Coco Gauff defeats Aryna Sabalenka in French Open final | Reaction + Men’s Final Preview

Cici Bellis joins CBS Sports HQ to recap the 2025 French Open final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka and preview the Men’s Final.

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on CBS sports HQ streaming free anywhere you are. We have got breaking news out of the tennis world. Coco Gauff has won the French Open for the first time in her career, taking down world number one Arina Sabalenka, a three set thriller at Roland Garros. Got the first American to win there since Serena Williams ten years ago in 2015. This is the second major title of golf’s career, her first since the 23 US open, where she also beat Sabalenka. After dropping the first set, Gauff will look to go back to back and win the French and Wimby double when Wimbledon starts up later this month at the All England Lawn and Tennis Club. All right, let’s talk about some Coco Gauff with Cici Bellis, former world number 35 CBS sports tennis analyst. First of all, first reaction to an epic first set and a three set win for Coco Gauff to win the French Open. What did you think? Yeah, wow. This was certainly a roller coaster of a match. It was tough conditions out there. It was windy. There was rain coming down at certain times. So I think that did favor Gauff a little bit. But my gosh, I mean what a feeling we’ve got. You know an American winning the French. It’s been a ten year drought since Serena. And yeah just incredible for golf to pull through a tough one today. You know and a lot of people within the tennis world have said that, you know, clay might end up being Coco’s best surface. And here she is backing that up with a win at Roland Garros. Why is clay so good for the way Coco plays? Yeah. You know it’s interesting. You know in tight moments I think Coco sometimes reverts to playing defensively because she’s so athletic. She moves so well. She’s able to, you know, really get to any shots. She does kind of revert to that slice forehand sometimes on the run. And I think that actually works really well on clay. And you know, today with those kind of slow, windy conditions, you know, even though in tight moments she did kind of revert back to that defensive style. It actually worked really well against Sabalenka. So I think overall you know her athleticism, you know the way she plays, she makes a lot of balls. She runs down a lot of balls. The clay really favors her. You know reading Sabalenka has been running roughshod over the WTA tour since not winning the Australian Open. Another American, by the way, back to back American major champs this year so far on the WTA tour. Shout out Maddie Key’s Australian Open winner. And now, as we look ahead to Wimbledon, you got to look at Coco. But also Sabalenka is there with the way she plays. How does her game match up on grass as compared to maybe against Coco on clay? Yeah, I think, you know she would prefer the grass for sure. Today was probably not Sabalenka’s best day. You know, she had close to 70 unforced errors throughout the whole match. I think, you know, throughout the tournament, in one match, you know, she didn’t have more than around 25. So today, you know having quite a bit more than that. Certainly not her best day. Not her not the best conditions. But on grass you know, a lot of her, you know, kind of winners that she thought would be winners came back against Coco today. But on grass I think it would you know, they would probably end up being winners. Tough surface for Sabalenka. She never thought she’d be, you know, a dominant clay court player. This is, you know, the first time for her in the French Open final. So certainly a somewhat of a surprise on that end. But she’s been so dominant on tour all year. You know, it’s not super surprising for her to be in another major final. But I really like Sabalenka on the grass. I think her shots will stay super low and she’ll get a few more winners out of those big ones. Coco Gauff lost her first French Open final to IGA Swiatek, now wins it in her second try. Quick thought on IGA hasn’t been in a final since Roland Garros a year ago. We’re talking about a player who was so dominant for a number of years. What do you think is going on? Yeah, you know, I think it’s a bit mental for ego right now. She’s such an incredible player. I still think she’s, you know, one of, if not the best clay court women’s players on tour. And, you know, she’s in a bit of a rough patch I think with confidence. You know she got through a tough match this tournament against Rybakina. I thought that was going to, you know, kind of propel her to end up, you know, potentially winning the title but you know, couldn’t really get it done. I think it’s more mental for her rather than game style. Confidence is huge for her. You can tell, you know, when she’s playing confidently in her matches, walking confidently, you know, broad shoulders. She’s got a positive attitude and we haven’t seen that in a little while. So you know she’s getting older I think pressure’s coming into play a little bit. She’ll have to kind of, you know, reset, you know, expectations for herself a little bit and you know, just game style. I don’t think anything’s really going on. I think it’s really more in her head. CC I am so excited for the men’s final on Sunday. Look, we had one and two in the women’s final. We got one and two in the men’s final, and it’s the one that I think we’ve all been waiting for the last few years. Sinner and Alcaraz I just feel like they raised the level of tennis when they get on the court together. What are you looking for most out of that matchup on Sunday? Yeah. So excited. I think, you know, this is like you said, the match everyone’s been looking forward to I certainly am I think you know for center on on one hand I think he’ll want to start you know the match playing close to the baseline and want to be the aggressor in most of these points. Alcaraz, I think is surely the best clay court player on the ATP tour has been for a couple of years now. But I think overall centers centers the best on tour, of course, being number one in the world. So I think game style wise this is a this is an interesting matchup. I give sinner the slight edge here just because he’s been playing so well as of late. Honestly. You know isn’t super match tough because he had a little break before before the clay season. But this tournament he’s played incredibly well. And you know for Alcaraz I think if Alcaraz wants to win, he’s got to come out bringing his best tennis. He’s got to be going for his shots. His forehand needs to be rock solid and he’s got to keep the unforced error count down. Pretty awesome. Saturday we get to celebrate Coco Gauff winning the French Open and look ahead to Sinner Alcaraz in the final on Sunday. Cici Bellis, great talking tennis with you. Thank you so much. It has been all Sinner and Alcaraz at the majors on the men’s tour for the last year. Plus sinners. The dude’s been winning on the concrete. Alcaraz has been winning it on the natural surfaces, the clay and the grass. They clash for the first time in a