{"id":167812,"date":"2025-06-08T14:40:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T14:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/167812\/"},"modified":"2025-06-08T14:40:13","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T14:40:13","slug":"chris-evert-has-strong-response-to-aryna-sabalenkas-controversial-comments-in-her-post-match-speech-i-was-like-wow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/167812\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Evert has strong response to Aryna Sabalenka’s controversial comments in her post-match speech, ‘I was like wow’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chris Evert has jumped to the defence of Coco Gauff, after Aryna Sabalenka made some questionable comments following the French Open final.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having come from behind to win the title, the American was rightly thrilled, claiming her second-ever Grand Slam trophy and avenging her loss at this same event three years earlier.<\/p>\n

She was a deserved champion, and could now set about an era of dominance alongside the 27-year-old who has now lost in the finals of both majors in 2025.<\/p>\n

Normally so gracious in defeat, Sabalenka\u2019s demeanour post-match suggested that this one cut deeper than others, especially as she struggled to speak in her on-court runners-up interview.<\/p>\n

But, in the post-match press conference, she managed to make a claim that has not been received well.<\/p>\n

Chris Evert responds to Aryna Sabalenka\u2019s French Open title claims<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking in response to Sabalenka\u2019s controversial comments about Gauff\u2019s title<\/a>, Evert did not hold back in her defence of her compatriot.<\/p>\n

After all, the Belarusian\u2019s claims were completely unfair, and came across as quite bitter in the face of another defeat to the 21-year-old in a Grand Slam final.<\/p>\n

\"2025Photo by Jean Catuffe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Evert stated: \u2018When you heard Aryna say it was the worst [final], I was like wow! You have to adjust. It\u2019s the same on both sides. You have to make that adjustment. If you are number one in the world or number two in the world, you should know how to play on windy days by now.<\/p>\n

\u2018It was swirling. Well, you know what, then you really have to get ready and prepared for the shot quicker and you have to be aware of that and make the court smaller and not go for the lines all the time if it\u2019s that windy.<\/p>\n

\u2019It was the same for both of them and I think Coco really adapted to it much better.\u2019<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff now expected to dominate women\u2019s tennis<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems that, in showcasing her unflinching mentality once again on the biggest stage possible, people are beginning to predict huge things for Coco Gauff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2024 was a tough year for the 21-year-old, who won just three titles and struggled to compete across all four Grand Slam titles.<\/p>\n

However, a coaching change at the back end of the year promised new beginnings for the American, who did start to show signs of improvement.<\/p>\n

That progress was validated when she shockingly won the end-of-year WTA Finals, offering her the perfect platform for progression ahead of 2025.<\/p>\n

And even with glaring issues with her game, Gauff continues to battle through, reaching final after final and now being rewarded with another Grand Slam title.<\/p>\n

Many are predicting this young superstar to usher in a new era of dominance in the women\u2019s game, as she continues to go from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff\u2019s last six results vs Aryna Sabalenka<\/p>\n\nTournament<\/strong><\/td>\nYear<\/strong><\/td>\nRound<\/strong><\/td>\nWinner<\/strong><\/td>\nSurface<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nFrench Open<\/td>\n2025<\/td>\nFinal<\/td>\nCoco Gauff<\/td>\nOutdoor clay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nMadrid Open<\/td>\n2025<\/td>\nFinal<\/td>\nAryna Sabalenka<\/td>\nOutdoor clay<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWTA Finals<\/td>\n2024<\/td>\nSemi-final<\/td>\nCoco Gauff<\/td>\nIndoor hard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nWuhan Open<\/td>\n2024<\/td>\nSemi-final<\/td>\nAryna Sabalenka<\/td>\nOutdoor hard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nAustralian Open<\/td>\n2024<\/td>\nSemi-final<\/td>\nAryna Sabalenka<\/td>\nOutdoor hard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\nUS Open<\/td>\n2023<\/td>\nFinal<\/td>\nCoco Gauff<\/td>\nOutdoor hard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

However, stars like Iga Swiatek and Sabalenka will certainly have a say in this matter.<\/p>\n

But if Gauff can bring the kind of mindset she showcased in the French Open<\/a> final to every tournament, it will take something very special to stop her on any surface.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chris Evert has jumped to the defence of Coco Gauff, after Aryna Sabalenka made some questionable comments following…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167813,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[35772,61159,6740,5066,79,1068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-167812","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-aryna-sabalenka","9":"tag-chris-evert","10":"tag-coco-gauff","11":"tag-french-open","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-tennis","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114648267171450793","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167812"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167812\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}