Coco Gauff Declares Love for Paris Following French Open Doubles Title

The 20-year-old secured her first career Grand Slam doubles trophy in Paris.

Coco Gauff / Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

Coco Gauff made the most out of her appearance at the French Open this year.

Heading into the tournament at No. 3 in the WTA rankings, the 20-year-old American professional tennis player was ready to battle it out. With hard-fought play, Gauff made it all the way to the semi-finals of the second Grand Slam of the 2024 season before falling to the eventual champion, world No. 1 Iga Świątek in straight sets. The deep run allowed Gauff to overtake the world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA rankings—which was momentous for more than just one reason.

Not only is the Georgia native now the No. 2 ranked female tennis player in the world, but—with her move up the rankings—the top two players on the WTA Tour (the women’s professional tour) and the ATP Tour (the men’s professional tour) were all born in the 2000s.

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And while she didn’t come out on top on the singles side, she did on the doubles. Gauff was forced to find a new partner shortly before the French Open because her typical partner, fellow American Jessica Pegula, was dealing with injury. She ended up hoisting the trophy with Czech professional Kateřina Siniaková, a top-ranked doubles player.

It wasn’t a first for Siniaková, who has won each of the Grand Slam titles in doubles (and some more than once), but it was a first for Gauff. Though she has won a handful of WTA doubles titles in her day, she has never taken home a doubles Grand Slam trophy—until now. And she has Paris to thank for that.

Following the big weekend, Gauff expressed her gratitude for the experience and the city itself with a video montage from the trip on Instagram. “i love this place,” she declared in the caption—and it’s no wonder as to why.