Coco Gauff is seemingly in an ongoing battle with her serve, but she has seen signs that progress is being made.
Her 405 double faults this season are more than any other player on the WTA Tour, with Gauff having hired Gavin MacMillan in a bid to improve in that area.
He joined the American’s team right before the US Open, and Gauff was praised for hiring MacMillan to help solve her issues.
The WTA number three fell in the round of 16 at her home Grand Slam, but Gauff has won the Wuhan Open since then, along with reaching the semifinals of the China Open.
Further success is now on the cards at the WTA Finals in Riyadh next month, a tournament Gauff won despite her clear serving issues.
Coco Gauff suggests she has seen many incorrect comments about her serve
The player herself has now openly discussed that area of her game, which she is still working on with biomechanics expert MacMillan, who previously coached Aryna Sabalenka.
Gauff told The National: “I feel like with my serve, there have been a lot of comments and opinions, and things that I’ve tried and it just didn’t help.
“I’m a very logic-based person and I felt like this was the best thing to make it logical for me. A lot of people thought it was mental and things like that, but I knew for me, it wasn’t because of the fact that I feel like I’m one of the mentally stronger players on tour.
“So when I found that someone to give me a real solution to it, it made a lot of difference. And then it was just about trusting it and putting the reps in.
“And I didn’t have that much time to do that, I’m still working on it, but I definitely think the stats in the last few tournaments have shown that it’s got better since I started.”
Such a dramatic and important change will, of course, take time, and Gauff deserves praise for not only speaking about the issue, but winning significant events in the meantime.
What Coco Gauff wishes she could have done differently about the US Open
Still, some disappointment understandably remains from her home Grand Slam this year, where she fell to former world number one Naomi Osaka.
After knocking out Ajla Tomljanovic, Donna Vekic and Magdalena Frech, the home favorite lost 6-3, 6-2 to two-time champion Osaka.
When asked why she found the tournament so difficult, Gauff replied: “I think just knowing, because I made a change with my coaching and knowing that everybody was looking at the serving aspect of my game, I just felt the pressure to all of a sudden have a brand-new serve within four days, which I knew it wasn’t possible, but I think a lot of people were expecting that.
“I tried my best with the time that I had. I definitely think I got in my head about it for sure. I wish I could have relaxed a little bit more. But now, how I feel in my serve, I feel like it’s better and I’m not doing as many doubles as before.
“So yeah, I think it was nice to have that experience, even though it felt awful in the moment, but I feel like those are the type of things that make you stronger and prove, like, I don’t know… I feel like years from now, I can always recall that experience and how I was able to get through those first couple of matches with how I was feeling.”
Being under such pressure at just 21 cannot be easy, with Gauff having been under the microscope arguably more than any other player in New York.
She won the French Open earlier in the year, having claimed her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2023.
Moreover, American fans were eager for more American success after Gauff’s Roland Garros triumph and Madison Keys winning the Australian Open.
She was also under the spotlight after Gauff parted ways with her coach Matt Daly around the same time MacMillan joined her team.
But she’s handled the pressure extremely well, and has a long, long career ahead in which she can secure many more Grand Slam titles.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
