Coco Gauff wins her first Grand Slam doubles title at French Open
Paris: Coco Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam doubles title by teaming with Katerina Siniakova for the French Open trophy on Sunday.
Gauff, a 20-year-old American who won the US 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 US Open in 2021.
Gauff and Siniakova both kissed the Coupe Simonne Mathieu — the winners’ trophy.
“Third time’s a charm. Thank you, Katerina, for playing with me. We decided two days before the tournament to play together,” Gauff said.
“Thank you to the fans. I know 11:30 Sunday morning is early for most people. It’s early for me.”
Paolini was also the runner-up in the singles final at Roland Garros to four-time champion Iga Swiatek on Saturday. Swiatek beat Gauff in the singles semifinal.
“The last two weeks were very nice, very emotional,” Paolini said. “I have a lot of memories. I can’t wait to be back.”
Siniakova owns 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 owns 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 really special 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 said.
“It will be special to play the Olympics here in this place. So, I’ll see you in one month.”
Paolini was playing 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 took the first set when Errani’s volley at the net went long and raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set, with Paolini 0-30 down on her serve.
The Italians fought back to 4-3 with a service game to follow, but Errani’s serve was broken again and their momentum was lost.
Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia won the French Open men’s doubles against Italians Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 7-5, 6-3 in the final on Saturday.
Pavic completed the set of winning all four Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles and rushed to celebrate with his team on Court Philippe Chatrier.
“First (title) for me here, so I’m very happy,” Pavic said. “It feels special. I lost here twice the final.”
Arevalo grabbed a scarf with his country’s name on it, raised it aloft and chanted “Salvador, Salvador.” It was Arevalo’s second men’s doubles title after winning at Roland Garros in 2022 with Jean-Julien Rojer.
“I want to thank Mate for trusting me and believing in me, to fight together. We did it together, man,” an emotional Arevalo said. “My second title here also feels special.”
With Arevalo serving for the match at 40-30, Pavic missed a straightforward-looking volley. The ball clipped the top of the net, landed on the wrong side, and Pavic put his hand over his mouth in disbelief. But Pavic, the reigning Olympic champion in men’s doubles, made up for it moments later by saving a break point with a difficult smash down the middle when leaning backward.
They won on the second match point when Vavassori hit a forehand wide, and the ninth-seeded winners both fell to the red clay.
The 38-year-old Bolelli is a former singles player who reached a highest ranking of No. 36 but did not win a title in singles. He won the Australian Open men’s doubles in 2015 alongside countryman Fabio Fognini and has reached the semifinals in doubles at every Grand Slam tournament.
Vavassori has lost both major finals he has played in men’s doubles. They were seeded 11th.
