Coco Gauff’s Bold Serena Williams Claim Before French Open 2025 Final
Ahead of her French Open 2025 final against Aryna Sabalenka on June 7, Coco Gauff made a striking claim about Serena Williams during an interview with the Broadcast Boys, as reported by EssentiallySports.com. When asked which former player she’d fear facing, Gauff named Serena, saying, “If we played on clay, I feel like I could have got her, but any other surface would have been tough.” She elaborated on a hypothetical scenario where a healthy, injury-free Serena returned after a month of training, suggesting, “I don’t think she would be as motivated anymore. Her greatness came from motivation. She’d still do well to prove people wrong, but she’s reached a point where she’s satisfied with her career.”[](https://www.essentiallysports.com/wta-tennis-news-coco-gauff-drops-shocking-serena-williams-claim-ahead-of-french-open-finals/)
Gauff’s comments reflect deep respect for Serena’s 23 Grand Slam titles and her transformative impact on tennis. “Serena inspired so many to play tennis, including me. She deserves a lot of credit for getting rackets into people’s hands,” Gauff said, per EssentiallySports.com. Her confidence in potentially beating Serena on clay stems from her own clay-court prowess, having reached finals in Madrid, Rome, and now Roland Garros in 2025, per The Athletic. A victory would make Gauff the youngest American to win the French Open since Serena in 2002, per wtatennis.com.[](https://www.essentiallysports.com/wta-tennis-news-coco-gauff-drops-shocking-serena-williams-claim-ahead-of-french-open-finals/)[](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/live-blogs/french-open-2025-live-updates-semifinals-scores-results/m5XdU4bZS0kz/)[](https://www.wtatennis.com/news/4278909/sabalenka-vs-gauff-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-french-open-final)
Facing Sabalenka, who defeated Gauff in the 2025 Madrid Open final but lost to her in the 2023 US Open final, Gauff emphasized countering Sabalenka’s aggressive style. “She’s going to come out swinging. I have to be aggressive and counter that,” she told TNT, per NBC Sports. With a 5-5 head-to-head record and the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 French Open final since Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova in 2013, the match promises intensity.
