According to the words on the walls of Court Philippe-Chatrier at Roland-Garros, ‘victory belongs to the most tenacious’. And there are some tennis players whose journeys to the podium perfectly echo this sentiment: Rolex Testimonees Garbiñe Muguruza, and last year's women's singles champion, Coco Gauff. As the 2026 edition of the most prestigious clay tournament gets underway, we look back at the roads to Roland-Garros for both women—a decade after the Spaniard triumphed over Serena Williams to take her first Slam title and a year after Gauff's thrilling victory over Aryna Sabalenka—to bring us into the present day.
With Gauff preparing for a title defense and Muguruza overseeing the highest echelons of the WTA tour—as Tournament Director of the WTA Tour Finals and Co-Director of the Madrid Open—both women reflect on the powerful anniversary and what it takes to win in this temple of terre battue and lift the Suzanne-Lenglen trophy at Stade Roland-Garros in Paris.