Aryna Sabalenka v Coco Gauff: French Open 2025 women’s singles final - live

3m ago 10.12 EDT Sabalenka breaks back! Gauff* 4-5 Sabalenka An epic game, an epic set, and Gauff looks in the ascendancy. Briefly. A whipped forehand winner for 15-0. It’s 15-15 but Gauff’s court speed is making Sabalenka work hard. No let-up, both players asking the other to play their shots, move the dial. Sabalenka has a break, just when it seemed Gauff had the set in her grasp it’s her opponent serving for the set. This has been epic. Share

8m ago 10.06 EDT Gauff breaks back again! Gauff 4-4 Sabalenka* Sabalenka is looking to her coaches as she drops to 0-30. All that impetus has gone. The serve is wobbling. The noise is getting louder. An attempted backhand pass fails and it’s 0-40. What a turnaround, 12 points in succession to Gauff. The rot is stopped there with two points, the second thrashed home. The third hit yet harder. Both players on the comeback trail. Gauff continues to gamble and lands another break point. That’s saved by a skidding serve, and then Gauff fumbles a return, and it’s advantage Sabalenka. Huge rally follows and Sabalenka misses her attempted winner – that’s to the approval of Spike Lee. Spike yet happier as Sabalenka misreads the next Gauff shot? She’s gotta have it? Yes, Sabalenka misses. View image in fullscreen Sabalenka relinquishes control … Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters View image in fullscreen … as Gauff claws her way back Photograph: Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images Share Updated at 10.12 EDT

17m ago 09.57 EDT Gauff* 3-4 Sabalenka Gauff is coming to the boil, and loops a passing shot to set the crowd alight. She’s at 40-0, and Sabalenka is the one struggling. Gauff holds to love and whatever happens in this set, it feels like this is now a battle of equals. Share

20m ago 09.54 EDT Gauff breaks back! Gauff 2-4 Sabalenka* Sabalenka is sizzling, and Gauff makes a mess of an easy drop. Then blams a backhand out of play. She’s struggling here. Struggling badly. But a double fault edges her into the game. A sliced drop takes it back to 40-30, Sabalenka unable to skid to the ball. She chooses to serve it out, with a series of howitzers launched as the wind whistles. Another double fault and deuce. Service malfunction? Gauff reads a drop for a break point and way back into the set. That’s taken up, and Sabalenka suddenly lost her step. View image in fullscreen Coco Gauff isn’t conceding the set yet! Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters Share Updated at 09.56 EDT

26m ago 09.48 EDT Another Sabalenka break! Gauff* 1-4 Sabalenka Awesome passing shot from Sabalenka beats Gauff, then the American is forced into an error. Danger here at 0-30. More danger at 0-40. Uh oh. Sabalenka’s first miss saves the first break point. Big serve down the middle saves the second. Then some serve and volley saves the third. Gauff is in the contest now. A skidder of a serve, and that’s game point. But Gauff nets. Big return is on Gauff’s toes and another break point results. Sabalenka clatters a second serve where it cannot be reached. Gauff in big trouble here. View image in fullscreen Aryna Sabalenka powering her way throught the first set. Photograph: Julien de Rosa/AFP/Getty Images Share Updated at 09.50 EDT

32m ago 09.42 EDT Gauff 1-3 Sabalenka* Big cheers as Gauff wins the first point. They want to see a long match. Sabalenka wants this done with a minimum of fuss. The serving is fierce, as is the forehand. This is the stuff that saw off Swiatek. But Gauff is not retreating, and forces and error for 30-30. No matter, a bomb of serve flies through for an ace. A short rally sees Gauff net. Sabalenka backs up her break. Share

37m ago 09.37 EDT Sabalenka lands a break! Gauff* 1-2 Sabalenka The first double fault hands Sabalenka a 0-30 lead, then a huge, clatter lands her three break points. The radar is working just fine, and she sees out the break with a drop shot and high-end net work. That’s worrying for Gauff. View image in fullscreen Aryna Sabalenka makes the first move. Photograph: Teresa Suárez/EPA Share Updated at 09.41 EDT

39m ago 09.35 EDT Gauff 1-1 Sabalenka*

Huge second serve delivers an ace. Then a bullying backhand races her to 30-0. It’s the Belarussian hitting the truer, and Gauff’s speed will be required for the battle ahead. 40-0 becomes game. Huge serving, a far more comfortable hold. Share

43m ago 09.32 EDT We're underway, and it's Gauff serving first. Gauff* 1-0 Sabalenka The first point goes to the American. The roof is open, and the second point sees Gauff balloon her shot. She then feels the Sabalenka pressure to go 15-30 down. Big serve levels it. Sabalenka chases the second serve but Gauff lands the win for 40-30. And serves out. A good hold. View image in fullscreen Coco Gauff gets the final started. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters Share Updated at 09.33 EDT

47m ago 09.28 EDT Chris Evert, who won this tournament seven times, has tipped Coco Gauff for the title. Chrissie won 20 Grand Slams overall. Incredible. And yet played second fiddle to Martina Navratilova. Those were the days of No 1 v No 2. And so is this. Share

51m ago 09.23 EDT The photo call is done and so are the handshakes, so it’s time for the knock-up. View image in fullscreen Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff line up ready for the off. Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters View image in fullscreen A little jumping practice for Coco. Photograph: Adam Pretty/Getty Images Share Updated at 09.30 EDT

53m ago 09.22 EDT The players take to the stairs and the corridor to the Philippe Chatrier court, with Coco Gauff wired for sound and clad in that leather jacket. Sabalenka hasn’t bothered with a jacket. She’s all business. But also has headphones on. What music do they listen to? Surely M-People’s Search For The Hero is a bit outdated now. Share

55m ago 09.20 EDT Jeremy Boyce gets in touch: “I’m looking forward to watching (terrestrial TV, I live in France...) the weekend’s finals, starting today with what appears to be two very level-headed, likeable, and talented young women. No surprise they are No 1 and 2 in the World Rankings, they are hard working and tantrum-free, concentrating on winning the points/games/sets/matches rather than the arguments. And there will be a new name on the Women’s honours board, always a good thing. “Last night (Sinner-Djokovic) the French commentators pointed out that it’s 60 years or something since the Womens and Mens finals were contested by the respective 1s and 2s, as is the case this year. Let’s hope they’ll spoil us with quality tennis and great matches.” Share

1h ago 09.17 EDT Eric Cantona is among the crowd, as is Andre Agassi. The wind is whipping up. How crucial could that be? Share

1h ago 09.05 EDT The opening ceremony is taking place, all a bit Busby Berkeley overheads. Lots of swirling there, too, accompanied by strings. One of the violinists is a dead ringer for Ringo Starr in his Photograph/It Don’t Come Easy years. View image in fullscreen Not quite the Paris Olympic opening ceremony, but there we go. Photograph: Lisi Niesner/Reuters Share Updated at 09.11 EDT

1h ago 09.02 EDT The roof is open and the wind is blowing in, which adds a variable. It could get a bit swirly. Share

1h ago 09.01 EDT Via the BBC, plucky Brit news: Teenager Hannah Klugman was unable to become the first Briton in almost 50 years to win a French Open juniors title after losing in the girls’ singles final. The 16-year-old, competing in her first junior Grand Slam singles final, was beaten 6-2 6-0 by Austria’s Lilli Tagger. Klugman, ranked 13th in the world junior rankings, was aiming to emulate Britain’s Michelle Tyler, who won the French Open girls’ title in 1976. View image in fullscreen Hannah Klugman in action… Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images View image in fullscreen … and with her runners-up dish alongside

junior champion Lilli Tagger. Photograph: Robert Prange/Getty Images Share Updated at 09.08 EDT

1h ago 09.00 EDT Tickets for today’s showpiece match range from 120 to 310 euros (£100 to £260). That seems a lot, but then again that’s less than Oasis. Share

1h ago 08.52 EDT We’re not far off the players walking out in Paris where it’s 19 degrees c, and relatively dry. Share

2h ago 08.08 EDT Gauff’s opponent is the same player she beat at Flushing Meadows in 2023 to win her first Slam, Sabalenka. What’s she thinking? I have to go out there on Saturday and I have to fight and I have to bring my best tennis, and I have to work for that title. Yeah, I’m ready. I’m ready to go out and I’m ready to fight. I’m ready to do everything it’s going to take to get the win. Share

2h ago 08.06 EDT How was Coco Gauff feeling on the eve of the final? Memories of 2022. My first final here I was super nervous, and I kind of wrote myself off before the match even happened. Obviously here I have a lot more confidence just from playing a grand slam final before and doing well in one. I think going into Saturday I’ll just give it my best shot and try to be as calm and relaxed as possible. Whatever happens, happens. I think just realising how minuscule it is, everybody is dealing with way bigger things in life than losing a final. And realising however many players wanted to be in this position. “I’m sure there are hundreds of players who would kill to win or lose a final, so just knowing that makes me realise how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position. At first I thought it would be the end of the world if I lost, but you know, the sun still rose the next day. So knowing, regardless of the result, the sun will still rise. Especially being in a city like Paris, I was walking around the next day, and no one knew that I lost, and no one cared. I was just realising that how big the moment seems in our lives is not as big in the grand scheme of things. Share

2h ago 08.00 EDT Tumaini Carayol is our man in Paris, and here’s his preview of the women’s final. Consistent Coco Gauff takes sunny outlook into French Open final with Sabalenka Read more This tournament places Gauff at an interesting intersection. She has already enjoyed her first breakthrough, winning her first major title at the 2023 US Open and then backing it up by triumphing at the WTA Finals in Riyadh last year. At a time when two players – Sabalenka and Swiatek – have distanced themselves from the field by consistently racking up big titles on the biggest stages, the next question for Gauff is whether she is ready and capable of taking another leap forward and consistently competing for every grand slam. Share

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