Coco Gauff has started her WTA Finals title defence with a shock defeat to Jessica Pegula in Riyadh.
It wasn’t meant to be like this for Gauff, who enjoyed a pretty solid Asian swing, winning the final WTA 1000 event in Wuhan and also reaching the semifinal of the China Open.
Pegula praised Gauff after losing the Wuhan final to her compatriot and good friend, but she threw a spanner in the works of her WTA Finals title defence with a three-set victory on Sunday night.
Gauff has played much better since the US Open, but this defeat is certainly going to be considered a setback, and now she must find a way to win her last two matches and reach the semifinal of the event.
Coco Gauff delivers honest verdict on her serve vs Jessica Pegula
Gauff changed her coach earlier this year to try and get her serve sorted out, and there have been some shoots of recovery in recent weeks.
However, the double faults popped back up above the parapet on Sunday as she made a staggering 17 to hand Pegula the initiative in a number of games during the three-set defeat.
Afterwards, Gauff looked a little bit downbeat in her post-match interview with Arab News, and she delivered an honest verdict on how she felt her serve went.
She said: “I mean, I served a bit better in that second set, a lot more aces, I don’t know what the stats were, but I definitely felt like I was a lot more accurate on my serve, a little bit more.
“I think in the third, I had chances to win the next game at 1-0, and I think I had a break point at one point at the beginning of the third, so I had chances to provide myself with self-belief, but I’ve just got to learn from it and move on – I will try to start by winning the next match”
Coco Gauff serve statistics vs Jessica Pegula
The 21-year-old is desperate to iron out the uncertainties with her serve, and although she took some big strides forward in Asia, this represented at least one step backwards.
Gauff’s haul of double faults is just ridiculous. Although she’s won a number of titles in her career, there must be a sense in her own mind that making 419 in a calendar year is ultimately going to hold her back if it continues.
| Coco Gauff statistics vs Jessica Pegula | Total |
| Aces | 8 |
| Double Faults | 17 |
| Break Points Won | 5/8 |
| Break Points Given Up | 18 |
| Points Won | 95 |
Fans of Gauff might need to be patient with the serve situation. Naturally, it’s such a complete overhaul that is needed that it will take time to bear some fruit, with the results unlikely to be evident until next year.
Gauff doesn’t have time to dwell on this situation in the short term. She faces Jasmine Paolini tomorrow, knowing that a defeat could send her spiralling out of the competition with a match still to spare.
Gauff can take inspiration from Aryna Sabalenka
Gauff isn’t the first player to struggle with her serve, and she won’t be the last. Sabalenka might have been a dominant force over the past year when it comes to sitting as the world number one, but in 2022, things weren’t so rosy.
Her serve – much like Gauff’s is now – was in disarray in 2022, with Sabalenka making 422 double faults from 55 matches, with changes needed to be made by the Belarusian.
Those changes were made, and the rest, as they say, is now history. Gauff is on the cusp of something special, and if she’s going to become a dominant force in the world of tennis and collect more Grand Slams, something has to give with her serve in the coming years.
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