Sunday, 08 June 2025 / Published in Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Roland Garros

Gauff’s mind was her biggest weapon

Coco Gauff had two question marks coming into the 2025 Roland Garros women’s singles final against Aryna Sabalenka.

Would she serve too many double faults?
Would her forehand break down?

These were both problems during her 2024 US OPEN campaign. Not in Paris. Not this time.

Gauff defeated Sabalenka 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-4 Saturday to win her first Roland Garros singles title in dramatic fashion. Gauff stayed the course and her mental toughness and ability to handle the breezy conditions powered her to the title.

Gauff did commit eight double faults in 15 service games. Not ideal, but not enough to sink her own ship. Here’s a groundstroke comparison against Sabalenka.

Forehands

Gauff: 9 winners / 20 errors = -11
Sabalenka: 10 winners 31 errors = -21

Backhands

Gauff: 14 winners / 23 errrors = -9
Sabalenka: 11 winners / 48 errors = -37

Something broke, alright, but this time it was not the Gauff forehand. It was Sabalenka’s backhand. Gauff won 119 points for the match and 40% of those points can be attributed to a Sabalenka backhand error. That’s a substantial amount of errors from one stroke.

GET MENTALLY TOUGHER IN COMPETITION

Course: Getting Tight

Webinar 48: Game Plans

Webinar 46: 8 Ways To Force An Error

Webinar 41: Opponent Awareness

Webinar 24: Andre Agassi Patterns Of Play

Sabalenka got off to a flyer and led 4-1, 40-0 serving.

Then a double fault. Then a backhand drop shot winner from Gauff then another double fault from Sabalenka. After such a successful start, Sabalenka started self-destructing. Instead of convincingly putting away Gauff in the opening set, she let her hang around and gain more and more confidence.

It was a horror stretch for Sabalenka that would see her lose 13 straight points from 4-1 40 serving to 4-3 0-40 serving. Sabalenka committed seven backhand errors and her body language showed a player in deep despair.

Gauff grew stronger and stronger in the opening set as Sabalenka grew more and more frustrated. Sabalenka served for the opening set at 5-4 but was broken in an 18-point service game. Too upset. Too angry. Sabalenka eventually fell over the line in the tie-break, winning it 7-5 after trailing 0-3 and 1-4.

When Gauff broke Sabalenka in the opening game of the second set, you knew the match was hers to lose.

Sabalenka served at 1-1, 30-40 in the third set and double faulted. She exploded at her box and any chance of having a clear head to secure victory in the match was well and truly gone. She would break back for 3-3 but was broken straight back.

It was fitting on match point that Sabaenka would spray an angry backhand cross court wide to lose the final.

Gauff knew the match was going to come down to her mind as much as her strokes.

“Yeah, it was super tough when I walked on the court and felt the wind because we warmed up with the roof closed. I was, like, this is going to be a tough day, and I knew it was just going to be about willpower and mental,” Gauff said.

“Yeah, it really came down to the last few points, but overall I’m just really happy with the fight that I managed today. It wasn’t pretty, but it got the job done, and that’s all that matters.”

And. That’s. All. That. Matters.

Gauff was prepared to go to war with the opponent and the wind. Sabalenka wasn’t.

“Yeah, it was really difficult, especially, like, on the far end of the court, it was so hard to hit the ball and get it through the court. Then the other side, if you didn’t accelerate, it would fly. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy for either of us.”

Sabalenka’s post-match interview was a true reflection of the negativity that was consuming her.

“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s another tough final in the Grand Slam against Coco. Another terrible performance from me against Coco in the final. Yeah, I have to just kind of, like, step back and look at this from the perspective and try to finally learn the lesson, because I cannot go out there every time against her in the finals of the Grand Slam and play such terrible tennis and give those wins, not easily, but like, emotionally, you know?”

The lesson to learn is simple. You already have one opponent on the other side of the court. Don’t add another more potent one in yourself. Sabalenka needed to chill out. Breathe. Relax. Don’t battle the wind but find a way to embrace it.

Gauff’s mind won the match. Your mind is always your biggest weapon.

The practice court is clearly broken. Here’s the proof.

Points are "front loaded". By far the majority of the action, and the winning, takes place in THE FIRST 4 SHOTS. The practice court is full of long rallies. Matches are dominated by short rallies. There is a massive disconnect occurring.

We spend too much time grinding, banging balls up and down the middle of the court – that have no real benefit to winning tennis matches.

There are 3 specific rally lengths in tennis. Here is their percentage breakdown of total points.

0-4 Shots = 70%
5-8 Shots = 20%
9+ Shots = 10%

The First 4 Shots is specifically the serve, return, Serve +1 groundstroke and Return +1 groundstroke. Those are normally the shots that get practiced the least, but matter the most to winning tennis matches.

The net is an extremely high percentage place to be!

If you love playing tennis for fun, spend as much time at the baseline as you like. But if you compete – if the score matters – then you must turn your attention to the net to maximize your potential.

The “herd mentality” in tennis thinks it’s too tough to approach the net in today’s game. The conversation starts with improved string technology, more powerful rackets, and finishes with stronger, faster athletes. The herd think approaching is a relic of the past. The herd is WRONG!

AVERAGE WIN %
Baseline = 46%
Net = 66%

Data from ALL Grand Slams provides the facts about approach and volley, and the data is crystal clear – it’s immensely better than staying back at the baseline, grinding for a living.

The baseline is a tough place to create separation. Here's how to do it.

At the 2012 US Open, only 7 men and 14 women had a winning percentage from the baseline. At Wimbledon 2016, Andy Murray won the title only winning 52% of his baseline points - and he is one of the very best at it in the world!

Num3ers deeply explores the data that rules points, especially from the back of the court. Take a "deep dive" into all three rally lengths (0-4, 5-8, 9+), and winner and errors totals from the elite level of our game. The numbers will shock you!

All 4 Grand Slams

Forcing Errors = 41% Men / 37% Women
Winners = 32% Men / 29% Women
Unforced Errors = 27% Men / 34% Women

Num3ers is very much like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. It's about bringing together different data sets together to create the big picture.

Every recorded match from the 2015 Australian Open - Rd2 to the final.

There is a lot happening on a doubles court. Situations and strategies are constantly being adjusted to create mis-matches with court position. It's hard to keep track of - until now. Dou8les Num3ers is the most comprehensive analysis of doubles data in our sport. The focus is on how a point ends, and it's broken down eight ways to Sunday. Specifically, you find critical information on:

Winners rise to the #1 way a point ends (over forced & unforced errors)

- The last shot of the rally is overwhelmingly struck at the net.
- Center Window: the most important part of a doubles court to control.
- Stephen Huss: an in-depth interview on Wimbledon's Centre Court with the 2005 Wimbledon Doubles Champion.

Dou8les Num3ers leaves no stone unturned. Percentage breakdowns of how often the server or receiver hits the last shot highlight the dramatic influence of the serve. The last shot of the rally is significant, and is broken down into the following categories: volleys, overheads, passing shots, lobs and groundstrokes.

When you play a match, you actually play two matches.

When you walk out onto a tennis court, there are two matches that you are about to play. The first is during the point - a part of the match that you have spent a lot of time preparing for on the practice court. But there is a second match, that takes place in the 20 seconds between the points. This is where the mental and emotional aspects of our sport kick in.

Let's face it, there will be adversity in almost every tennis match that you play. The storm clouds are coming. How bug they are, and how long they last for, are up to you.

Between the points is very tennis specific. It provides a roadmap for the 20 seconds between the points, teaching how to handle the adversity that will surely come, and how to build on the successes that will also be present. Your mind is your biggest asset in a match, and Between the Points takes your hand off the self destruct button and stops you beating yourself.

You don't have to be good at everything, but you have got to be good at something.

You can break tennis down into four key elements - serving, returning, rallying and approaching. Each part has specific patterns of play that consistently deliver higher winning percentages than the others. No more guessing. No more opinions. All facets of our sport are covered in this exceptional product, clearly outlining what patterns to gravitate to, and how to best construct the practice court. Data comes primarily from the 2015 Australian Open.

Building Blocks

MEN = 70% errors / 30% winners
WOMEN = 74% errors / 26% winners

Forcing errors is the best way to construct a point.
You can simply break tennis down into primary and secondary patterns of play - and they are all covered here. Primary patterns include serve and return direction, forehands v backhands, and the best way to approach the net. Secondary patterns include drop shots, serve & volley and 1st volley options. If you play tournaments, this product will greatly help you simplify the singles court.

The conversation starts & ends with the Center Window.

The doubles court is like an hourglass. There are two big ends, but a small neck in the middle where all the action happens. Once you learn the power of the Center Window, where you stand to start the point will take on a lot more significance.

Doubles is a lot more about situations, with four people on the court all "dancing" with one another. Learn all the best doubles patterns, broken down for the server, returner, server's partner and the returner's partner.

Doubles Situations

The "J" - the most ideal movement for the returner's partner to attack the net.

The "V" - a better way of understanding where the server's partner should move to.

Volley Targets - there are four main areas to attack. Know which ones are higher percentage. Beach Volleyball - the idea of a "setter" and "spiker" is ideal for the doubles court.

There are certain parts of the court that the ball travels to a lot, and other low percentage areas that you really don't want to cover at all - like the alley! In general, the serving team wants to keep the ball in the middle of the court as much as possible (to help the server's partner), while the returning team benefits from hitting wider and creating more chaos in the point.

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Gauff’s mind was her biggest weapon