Serena Williams’ former coach Rennae Stubbs has been the name on everybody’s lips as Coco Gauff looks to strengthen her new coaching team after separating from Brad Gilbert.
Coco Gauff’s post-US Open announcement was anticipated by virtually everyone in the tennis world.
More or less as soon as her title defense was ended by compatriot Emma Navarro in the fourth-round, coach Brad Gilbert was presumably preparing for a swift exit.
Gauff has suffered a disappointing few months on the WTA circuit, failing to relive her glorious hard-court summer of 2023 with two uninspired early exits in Toronto and Cincinnati.
The question marks that have always lingered over her forehand and second-serve unfortunately resurfaced immediately after her US Open defeat, with the 20-year-old hitting 11 double-faults in the third set alone, ending the match with a total of 19.
Gauff announced her new coach, Matt Daly, would be joining her team alongside long-term coach Jean-Christophe Faurel this week.
READ MORE: Who is Coco Gauff’s new coach Matt Daly? Everything you need to know
Rennae Stubbs says she would love to work with ‘amazing’ Coco Gauff
Rennae Stubbs has already worked with top WTA players Karolina Pliskova and Eugenie Bouchard, and was tipped to be a potential new coach for Gauff.
After the US Open defeat Stubbs awkwardly criticized Gauff in front of coach Gilbert, and in doing so forced many to question whether she might take on the role.
Gilbert sent a heartfelt message to Gauff after the pair announced they were parting ways last Wednesday.
“Those decisions with any coaching situation comes from the agent,” she said on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis podcast responding to questions about becoming Gauff’s coach.
“In respect to Coco Gauff, I would imagine her agent, her parents and then Coco. And the three of those will talk among themselves, I’m sure.
“Of course, I would do it,” she confessed. “I mean I wouldn’t say no to an opportunity with a great player, there’s no way. But that’s not a decision for me to make. I love Coco, I think she’s an incredible kid. And I can say kid because she’s like more than half my age.
“I think she’s an incredibly hard worker, I respect the heck out of her. She has only ever been an amazing person to be around. She responds to you, she looks you in the eye.”
Would Rennae Stubbs be a good fit for Coco Gauff?
Often labelled as Serena Williams’s former coach, it’s worth saying that Stubbs only worked with Williams for about two weeks at the 2022 US Open, with the American losing in the third round.
Stubbs took Bouchard from 330th in the world up 200 spots to 120th – worth looking at here too is currently just under 450 WTA points separate these positions, meaning that just a couple of decent runs can propel a player up a number of spots.
While Stubbs has presided over a Samantha Stosur doubles Grand Slam in 2021, she doesn’t really have the reputation for being a top coach.
Arguably, Gauff might be keen to try and simply start a fresh and change the dynamic. Moreover, there are only a few coaches out there with the grand slam experience Gauff wants – Naomi Osaka’s ex-coach Wim Fissette being the obvious candidate.
Stubbs is clearly prepared to point out the obvious flaw in Gauff’s game – whether she is the one to fix it, I’m not convinced.
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