An error-strewn display from Coco Gauff helped Aryna Sabalenka to a comeback victory in the Wuhan Open semi-finals.
The serving yips are scars that never quite leave a tennis player. They can be coached out and concealed but never quite fade from the psyche of even the greatest of champions.
Coco Gauff’s serving issues have clouded her title ambitions for the back-end of this year, despite her slightly surprising win in Beijing last week.
A run that saw her face no top 10 opponents all the way to the title still saw several displays littered with errors.
Her semi-final against Aryna Sabalenka was no different and ended up costing her the match, with the American striking 21 double faults – the highest on the WTA Tour in a single match this year.
Aryna Sabalenka expresses sympathy for Coco Gauff’s serving woes
With the match handed to Sabalenka with Gauff’s decisive double fault of the match, it half-undermined the 20-year-old’s efforts throughout the week.
While early days with Gauff’s new coach Matt Daly, the 19 double faults that saw her dumped out of the US Open are yet to be solved.
Sabalenka is the perfect person to offer up sympathy, with the Belarusian having had her own lengthy struggles with the serve, waylaying much of her 2022 season.
She said after the match, via Punto de Break: “I understand her perfectly, I know what she’s going through, and it’s difficult to manage.
“She is already one of the best in the world, and when she overcomes this issue, she will be very tough to beat,” Sabalenka said of Gauff.
Explaining how the issue has come about, she said: “It all starts with some technical error, and when you begin to hit double faults, it becomes a mental issue. I worked with a biomechanics expert; it’s a long process.”
Aryna Sabalenka’s resilience is what has truly carried her to glory this year
At a set down, Sabalenka looked set of another surprising exit. It’s therefore testament to her resilience and courage that she later emerged victorious.
Sabalenka’s grit is not necessarily anything new, but it still feels like something many of us are getting used to.
It’s easy to count her out assuming the errors and frustration are going to creep in and totally disrupt her chances of a recovery.
Now however, Sabalenka has seemed to overcome these wobbles, whenever they crop up – which is rare in itself.
The only women to win two majors this year, Sabalenka deserves the number one spot, not only for her firepower and results, but for this momentous shift in mentality.
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