American tennis star Cori Gauff suffered a straight-set defeat in her first Grand Slam final but afterward showed her class and spoke extremely highly of Iga Swiatek.
Gauff, who turned 18 this past March, accomplished her goal of reaching her first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros but there was an extremely task awaiting for her.
Swiatek, who turned 21 this week, clinched her 35th consecutive win after beating Gauff 6-1 6-3.
Swiatek’s streak started in February, in Doha, and since then she has won 35 matches in a row and the French Open title was her sixth consecutive.
After losing to Swiatek, Gauff described the Pole’s run as “amazing.”
“I want to congratulate Iga,” Gauff said, per Eurosport. “What you have done on tour the last few months is amazing and hopefully we can play in more finals – and maybe I can get a win over you one of these days. I’m sorry I could not get this one today. Hopefully this is the first final of many.”
Gauff remains without a win versus Swiatek
Swiatek and Rome clashed for the first time in Rome last year.
Back then, Swiatek overcame Gauff and went on to win the title.
At this year’s WTA 1000 event in Miami, Swiatek defeated Gauff and went on to win the title.
This Saturday in Paris, Gauff took on Swiatek for the third time and for the third time ended on the losing side.
Chris Evert, an American tennis legend, thinks Gauff will learn and mature from her French Open final loss.
“For Coco, this experience is invaluable to her. She may not be happy right now, but I’m telling you she has this under her belt so the next time she reaches a final she will know exactly what to expect and it won’t be new for her and she can figure out what she can do differently,” Evert said on Eurosport.