What Happened at Roland Garros 2025?

Hi loves,

Well what a Roland Garros we have had this year. There have been some great performances, a rising star or two, and some interesting and emotional stories to accompany the tennis itself. Let us not dwell, let’s start at the only place that feels right; with our new champions.

Who are the Roland Garros 2025 Singles Champions?

Coco Conquers the Clay

Coco Gauff is a Roland Garros champion, three years after losing here in the final to the ‘Queen of Clay’. She revealed that she had manifested the win, writing repeatedly that she would win the French Open 2025. And boy, did it work. It was a wonderfully weird, topsy turvy match. It all looked like it would be over in an hour midway through the first set, as Aryna Sabalenka was powering through Gauff, but when the windy conditions started affecting play the American was the one who handled it better. Thoroughly deserving of the win, Coco was in disbelief when she crossed the finish line. A wonderful scene, looking up to her box saying “oh my god, oh my god” over and over again while her mum, who she travels with year-round, is literally jumping for joy. Heartwarming scenes. The most consistent player throughout the clay swing got her prize eventually. Congratulations Coco.

What a tournament for both of these women - Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka take a bow. Both performing match after match, conquering - and sometimes demolishing - everyone in their path. Sabalenka especially. She did not have an easy draw by any means - and she danced her way to the final, metaphorically and literally. From the third round onwards she was facing potentially tricky opponents, but took them all apart; Danilovic (6-2 6-3), Anisimova (7-5 6-3), Zheng (7-6 6-3), Swiatek (7-6 4-6 6-0) all fell to our eventual runner-up. The woman who conquered the Queen of Clay Iga Swiatek, she came into the final as the clear favourite in most people's eyes and started the match staggeringly fast. Gauff could not make a dent in the Sabalenka game, but then the challenging conditions became Aryna’s worst enemy. Describing her play as “the worst final I’ve ever played”, she was visibly very emotional after the match. Two Grand Slam finals made in 2025, two second place prizes. Still a great achievement, but there is clearly some progress to be made, mentally rather than physically. 

Sadly, the main talking point following this match was the speech and press conference made by Sabalenka, in which she failed to give Gauff much credit at all for her win and simply speaking of her poor performance and inability to deal with the conditions. Although this is not okay and an expected level of professionalism was not present at these moments, all players are human and will make mistakes. I hope there was an apology in private, and Coco was given the credit she deserves. All that being said, I still really like and support both players, and we got a great rollercoaster of a match. Focus on the positive people!

Coco Gauff proudly celebrates her victory, displaying her trophy with a radiant smile and a peace sign.

Carlos Defends his Crown

The men’s final we all hoped to see before the tournament began became a reality. And it became what is widely being described as the greatest grand slam final of all time. I genuinely do not have words to describe what I witnessed yesterday, only that I am grateful to have witnessed it live. These two players are both winners, regardless that only one was able to lift the trophy which was sat a mere few metres from them throughout the 5 and a half hour epic. The man who conquered all and came out on top is Carlos Alcaraz, a back-to-back Roland Garros champion. A five time grand slam champion. And may I remind you, he is only 22 years old.

We immediately knew we were in for the long haul when the first two games alone took about 20 minutes to complete. A 63 minute first set went the way of Jannik Sinner 6-4. An early break in the second also went the way of the Italian, and it wasn’t looking like this final would go any other way than Sinner’s. He was on top, not by much, but on top nonetheless. Alcaraz got it back to a tiebreak, but that also went the way of Sinner. It was looking like a long way back for the Spaniard, who was now being asked to do something he has never done before - come from two sets down to win a five set match. 

Going down another early break in the third, that was looking increasingly unlikely, if not impossible. But come on, I mean really come on, if we have learnt anything about the young Spaniard we have learnt to never count him out. There are hundreds of pieces of match analysis out there so I am not going to go into loads of details, but the third and fourth set looked set to be won by Alcaraz, but I was just waiting for Sinner to make his move. That time came when Alcaraz was serving at 3-5 in the fourth. The Italian got himself to 0-40 - three championship points. All three were saved and Carlos went on to hold. This is the moment I realised there was no doubt in my mind that Carlos Alcaraz would win this tennis match.

Another tiebreak in the fourth set was won by Alcaraz. And then a crazy fifth set is played. An early break for Alcaraz and a late break back for Sinner meant a final set championship tiebreak. First to 10 points. The tension was palpable. It can be summed up simply. Carlos Alcaraz played the perfect tiebreak. There is simply nothing else to say. It was a thing of beauty, of brilliance, of greatness.

Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner share a moment on the court with their trophies.

What were the individual stories of the tournament?

Alexander Bublik took Roland Garros by storm this year. A routine round one win was followed by a round two match against Alex De Minaur which was anything but. He found himself two sets to love down, and seemed to just let loose and have fun after that. He played a tweener on set point in the fourth, followed by a stunning down the line backhand. Outrageous. And from then the writing was on the wall for the Australian Demon. 

Another fairly standard match came in round three against the Portuguese Henrique Rocha, setting up a blockbuster match up against British number 5 seed Jack Draper. This was one match I was very much looking forward to. The entertainment value and raw talent of Bublik against the sheer power and precision of Draper was an interesting prospect in my eyes. And what a match it was. Bublik shocked, I think, everyone with his dropshot dominated game plan, playing an unprecedented 37 dropshots throughout the match - 12 of them being outright winners. He played one of the most brilliant individual displays of tennis I have ever seen. Once the Kazakh got in front and found his rhythm he was unstoppable, Draper looking visibly perplexed. That is not to say it was smooth sailing for him though, Jack had chances to break back when Bublik was serving for the match - but he did not take those chances meaning Bublik became the first man from Kazakhstan to ever reach a grand slam quarter final. Describing it as “the best moment of my life”, he was brought back down to earth fairly swiftly when it was decided he would be facing Jannik Sinner in that quarter final. Unfortunately for Bublik fans, his Roland Garros 2025 story came to an end at this stage, as he lost out in straight sets to the Italian. Still, a tournament to be proud of for the Kazakh, and who knows what he can do when it comes to the grass? If he takes it seriously then he is a tricky customer for any opponent.

I have to be honest, Lois Boisson’s name is one I thought I had never heard nor seen prior to her fourth round match against Jessica Pegula, until I was reminded she is the player who Harriet Dart accused of being ‘smelly’ earlier this year (nice move, Harriet). What a claim to fame for the young Frenchwoman. Selfishly, that Pegula match was one I was hoping would pass quickly as I was waiting for the Djokovic-Norrie match that followed. So when I saw Pegula had won the first set 6-3 I thought ‘brilliant, this will be over in the next 45 minutes or so’. How wrong I was. Thankfully I turned on the TV  to watch what I thought would be the conclusion of the match because what came next was two glorious hours of battling tennis, with a low-ranked home favourite triumphing over a top class player who struggled to be clinical and figure her out. This is why I love the grand slams; someone always surprises you. As I say, I know nothing about the 22 year-old Frenchwoman (thank you to Google for telling me her age), all I knew is that waiting in the next round would be 18-year-old wonderwoman Mirra Andreeva. I loooove me some Mirra Andreeva - she is refreshingly honest, powerfully precise and wonderfully naive (I mean that as a big compliment). She has had a brilliant season so far, and it was going to be a huge test for Boisson to overcome. 

A test she remarkably passed. Boisson held on to come through a marathon 80 minute opening set on a tiebreak, and then pushed a rattled Andreeva to the limit with her brave play. The crowd naturally played their part, cheering Boisson on every second they could. It was a big learning experience for the 18-year-old, who will take a lot from this and how her behaviour and reaction to the crowds didn’t help her to succeed. Regardless, the dream run continued on to the semi-finals where she came up against eventual champion Coco Guaff. A tough loss for Lois I am sure, but she is still a winner. She took a huge step in her career this last fortnight, let’s see if she can continue to push up the rankings.

Lois Boisson wanting to hear the crowd in her match.

One of the big questions we are left with now is; will we see Novak Djokovic at Roland Garros again? After his semi final loss to Jannik Sinner he gave a lingering goodbye to the crowd - and it looked like a permanent goodbye. Kissing the clay before his departure was almost like he was closing a chapter. When questioned about this in press he certainly left the door open for a return next year, but he is sounding increasingly unsure of how long he has left as a professional tennis player. We don’t have any answers, and probably won't for a while, but it is something worth keeping a subtle eye on.

What happened away from the court?

A Ceremony to Honour a Legend

We had a ceremony to honour the career of Rafa Nadal on the opening Sunday of the tournament. After lots of thank yous and oolala’s we had a surprise coming our way. The big four were reunited. An emotional and heartwarming moment for all fans of tennis over the last 20+ years as Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray walked out onto the court. A lovely moment between long term colleagues, rivals, and friends. The main feature of the ceremony was the reveal of a new plaque, embedded into the clay on Court Phillipe-Chatrier. A really stunning and subtle piece of history, which was spoken about by players a lot in the days that followed. Paula Badosa gave credit to the plaque, and to Rafa, for helping her dig deep and get the win against Naomi Osaka. A lovely clip also circulated on social media of a ball boy admiring and stroking the plaque during one of the matches on Chatrier. I do think these honouring gestures can sometimes be just that, a gesture, but I have to say I really like this one. A permanent reminder to all players that take to that court of the greatness the crowds there have seen and the history that was made there by the greatest ever clay court player.

The plaque placed to honour Rafael Nadal on Court Phillipe Chatrier

Ongoing Narrative of Night ‘Sessions’ 

If you have been following the tournament, you would have been unable to avoid the conversations surrounding the ongoing issue of scheduling at the French Open. I wish I did not have to talk about something such as this, but it needs airtime. I will not go into details, because everyone has seen the stats that there has been no women's matches in the night session for the last two years, and hardly any before that, and women's matches are always on in the first slot of the day on Phillipe Chatrier where the stands are not even close to being half full despite being sold out (this is the ‘vibeless death slot’, as described by The Tennis Podcast). The reasoning and explanation, or lack of, given by Amelie Mauresmo, the tournament director, is quite frankly disgraceful. Saying she will not accept the narrative that she is saying women’s matches are not worthy of the night time session slot but doing nothing to suggest the contrary or change this narrative is unacceptable. It sends a message that men’s tennis is better and more entertaining. This is wrong. And this is not to take away from men’s tennis as we know it can be spectacular, BUT SO CAN THE WOMEN. Do Mauresmo and her team have no shame? Sitting in a press conference, which I believe she herself requested, saying to journalists who question the decisions ‘you ask the same questions every year’ yet doing nothing to prevent that repetition is absurd. I truly do not understand calling a press conference and then not answering the questions put to you. Ons Jabuer put out a beautiful and powerful statement, which I found incredibly moving. I think this sums it up better than anything else I have seen. I highly suggest you go and find the full statement. I have included a snippet here:

“The game is full of stories. Of greatness. Of fight. Of grace under pressure. And still many choose not to look. Not to listen. Not to care. But belief is not a requirement. Permission is not necessary. Respect may be delayed but progress isn’t waiting.

So when headlines say “no one watches”, remember: full stands were never a part of their narrative. When the narrative says “too easy” look closer, it took years to win that fast. And when someone says women don't play with power, watch again and be honest this time. The game is not asking to be seen. It is already shining.”

To Amelie Mauresmo and her team I simply say: sort it out. You have the power to change this narrative, yet you chose to do nothing. It is a disgrace to this wonderful sport and the equality people have fought for, and continue to fight for in this sport. You are pushing us backwards. Please, bring us forwards instead.

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Moving away from this topic and onto more positive things, I have genuinely really enjoyed Roland Garros this year. We had some great match-ups and very high quality performances all the way through the fortnight. As we move away from the clay, I will be left with great memories of the 2025 swing.

We have to quickly address my predictions. As a reminder, I picked Jannik Sinner and Coco Gauff to win the titles. It wasn’t too bad from me, was it? I am pretty chuffed with that, an epic final where Sinner was pipped in the final tiebreak, and another epic display of grit and determination from Coco. I will take that all day every day.

Other winners of the tournament are the following:

Mixed Doubles  Sara Errani & Andrea Vavassori beat Taylor Townsend & Evan King

Women's Doubles  Sara Errani & Jasmine Poalini beat Anna Danilina & Aleksandra Krunic

Men's Doubles  Marcel Granollers & Horacio Zeballos beat Joe Salisbury & Neil Skupski

Wheelchair Men’s Singles  Tokito Oda beat Alfie Hewett

Wheelchair Men's Doubles  Alfie Hewett & Gordon Reid beat Tokito Oda & Stephane Houdet

Wheelchair Women's Singles  Yui Kamiji beat Aniek Van Koot

Wheelchair Women's Doubles  Yui Kamiji & Kgothatso Montjane beat Xiaohui Li & Ziying Wang

Boys Singles  Niels McDonald beat Max Schoenhaus

Girls Singles  Lilli Tagger beat Hannah Klugman

And so the clay court season is over until 2026. I have thoroughly enjoyed it. And now we go to the grass. My favourite few weeks of the tennis season.

Until next time, keep serving!

E x