CNN
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The final in the women’s tournament at Roland Garros is set after Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff put an end to two historic runs in Paris, with the American Gauff breaking French hearts in the process.
Gauff’s dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over France’s Lois Boisson halted the story of this major after Boisson’s underdog run inspired the host nation. Boisson entered the tournament as the No. 361 player in the world and upset two top 10 players on her way to the tournament’s semifinals.
But the fatigue of the Cinderella story appeared to catch up with Boisson, a day after a dramatic win over No. 6 Mirra Andreeva. The Frenchwoman received a massive ovation from the crowd at Court Philippe-Chartier as she walked off the famous clay.
Gauff simply blew past Boisson, breaking her serve in the opening game and claiming the first four games of the match before Boisson could halt her momentum briefly to get on the board. It took 38 minutes for Gauff to put Boisson away in the first set and the match in total lasted a little more than an hour.
Boisson and Gauff both held serve to start the second set, but Gauff got a break point in the fourth game and there was no coming back for the French underdog after that.
Boisson made 33 unforced errors to Gauff’s 15 and could not muster the same kind of groundswell of emotion that carried her past Andreeva and world No. 3 Jessica Pegula in her previous two matches.
Gauff is now heading into her third singles grand slam final and looking for her second grand slam championship. She’s appeared in the final at Roland Garros once before, losing in 2022 to Iga Świątek.
Świątek lost earlier in the day to Sabalenka, the first time in four years that the Polish defending champion has tasted defeat at Roland Garros.
The three-time defending champion was dethroned by Sabalenka in the semifinals of this year’s French Open, with the world No. 1 triumphing 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-0 in a high-quality display.
For Sabalenka, it sets up her first final at the clay court grand slam and second final against Gauff – the American beat the Belarusian in the 2023 US Open final.
Świątek was on a 26-match winning streak at Roland Garros prior to Thursday’s semifinal – the second-longest in women’s singles in the Open Era – but faced a tall task against a high-flying Sabalenka.
In an absorbing contest, both women played aggressive tennis in a bid to gain the upper hand in a close first set. Sabalenka looked to have done that when she broke Świątek twice for a 4-1 lead, only for the Polish star to fight back. A double fault from Sabalenka made it 4-4 before Świątek took a lead for the first time in the match the following game.
There were eight breaks of serve over the course of the one-hour, 10-minute opening set, which was ultimately decided in a tie-break dominated by Sabalenka.
The second set continued in a similar vein to the first, with three breaks of serve in the first three games. Świątek got what proved to be the crucial edge for a 3-1 lead and was able to see out the set from there to become the first person to take a set off Sabalenka this tournament.
In the deciding set, however, the Belarusian took the brakes off, dismantling Świątek’s challenge in just 22 minutes without making an unforced error. By the end of the match, she had hit 29 winners – the same number as Świątek – while converting an impressive eight of her 10 break points.
With the victory, Sabalenka has now won all of her past five grand slam semifinals and will look to win a fourth major title in Saturday’s showpiece.
“It was tricky conditions, I have to say,” she told TNT Sports after the match. “It was tricky to serve with the roof closed. It was different compared to the previous matches, but I’m glad that both of us adjusted pretty well and we were able to show such a high-level match.”
Sabalenka, who was defeated by American Madison Keys in the Australian Open final in January, has been the standout player in women’s tennis in 2025 with three titles to her name.
The year so far has been less kind to Świątek. Having spent so long at the top of the rankings throughout her career, she has dropped to No. 5 in the world and is yet to win a title this season.
And after winning four of the past five titles at Roland Garros, the tournament will crown a first-time French Open women’s champion on Saturday.
This story has been updated.
