Coco Gauff's dominant semifinal performance has set up a showdown in the French Open final with Aryna Sabalenka. The world No. 2 has had an encouraging clay season, making both the Madrid Open and Italian Open finals. The highlight of this season was a dominant performance against Iga Swiatek, which was huge considering Gauff's past struggles against the five-time major champion on this surface.

However, Coco will not face Iga this time in Paris and instead is playing world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka for all the marbles. The Belarusian superstar defeated the defending champion in a thrilling three-set match in the semifinals, while Gauff got past France's Lois Boisson. The American navigated a hostile Parisian crowd to win the match 6-1 6-2 in her best performance of the tournament.

Coco Gauff will be looking for history to repeat itself against her opponent in a slam final

Coco Gauff of the United States and Aryna Sabalenka celebrate with the championship and finalist trophies, respectively, after their match in the women's singles finalon day thirteen of the 2023 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center.
Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images
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The world No. 1 and No. 2 are no strangers to each other. In fact, they have already met ten times in their career and are at an even record of 5-5. That includes two clashes in grand slams, which fittingly is also at 1-1. Coco and Aryna have both been a part of some of their best career moments, with the American winning her first major over the Belarusian at the US Open final in 2023. In addition, Sabalenka took out Gauff in the Australian Open semifinals en route to her second career major.

The two will now meet in another major final, this time at Roland-Garros. For Coco, it is her second career appearance at this stage. The 21-year-old's most consistent surface has been clay throughout her young career, which is rare for an American. The slower, bouncier surface better disguises her forehand, which has long been an attacking point for opponents. Sabalenka, on the other hand, is into her first French Open final and second slam final of this season.

This will be the third straight occasion she will face an American for a major title, the last two times coming against Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys. Sabalenka has had to get through a gauntlet of a draw, which included clashes with Amanda Anisimova, Qinwen Zheng, and Swiatek. Gauff, meanwhile, has had a very reasonable road to the final, dropping only one set to Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.

Overall, it will be a clash of the titans on Saturday. The Americans need to have their best serving day of the tournament, as that has been a major concern throughout these two weeks. She will also need to keep most of the rallies on the backhand side, where she has the slight advantage. Overall, it's a match that can go either way. Sabalenka got the best of Gauff earlier this clay season in the Madrid Open final. We will see if that trend continues or if the 21-year-old can secure her second career major, this time on the red dirt.