Chris Evert has been beaming ever since Coco Gauff won the French Open, clearly full of pride watching her young compatriot follow in her footsteps.
The 70-year-old is one of the most decorated players in this tournament’s history, with seven titles claimed across her storied career.
And, with Coco Gauff having now claimed her first at just 21, there’s every chance she could look to hunt down that record.
It’s refreshing to see such an American resurgence on the Parisian clay, and the hope is that this can mark a turning point which allows them to dominate going forward on all surfaces.
However, it was not just her physical and technical talents which helped Gauff to yesterday’s title. There was one tactic which Evert admitted must frustrate every opponent she faces.
Chris Evert praises Coco Gauff’s frustrating tactic
Speaking live on TNT Sports after the women’s final, Evert started by expressing her own personal delight.
She noted: ‘I’m so happy for her, first of all, you know, being American, and somebody asked me what impressed you the most with her, and I’m saying, “Well, aside from her game, she’s the greatest young woman ever.”.
‘But, I think the fact that she didn’t have ups and downs, I think that Aryna really had too many ups and downs.
‘She has 70 unforced errors, she just couldn’t keep that consistent level of high quality, and I’m impressed the way that Coco finally caught onto her power in the beginning.’
She also admitted that her hopes were not high, especially after the Belarusian captured the first-set tiebreak: ’Sabalenka I thought was gonna wipe her off the court. But she found a way, and she got quicker and she got her timing back, and she made adjustments in her game so she could return those hard shots. She stayed patient, she believed in herself, she fought.
‘I’m always amazed by the defence. I mean, she gets balls back that nobody on the tour gets back, and it forces players like Sabalenka to go for too much, or it wears them down, or, you know, she really extends the rallies. And on clay, being so slow, you know, it drives people crazy to have to return so many balls against Coco.’
Rafa Nadal sent a message to Gauff after the match too, only adding to the list of star names to congratulate her.
Coco Gauff prize money for winning Roland Garros
Naturally, for elite-level tennis players, glory is the main goal when striving for deep runs at Grand Slam level.
After all, most have reached the latter stages of so many events that money becomes far less of a driving motivator.
That being said, it will always play its part in pushing a player onward, especially with what was on offer in yesterday’s French Open final.
The prize money for lifting the title will likely not be as much as Gauff claimed during the 2023 US Open, but it’s still a figure worth noting.
For beating Sabalenka, the American will walk away with a cheque worth £2,166,912 ($2,932,048).
