Gauff headed into Roland-Garros as the No.2 seed and came from behind in challenging windy conditions against the world No.1 to land her second Grand Slam singles trophy with a 6-7 6-2 6-4 victory.
It is the first major singles title the American star has secured on clay, with her only previous triumph on home soil at the 2023 US Open.
Her French Open singles trophy comes one year after she clinched the Roland-Garros doubles title with Czech partner Katerina Siniakova.
Women’s tennis legend Chris Evert has lauded Gauff and described the 21-year-old as a ‘fighter’ after her stunning comeback against Sabalenka.
Evert told TNT Sports as cited by Sports Central: ‘There were tears from her, she could see how much she wanted that and how stressful that whole match was. ‘But she found a way. She deserves to win this one. She was brought up on clay and was a finalist before [in 2022]. ‘She’s won her second [Grand Slam]. She’s waited a while for this. When we saw her at 15, we knew that she’d be winning multiple Slams and she’s on her second one right now. It’s quite incredible. ‘[Gauff] really kept her calm after losing the first set. She’s a fighter, she came back and out she needed to match Aryna’s power, she did that. She did that and stay calm under the pressure when Aryna got a little bit flustered and sensed the errors. All is happy in the Gauff camp. ‘She proved what a great all-court player she is. The defending she did was incredible. It came down to the wire a she kept her cool better than Aryna, we can safely say that.’ ‘At least Sabalenka proved she can win this title, she came so close. Maybe getting upset held her back a little bit.’
Sabalenka was eventually punished for her high tally of unforced errors – but it was the Belarusian who had the better start on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Sabalenka broke Gauff to love in game three – and she made it a double break in game five with a stunning return off the second serve.
That saw Sabalenka go 4-1 up but Gauff came roaring back with a break and hold of serve reducing her opponent’s lead back down to one game.
The eighth game of the first set turned into somewhat of a marathon as Sabalenka saved four break points – but Gauff finally got the job done to secure her own double break – and level things up at 4-4 on the red dirt.
More drama followed in game nine as Sabalenka secured her third break of the match to swing the momentum back in her favour – only to miss two set points in game 10 – and hand Gauff the opportunity to break her back.
Gauff couldn’t convert the first four break points but made no mistake with the fifth to once again level up the women’s singles final at 5-5.
The topsy-turvy showdown continued as Sabalenka and Gauff broke each other yet again to make it 6-6 and force a tie-break, with the world No.1 losing the first three points before eventually taking the first set 7-6 (7-5).
Gauff needed to produce a comeback in the second set to force a possible decider and got off to a flier with an impressive double break to lead 4-1.
Gauff’s first break of the second set was secured with a neat passing shot and her second, in game five, came after a brilliant backhand return winner.
Sabalenka broke back but Gauff instantly responded with a break of her own – her seventh of the match – to lead 5-2 in the second set of the final.
Gauff then held to love to take the second set 6-2, meaning the two players would battle it out in a third-set decider.
At 3-3, Sabalenka registered her 61st unforced error of the day, remarkably the highest tally in a women’s singles match at Roland-Garros this year.
Gauff then secured a break by whipping a beautiful backhand past her opponent to lead 4-3.
The American missed her first match point in game 10 of the third set but got over the line with her second opportunity to win the final 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 6-4 as Sabalenka’s total of unforced errors hit 70.
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