French Open: Gauff and Siniakova lift doubles title

Coco Gauff and Katerina Siniakova won the French Open women’s doubles title after a 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 victory over singles runner-up Jasmine Paolini and her partner Sara Errani.

This victory marked Gauff’s first Grand Slam doubles title. The 20-year-old American, the reigning US Open singles champion, had previously been a finalist in doubles at the 2021 US Open and 2022 French Open.

Siniakova, 28, secured her eighth Grand Slam doubles title and third at Roland Garros. The Czech player had won her previous seven titles with compatriot Barbora Krejcikova.

Paolini, reflecting on her back-to-back losses, said, “Today is tough to accept.” She was defeated in straight sets by world number one Iga Swiatek in Saturday’s singles final.

Gauff, who entered a last-minute partnership with Siniakova due to Jessica Pegula’s injury withdrawal, expressed her surprise at the win. “I definitely didn’t think it would happen to me, to be frank,” said Gauff, who had reached the singles semifinals before losing to Swiatek.

She reflected on her unexpected victory, saying, “I think that was one of the few times in my life after I lost the first two finals, I thought, ‘Okay, I reached that point, maybe I should focus on singles.’ It’s just one of those things that when you least expect it to happen, it happens.”

(Source: AFP)