Sabalenka: Swiatek Would Have Beaten Gauff in French Open Final

Giving speeches and participating in press conferences after losing in a Grand Slam final is very difficult — especially when speaking in your second language.

However, that has never stopped Aryna Sabalenka from giving eye-opening quotes before and did not stop her today. After losing to Coco Gauff in the French Open final, Sabalenka opened up when speaking to the media.

During her post-match press conference, Sabalenka kept reiterating that it was her worst match in months and her level of execution was unacceptable for a finals performance.

However, Sabalenka's most attention-grabbing quote came at the very end of her presser. Sabalenka said she believed that had Iga Swiatek beat her in the semifinal, Swiatek would have gone on to beat Gauff in today's final.

"It hurts. Especially when you've been playing really great tennis during the whole week. You've been playing against a lot of tough opponents, Olympic champion [Qinwen Zheng]. Iga. And then you go out and play really bad. I don't know.

"I think if Iga would win at me the other day, I think she would go out today, and she would get the win. It's just... (laughs). It just hurts, honestly."

Shortly after Sabalenka's comments made their way onto social media, tennis fans found the remarks to be disrespectful to Gauff. Others appreciate the candor from the three-time Grand Slam champion.

After today, Sabalenka falls to 39-6 on the season with three singles titles. Sabalenka said she will take a few days off before preparing for grass court season.

Update

Coco Gauff was asked about Aryna Sabalenka saying Iga Swiatek would’ve beaten her in the Roland Garros final:

“I don’t agree with that. I mean, I’m sitting here. 😂 No shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. I don’t think that’s a fair thing to… pic.twitter.com/CvuuYOMqly
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) June 7, 2025

Gauff was asked about Sabalenka'a remarks and responded:

"I don't agree with that. I mean, I'm sitting here. No shade to Iga or anything, but I played her, and I won in straight sets. I don't think that's a fair thing to say. Because anything can really happen.

Honestly, the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favorite to win. I think she was the best person I could've played in the final. Her being No. 1 in the world, she was the best person to play. So, I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone.

Obviously, Iga being a champion here, it was gonna be a tough match either way. But yeah, regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win, and I definitely had that belief. If you ask me, honestly speaking, who I wanted to play, it was Iga. Just because I felt Aryna was playing so good.

Obviously, Iga is a tough opponent too. Honestly neither of them would've been the better shot. But it played out how it played out, and that's why I'm here today."

Stay locked into Sports Illustrated's Serve On SI for all of your tennis news from the court and beyond.

More Tennis News

How to shop Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff's on-court kits from the 2025 French Open.

Novak Djokovic might have played his last match at Roland Garros.

Naomi Osaka and Jessica Pegula have pulled out of the Queen's Club Championships.

Iga Swiatek explains what went wrong in French Open loss.

Matthew McConaughey encourages Coco Gauff at French Open.