Coco Gauff was in no mood for messing around with Aryna Sabalenka after their The American over the No.1 seed.

came from a set down to win 6-7(5) 6-2 6-4 as Sabalenka struggled to deal with both the windy conditions and her emotions at Roland Garros.

The No. 1 seed expressed her disappointment openly, remarking that she had played "terrible tennis" before doubling down in her post-match press conference, claiming that, had Iga Swiatek made it to the championship match, she would have won. Sabalenka had beaten the four-time champion in the semi-final on Thursday, handing Swiatek her first loss in the French capital in four years, winning 7-6 4-6 6-0.

Somewhat bitterly, after collapsing against Gauff and hitting 70 unforced errors - having actually won a marathon 80-minute first set - she said: "If Iga would [beat] me another day, I think she would go out today and she would get the win."

Unable to hold back her anguish, she added: "Yeah, it just hurts. Honestly hurts. I've been playing really well, and then in the last match, go out there and perform like I did, that hurts."

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Regardless of the tears and self-criticism from Sabalenka, Gauff remained unshaken. Graciously taking her seat as the tournament champion at her own post match press conference, Gauff was informed of Sabalenka's comments.

But the newly crowned champion stood her ground, brushed off Sabalenka's remarks, declaring: "I mean, I don't agree with that."

And then came the killer line: "I'm here sitting here."

Gauff, 21, also referenced her recent dominating win over Swiatek at the Madrid Open. "Last time I played - no shade to Iga or anything, but I played her and I won in straight sets. Yeah, I don't think that's a fair thing to say, because anything can really happen.

"Yeah, honestly the way Aryna was playing the last few weeks, she was the favourite to win. So I think she was the best person that I could have played in the final.

"Her being No.1 in the was the best person to play, so I think I got the hardest matchup just if you go off stats alone."

If she had to choose, Gauff would have preferred to face Swiatek. However, after winning her second major title, what could have been was of little importance.

Gauff believed that, no matter her opponent, she stood a good chance of winning, an attitude she carried into the match.

"Obviously Iga being a champion here, it was going to be a tough match either way," the champ added. "But, yeah, I think regardless of who I played, I think I had a good shot to win, and I definitely had that belief," she explained.

"If you asked me, honestly speaking to you guys who I wanted to play, it was Iga just because I felt Aryna was playing so good, and she was.

"But also, Iga is a tough opponent too. So honestly, neither of them would have been the better shot. But, you know, it played out how it played out. Yeah, that's why I'm here today."