As Coco Gauff’s on-court struggles continue, Jon Wertheim has outlined what she needs to do in order to have a strong US Open.
The 20-year-old has not made it past the fourth round of any tournament since losing to Emma Navarro at Wimbledon, but the Cincinnati Open defeat is arguably her worst of the season.
The American’s title defence is already over after losing her first match of the tournament against Yulia Putinseva on Thursday.
Gauff is set to defend her US Open title but unlike 2023, she will enter the final Grand Slam of the year in wretched form.
What does Jon Wertheim think Coco Gauff needs to be told before the US Open?
Coco Gauff entered the 2023 US Open on the back of winning the Washington and Cincinnati Open titles, but the soon to be World number three’s fortunes have drastically changed before heading to New York in 2024.
Wertheim appeared on Tennis Channel where he discussed Gauff’s dip in form and commented on what her approach should be ahead of her US Open title defence.
“Yeah, I don’t know if it’s her game or her mental approach. We didn’t see her best at Wimbledon, the Olympics, we didn’t see it in Canada, we didn’t see it today,” he said.
“I think you say to her ‘listen, you are not defending a US Open title. Those points are gone. You are trying to create. You are trying to start something and start building.’ Last year she had so much momentum going into New York, she has very little now.
“Fortunes change quickly in this sport. We have seen it with Coco good and bad. But 16 of the last 18 points, that is not how you want to go out before you go and defend the one major you have won.”
What have Coco Gauff’s results been like since Wimbledon?
Gauff began the 2024 season by winning the Auckland title and reaching the Australian Open semi-finals for the first time.
She also had solid showings on the clay where she reached the Italian and French Open semi-finals, and lost to Iga Swiatek on both occasions.
Since then her form has dipped with unsatisfactory results, first coming at Wimbledon in the fourth-round when Gauff lost to Navarro.
Donna Vekic defeated Gauff at the Olympics following the grass court Grand Slam, while Diana Shnaider claimed victory in Toronto before Putinseva knocked her out of the Cincinnati Open.
To make matters worse, Gauff is now set to lose the number two ranking spot next week, back to the woman she defeated to win the 2023 US Open, Aryna Sabalenka.
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