Because of how different clay court tennis is stylistically from hard court or grass court, the French Open lends itself to dominance by players that have mastered that surface. On the men's side, we saw Rafael Nadal lord over the clay for nearly two decades,

Aryna Sabalenka overcame inner doubts and a strong challenge from Iga Swiatek to win their French Open semifinal clash in three sets. Sabalenka's powerful performance, marked by 28 winners and forcing errors from Swiatek,

No. 1 seed Aryna Sabalenka plays No. 2 Coco Gauff in the 2025 French Open women's singles final, each eyeing her first title on the Roland Garros red clay. It's the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 Grand Slam women's final since the 2018 Australian Open (Caroline Wozniacki d.