Coco Gauff Looks for Second Major Title at Roland Garros

Coco Gauff is considered one of the favorites to capture the women’s singles French Open title. Is it finally her time to hoist a second major trophy?

Gauff has been eyeing a second major title since she won the 2023 U.S. Open at age 19. She hasn’t reached a major final since then, although she did advance to the 2022 French Open final, losing to Iga Świątek, this year’s reigning champion.

The now 21-year-old American is currently in a bit of a clay court title drought, one that’s endured since the Emilia-Romagna Open in 2021. She reached back-to-back finals on clay leading up to Roland Garros, but she lost both matches. She fell to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at the Madrid Open after dominating Świątek, the notable clay court queen. Then, she lost to Jasmine Paolini, last year’s French Open runner-up, at the Italian Open.

Gauff is in a title drought in general right now, as she has yet to capture her first title of the 2025 season. She won the WTA Finals back in November.

This year’s Roland Garros is shaping up to be one of Gauff’s best chances to end the said drought and add some hardware to her trophy cabinet. She enters Paris with momentum from the clay court season, with Gauff saying that she was “proud” of how she performed on the surface so far this year.

It definitely helps that Gauff has a favorable French Open draw as the No. 2 seed. Her potential route to the final on Court Philippe-Chatrier includes possible matches against No. 7 and fellow American Madison Keys in the quarterfinals (Keys is coming off winning her first major title at the Australian Open in January), followed by a semifinals match against No. 6 Mirra Andreeva or No. 3 Jessica Pegula.

Then, of course, her likely opponent in the final would be the favorite Sabalenka. The three-time major winner has yet to reach a French Open final. Sabalenka and Gauff have each won five matches against each other, but in their past three matches, Sabalenka has the upper hand with a 2–1 record. Gauff’s one win in that span came during the WTA Finals; Sabalenka beat her in the Madrid Open and last year’s Wuhan Open.

These are all hypothetical matchups, of course. Someone could easily upset a top seed early in the tournament, including Gauff. She lost in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, which shocked many tennis fans.

But, if Gauff can keep up her confident play on clay at Roland Garros over the next two weeks, this could be her year to lift the French Open trophy.