Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka faced off in another French Open final in 2025, but this time, Gauff took the trophy – and there were plenty of storylines left trailing in the wake of her victory.
After the Roland Garros final, Sabalenka reflected openly on her loss, admitting she played with too much emotion and also suggesting that Iga Swiatek would have beaten Gauff if she had been in the final.
Although Gauff was one of those many who heard these comments, she has since shown remarkable maturity in the way she handled the situation, especially considering her age.
Coco Gauff treats Aryna Sabalenka comments as “water under a bridge”
The American has now shared her perspective, having been asked about her rival’s remarks during her opening Wimbledon press conference.
Gauff said: “Yeah, I mean, obviously, some people are critiquing what she said in the speech. I didn’t really care about any of that because I know how it feels, and I understood what she was trying to say.
“It was a terrible condition day. I don’t think I was playing well either, so I understood where she was coming from with that.
“Obviously some of the stuff that was said in the presser, I think I was a bit more surprised about, but yeah, I’m not someone to hold a grudge and when people I was talking to in my circle about it, I was like, if she apologises, not even publicly, it was just more so privately, I will be fine and we’ll move on.
“And she did, and she did again when I saw her before her practice and, yeah, it’s just water under a bridge.
“I felt like before that we got along pretty well anyways before all that happened, so it wasn’t very hard to accept that apology.
As Sabalenka also reflected, the conditions that day were tough, with the wind playing a significant role. But Gauff’s reaction highlighted her increasing strength, understanding, and maturity – a mark of her growing presence on tour.
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Coco Gauff mentions TikTok dance with Aryna Sabalenka as a gesture to show they’ve moved on
The two have now moved on from the incident, with Gauff noting that they “were on good terms before and are on good terms now”.
She added: “We both kind of talked more about what it meant, and I understood what she meant by it wasn’t anything personal.”
Gauff spoke about their social media moment during her press conference, telling reporters: “I think the TikTok was more like, we would do a TikTok anyways, we have in the past at WTA Finals and things like that.
“But I think that was just more so just to kind of show people that we are on good terms and, you know, there are a lot of things that have been said, and I’m not someone that supports hate and things like that.
“And so I thought it would be a good idea for that just so people can really see it and kind of move on, because I think we’re both tired of talking about it, to be honest.”
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