A champion will be crowned for the Women’s bracket at Roland-Garros in Paris on Saturday, June 7 when No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka faces No. 2 Coco Gauff in the French Open Women’s final.
The final is scheduled to start at 9 a.m. EDT and will be broadcast on TNT and truTV. Fans looking to watch can do so for free by using DirecTV, which offers a free trial. SlingTV doesn’t offer a free trial but has promotional offers available for streaming the game. Max has movies, original series, live sports and more and can be bundled with Disney+ and Hulu for $16.99 a month.
Sabalenka is coming off a three-set thriller with last year’s champion, No. 5 Iga Swiatek. The third set was all about Sabalenka, who won the match 7-6(7-1), 4-6, 6-0. It’s the only three set match Sabalenka has played so far this tournament in search of her first French Open title and fourth major title.
While the reigning U.S. Open winner has had little trouble progressing through Roland-Garros, neither has the 2023 U.S. open champion. Gauff has also played just one three-set match this tournament, and it was in the quarterfinals against Madison Keys. For Gauff, this is her second shot at the French Open final, with the first coming in 2022 when she lost to Swiatek, who also defeated her in last year’s French semifinals.
Who: No. 2 Coco Gauff vs. No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka
When: Saturday, June 7 at 9 a.m. EDT
Where: Roland-Garros in Paris
Stream: DirecTV (free trial); SlingTV; Max
Betting: Check out our MA sports betting guide, where you can learn basic terminology, definitions and how to read odds for those interested in learning how to bet in Massachusetts.
What is DirecTV?
DirecTV is an internet TV service that offers your favorite entertainment, news and sports channels, as well as local TV stations and regional sports networks. Sign up now and get three free months of premium channels including MAX, Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and Starz.
What is Sling TV?
Sling TV offers a variety of live programming ranging from news and sports and starting as low as $20 a month for your first month. Subscribers also get a month of DVR Plus free if they sign up now. Choose from a variety of sports packages without long-term contracts and with easy cancellation.
What is Max?
Max is a streaming service that combines the catalogues of HBO and the various channels that make up the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks like CNN, Discovery Channel and TLC. The service is also partnered with Bleacher Report to provide sports coverage for anything covered by Turner Sports such as the NBA on TNT, the NHL on TNT, college basketball games on TNT and TBS and the Unrivaled 3×3 basketball league. You can also bundle your MAX subscription with Disney+ and Hulu for $16.99 a month.
RELATED CONTENT:
French Open: No. 2 Coco Gauff faces No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the women’s final
By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer
PARIS (AP) — The biggest difference Coco Gauff sees between the player who lost her first Grand Slam final at the 2022 French Open at age 18, and the one who will play for the trophy again on Saturday at 21, this time against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, is the way she views the importance of the occasion.
Three years ago at Roland-Garros, Gauff was making her debut on that sort of stage and with that sort of prize at stake. It felt like the outcome meant absolutely everything, a burden that was a lot at the time and made her nervous.
Now, the No. 2-ranked Gauff says, she understands “how miniscule” the result Saturday is in the scheme of things.
“Everybody is dealing with way bigger things in life than losing a final,” the American said after beating 361st-ranked French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals Thursday.
“I’m sure there are hundreds of players that would kill to win or lose a final, so just knowing that (makes) me realize how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position,” Gauff said. “At first, I thought it would be the end of the world if I lost, and, you know, the sun still rose the next day. … Regardless of the result, the sun will still rise.”
Here’s another key difference: The Gauff of today is a Grand Slam champion. She won the 2023 U.S. Open; her opponent in that final just so happened to be Sabalenka.
“I just remember kind of feeling,” Gauff said, “like I was holding my breath to the match point.”
Their head-to-head series is tied 5-5 entering the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in a French Open women’s final since Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in 2023.
Sabalenka beat Gauff in their most recent meeting, which came at the Madrid Open in May on the type of red clay used at Roland-Garros. So Gauff is well aware of Sabalenka’s many talents, which were on full display during a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 semifinal victory over three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.
“She can come up with some big shots and big winners pretty much at all areas of the court,” Gauff said about the 27-year-old from Belarus. “She’s a fighter, as well. She’s going to stay in the match regardless of the scoreline.”
After getting pushed to a third set by Swiatek, who had won 26 matches in a row at the French Open, Sabalenka was pretty much perfect down the stretch.
Even Sabalenka called the lopsided nature of that last set “shocking for me.”
She didn’t make a single unforced error; Swiatek had 12.
“The pace was from her (was) super fast,” Swiatek said. “It was just hard to get into any rally.”
Sabalenka took over the top ranking from Swiatek last October and has remained there. Sabalenka is 40-6 this season with three titles and, while her three major championships all came on hard courts — at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens and the 2024 U.S. Open — the work she’s put in to improve on clay is clearly paying off.
“I can go flat. I can (play) with the spin. I can go back and play in defense,” Sabalenka said. “That’s what works the best on the clay court for me.”
The truth is, regardless of the surface, Sabalenka still appears to be most comfortable when she hits the ball as hard as possible.
Her high-risk style offers a contrast to Gauff, who has been making an effort to be more aggressive with her forehand but usually is at her best when she is making opponents hit shot after shot because she can get to everything with her speed, instincts and defense.
“She’s going to come out swinging,” Gauff said. “I just have to expect that and do my best to kind of counter that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this post
