.