French Open: No. 2 Coco Gauff faces No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the women's final

PARIS (AP) — The biggest difference Coco Gauff sees between the player who lost her first Grand Slam final at the 2022 French Open at age 18, and the one who will play for the trophy again on Saturday at 21, this time against No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, is the way she views the importance of the occasion.

Three years ago at Roland-Garros, Gauff was making her debut on that sort of stage and with that sort of prize at stake. It felt like the outcome meant absolutely everything, a burden that was a lot at the time and made her nervous.

Now, the No. 2-ranked Gauff says, she understands “how miniscule” the result Saturday is in the scheme of things.

“Everybody is dealing with way bigger things in life than losing a final,” the American said after beating 361st-ranked French wild-card entry Loïs Boisson 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals Thursday.

“I’m sure there are hundreds of players that would kill to win or lose a final, so just knowing that (makes) me realize how lucky and privileged I am to be in this position,” Gauff said. “At first, I thought it would be the end of the world if I lost, and, you know, the sun still rose the next day. ... Regardless of the result, the sun will still rise.”

Here's another key difference: The Gauff of today is a Grand Slam champion. She won the 2023 U.S. Open; her opponent in that final just so happened to be Sabalenka.

“I just remember kind of feeling,” Gauff said, “like I was holding my breath to the match point.”

Their head-to-head series is tied 5-5 entering the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in a French Open women's final since Serena Williams beat Maria Sharapova in 2023.

Sabalenka beat Gauff in their most recent meeting, which came at the Madrid Open in May on the type of red clay used at Roland-Garros. So Gauff is well aware of Sabalenka's many talents, which were on full display during a 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-0 semifinal victory over three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek.

“She can come up with some big shots and big winners pretty much at all areas of the court,” Gauff said about the 27-year-old from Belarus. “She's a fighter, as well. She's going to stay in the match regardless of the scoreline.”

After getting pushed to a third set by Swiatek, who had won 26 matches in a row at the French Open, Sabalenka was pretty much perfect down the stretch.

Even Sabalenka called the lopsided nature of that last set “shocking for me.”

She didn't make a single unforced error; Swiatek had 12.

“The pace was from her (was) super fast,” Swiatek said. “It was just hard to get into any rally.”

Sabalenka took over the top ranking from Swiatek last October and has remained there. Sabalenka is 40-6 this season with three titles and, while her three major championships all came on hard courts — at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Opens and the 2024 U.S. Open — the work she's put in to improve on clay is clearly paying off.

“I can go flat. I can (play) with the spin. I can go back and play in defense,” Sabalenka said. “That’s what works the best on the clay court for me.”

The truth is, regardless of the surface, Sabalenka still appears to be most comfortable when she hits the ball as hard as possible.

Her high-risk style offers a contrast to Gauff, who has been making an effort to be more aggressive with her forehand but usually is at her best when she is making opponents hit shot after shot because she can get to everything with her speed, instincts and defense.

“She's going to come out swinging,” Gauff said. “I just have to expect that and do my best to kind of counter that.”

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus plays a shot against Poland's Iga Swiatek during their semifinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates as she won the semifinal match of the French Tennis Open against France's Lois Boisson at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Winner Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, back to the camera, and Poland's Iga Swiatek hug after their semifinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. serves against France's Lois Boisson during their semifinal match of the French Tennis Open at the Roland-Garros stadium in Paris, Thursday, June 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

BERLIN (AP) — Many households and businesses in south-west Berlin face days without electricity after high-voltage power lines were damaged by a fire which city authorities said Sunday was a result of a politically motivated attack by “left-wing extremists."

The fire broke out on Saturday morning on a cable bridge over the Teltow Canal, near the Lichterfelde power plant, according to local authorities. Initially, over 45,000 households and 2,200 businesses in four districts were without electricity. Heating and internet services were also affected.

Franziska Giffey, the city's Senator for Economic Affairs, described the incident as “a particularly severe power outage affecting tens of thousands of households and businesses, including care facilities, hospitals, numerous social institutions and companies.”

While power was restored to thousands of households by Sunday, many others are likely to be left in the dark until Thursday, authorities estimate.

Snowy weather and freezing temperatures has slowed down efforts to restore electricity and made life extra difficult for those affected.

The incident is being investigated as a possible act of arson. Authorities compared it to a similar power outage last September in southeast Berlin, when radical activists claimed responsibility.

Authorities said they were working to confirm the authenticity of a letter claiming responsibility for the latest incident.

The perpetrators were “clearly left-wing extremists," Berlin’s Mayor Kai Wegner was cited as saying by a German news agency. “It is unacceptable that once again clearly left-wing extremists have attacked our power grid and thereby endangered human lives,” Wegner said.

FILE - Steam leaves a cooling tower of the Lichterfelde gas-fired power plant near a cable bridge crossing the Teltow canal in Berlin, Germany, on March 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)

Passers-by stand in the light of a fire department help point in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025, during a power cut in south-west Berlin after a fire on a cable bridge. (Christoph Gollnow/dpa via AP)

Emergency vehicles from the aid organization "Die Johanniter" pick up residents of a retirement home in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 3, 2025, during a power cut in south-west Berlin after a fire on a cable bridge. (Michael Ukas/dpa via AP)