PARIS — Drawing on the painful memory of her defeat three years ago in the French Open final gave Coco Gauff just the motivation she needed to win the clay-court major for the first time.

The 21-year-old American defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 on Saturday for her second Grand Slam title, two years after winning the U.S. Open.

“I think (the U.S. Open victory) was more emotional, but this one was harder,” said Gauff, who managed to handle the elements and the momentum swings better than Sabalenka. “I knew it was going to be about will power and mental (strength).”

The victory put to rest the bad memories of her 2022 French Open final loss to Iga Swiatek when, as an 18-year-old, Gauff felt overwhelmed even before stepping onto Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“It was a tough time, I was doubting myself,” Gauff recalled. “I was crying before the match, and so nervous, literally couldn’t breathe and stuff.”

Gauff said that the lopsided loss rocked her confidence to such an extent that she was left “in a dark place” and feared she was not cut out for winning major titles.

“I thought if I can’t handle this how am I going to handle it again?” she said.

She handled it just fine on Saturday.

The second-ranked Gauff made fewer mistakes and kept her emotions in check to get the better of Sabalenka again at major final, having come from a set down to beat the Belarusian in the 2023 U.S. Open final.