Aryna Sabalenka is not taking her French Open final defeat very well.
The World number one has now lost two successive Grand Slam finals, first to Madison Keys in Australia and now to her compatriot Coco Gauff in Paris.
On both occasions Sabalenka lost in three sets, but in the French capital she suffered defeat after taking the first set.
The wind played a factor for both players in Saturday’s final and Sabalenka simply could not adjust to the conditions and was frustrated by Gauff’s movement and elite defensive skills.
Gauff went on to record a 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 victory and Sabalenka has explained what contributed to her defeat.
Aryna Sabalenka explains why she lost the French Open final to Coco Gauff
Aryna Sabalenka started the French Open strong and raced into a 4-1 lead. But it soon evaporated and the first set was eventually decided via a tiebreak, which the Belarusian won despite trailing 1-4.
But Gauff controlled proceedings from the second set onwards and was more composed in the crucial moments while slowly upping her aggression, and Sabalenka did not have answers for it.
She was overcome with emotion during the trophy presentation and during her press conference, she explained why she lost the match, and it was not because of her opponent.
“At 4-1 in the first set, the wind started to get stronger. Also, I think I was too emotional. I didn’t handle myself very well mentally today, so that’s basically it,” the World number one said.
“I was making unforced errors; I have to check the stats. I think she won the match not because she played amazingly, but because I made all those easy ball errors.
“I have to take a step back and put things into perspective and try to learn the lesson, because I can’t go out there every time I face her in a Grand Slam final and play terrible tennis and win emotionally.”
Aryna Sabalenka congratulated Coco Gauff after the French Open
Sabalenka has now lost both her Grand Slam finals against Gauff, with the first coming in 2023 at the US Open.
Despite being upset with the conditions, she still took time during the to presentation to share a message with the American player after she became French Open champion.
“This one hurts so much, especially after such a tough two weeks playing great tennis and in these terrible conditions to show such terrible tennis in the final really hurt,” Sabalenka added.
“But it’s okay. Coco, congrats. In these tough conditions you were a better player than me.
“Well done on a great two weeks and congrats on the second Grand Slam, well deserved. You are a fighter, a hard worker, so congrats to you and your team.”
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