Opinion

After Coco Gauff’s amazing comeback win over Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open this year, emotions soared high. For Gauff, it was yet another career milestone in her young journey. She overcame her competitive rival in Sabalenka once again. In what fans would consider just really great matches, we’ve been able to enjoy the rivalry for just that; the matches. For Sabalenka, the agony of defeat couldn’t be missed. In so many words, she mentioned in her post-match conference that Gauff didn’t actually beat her; it was more like she beat herself.

The Sabalenka heel turn

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Those remarks were widely met with negativity from pundits and fans alike. For Black fans especially, we’re very protective of Gauff. Microaggressions like these aren’t anything that we’re strangers to. And we know the type of stock Gauff comes from, her folks aren’t aloof enough to any degree to understand what was happening there. In her defeat, it was Sabalenka that would stoop to such unsportsmanlike levels to diminish what Gauff accomplished.

It was further disappointing to me because I thought in the past that Sabalenka was rather gracious in defeat. We remember the U.S. Open in 2023. Gauff bested her in that match as well. But in defeat, an emotional Sabalenka was gracious. For that, I gained tons of respect for her. I saw how hard she competed and thought, “Damn it, Coco had to take this thing, it wasn’t given.” In 2023 Sabalenka referenced the boos she received in Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens, New York. it was an away game for her, competing in the States. It was clear that lack of support weighed on her. In fact, I may have been a bit sympathetic to her because of that recognition.

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But that all goes out of the window when you go out of your way to be dismissive of another competitor. A competitor who simply played the right way, and did the right things, at the right time. Winners find a way to win, there’s really nothing more to it. It’s all about intestinal fortitude. On the day of the French Open, Gauff had it in spades.

The reconciliation between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka

Sabalenka walked back her comments some days later while probably realizing how horrible they were received. She residually gave credit to Gauff, but the damage was done as far as I was concerned.

As we fast forward to the present day, the ladies were seen training for Wimbledon together and seemingly getting along rather well. From friendly daps to TikTok dance routines, these young ladies are seemingly moving on.

In the words of Gauff “The olive branch was extended and accepted! We’re good so you guys should be too😂🤍”

The future for Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka

People don’t want to believe that Gauff was asked to peace things up to help clean up Sabalenka’s image. However, if this is what was genuinely on the heart of Gauff, then bless her sweet self. That’s a champion for you. As for us, the Black contingent that doesn’t take kindly to passive aggressiveness of we wanted more smoke. We were ready for their next match-up. And honestly, when it gets back to that point, we’ll see if this here is just a moment or if this sisterhood is a real thing