Coco Gauff is undeniably one of the best players in the world, but she has endured a tough past few months which has led to some scrutiny.
Just 20 years old, what she has already accomplished at her age is remarkable.
However, with such a blistering start to her career, the pressure and expectation were always bound to grow.
Gauff even hinted that her Grand Slam title had cursed her more than anything.
It’s expected that the American will finish her career with far more majors in her trophy cabinet, but for now, she has plenty to improve upon.
Mark Petchey thinks Coco Gauff is still the best in one area
Speaking on Tennis Channel just yesterday, Mark Petchey was joined by two top pundits to discuss the current state of the WTA.
And, with their finals having already been set, it was easy to discuss the best of women’s tennis given we now know which nine players will be in attendance in Riyadh.
The three panellists went through, trait for trait, and looked to rank each player for categories such as serve, offence, defence and more.
But Petchey was left stunned when Coco Gauff was inexplicably omitted from both of the latter attribute.
He even stated: ‘So I got absolutely crucified on social media when I said that Coco Gauff was the best athlete. Not tennis player, athlete, that’s played in women’s tennis.’
Coco Gauff is so close to competing for majors again
There are few questions about Gauff’s athleticism, just as there is no scrutiny surrounding her rock-solid backhand.
However, in what is the most well-documented flaw in history, her serving continues to let her down.
Aryna Sabalenka suffered similarly, but rewiring herself, she has gone from a player with unlimited potential that she seemed destined to never fulfil into the best in the world.
Everybody knows that Gauff can do similarly, but the amount of double faults she serves at the moment is an insurmountable hurdle.
Losing in the semi-final to Sabalenka in Wuhan, she served 21 double faults. When knocked out of the US Open by Emma Navarro, she served a further 19.
When it matters most, her serve deserts her, and this is what is stopping her from enjoying similar dominance to Sabalenka.
Should Matt Daly, her new coach, want to focus on anything, he will know better than most that it is that.
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