French Open champ Coco Gauff’s handwritten note has surprising inspiration

Coco Gauff defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s French Open final to win her second career major. The 21-year-old showed off a note she made herself beforehand with a shoutout to a three-time Olympic gold medalist as her surprising source of inspiration.

The second-ranked Gauff won in three sets, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, to become the first American woman to win the French Open since 2015 with Serena Williams.

The future is bright for Gauff and she will keep setting her goals high.

After the win, Gauff took to Instagram to show off her surprising source of inspiration that she channeled from sprinter Gabby Thomas, who won three gold medals in the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The champ wrote, “ignore my handwriting but i saw @gabbythomas do this. Had to do the same lol.”

Gauff was also a member of Team USA in Paris, although she was ousted in the third round on the same court, Roland Garros, that she just won.

Thomas reacted to Gauff’s message on Instagram with her own reply: “🥹🥹🥹 @cocogauff YOU DESERVE IT ALL!!”

Thomas is 28 and still running at an elite level, recently taking home $100k with the first-ever Grand Slam win where she did an iconic dance on the podium.

Gauff definitely did her best Thomas impression and manifested herself mentally to becoming the French Open champion.

Congrats to Coco Gauff!

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