Before Coco Gauff lit up French clay with her fire, her loss to Jasmine Paolini in Italy was a reality check, “I lost to two quality opponents, Aryna in Madrid and Jasmine here. So yeah, I think I have a lot to improve, a lot that I can work on,” she admitted. That hunger for growth powered her through a field of 128 at Paris. But just as the American flame burned bright, ex-pro CoCo Vandeweghe stepped in with a reality check, casting doubt on the manner of her semifinal win. Backing Sabalenka with conviction, she threw a cold dose of truth into the mix. With final fever peaking, Vandeweghe’s verdict might just prove to be prescient.

Coco Gauff silenced the roaring French crowd with clinical precision as she dismantled local hope Loïs Boisson 6-1, 6-2 yesterday. Under the closed roo

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