Coco Gauff wins her first Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open With Katerina Siniakova three days after losing the semi-finals of the singles in tears
Coco Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam doubles title after teaming with Katerina Siniakova for the French Open trophy on Sunday.
Gauff, a 20-year-old American who won the U.S. Open singles title last year, and Siniakova, who is from the Czech Republic, defeated Italians Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani 7-6 (5), 6-3 on Court Philippe Chatrier.
It was Gauff’s third women’s doubles final after losing championship matches at Roland Garros in 2022 and the U.S. Open in 2021.
Gauff and Siniakova both kissed the Coupe Simone Mathieu – the winners’ trophy.
‘Third time´s a charm. Thank you, Katerina, for playing with me. We decided two days before the competition to play together,’ Gauff remarked. ‘Thank you to the fans. I know 11:30 Sunday morning is early for most folks. It´s early for me.’
Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova won the women’s doubles final match of the French Open
Gauff and Siniakova defeated Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the final
Paolini was also the runner-up in the singles final at Roland Garros to four-time champion Iga Swiatek on Saturday. Siwatek beat Gauff in the singles semifinal.
‘The last two weeks were extremely lovely, quite emotional,’ Paolini said. ‘I have a lot of recollections. I can´t wait to be back.’
Siniakova has a career Slam in women’s doubles alongside partner Barbora Krejcikova and has won eight majors – including the French Open in 2018 and 2021.
Errani also holds a career Slam in doubles alongside her former partner Roberta Vinci. The Italian pair won the French Open title in 2012 – the year Errani lost the singles final.
‘It´s incredibly nice to be in this court again. I don´t know how many more years I have to play. But it´s always special to play these kinds of matches,’ the 37-year-old Errani remarked. ‘It will be great to play the Olympics here in this venue. So I´ll see you in one month.’
After losing Roland Garros in 2022 and the U.S. Open in 2021, Gauff scored her first doubles triumph
Gauff and Siniakova chose to pair up two days before the French Open began
Paolini was participating in her first final in women’s doubles.
Errani´s serve was broken twice in the first set, and Paolini stayed on the baseline to compensate in the 11th game. The tactic worked as Errani held serve.
Gauff and Siniakova claimed the first set after Errani´s volley at the net went long and stormed to a 4-1 lead in the second set, with Paolini 0-30 down on her serve.
The Italians rallied back to 4-3 with a service game to follow, but Errani’s serve was broken again and their momentum was lost.
Gauff’s doubles success came in the aftermath of her dramatic semifinal loss that had her wiping tears away on the court.
The dispute on court with umpire Aurelie Tourte left Gauff wiping away tears. ‘He called it and then I hit it. I’m a thousand per cent sure,’ said the American.
‘For me it did not effect your shot,’ answered Tourte.
Gauff was pushed to tears following a dispute with the umpire in her loss to Iga Swiatek
‘If he called it before I hit it, I stop my reaction. I didn’t even finish my follow-through. He called it before I struck it. Will you ask him?’
‘No, we cannot ask him.’
The crowd were booing enthusiastically at this moment – a Pavlovian reaction from the fans here whenever any incident occurs.
‘They’re booing because you’re wrong,’ replied Gauff.
‘For me it did not harm the shoot.’
‘You’re wrong. It’s the second time that happened. You should be ashamed. It’s a grand slam semi-final, know the laws of the game.’
