Serena Williams’ former coach claims ‘everybody’ is getting something wrong about Coco Gauff

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There have been many different comments made about Coco Gauff after her first match at the WTA Finals this year.

Gauff won the Wuhan Open title at her most recent tournament, and it appeared that she had turned a corner after a challenging North American swing.

The world number three is the defending WTA Finals champion, with it being speculated that Gauff had rediscovered something in her tennis that was previously missing.

However, after Gauff was beaten by Jessica Pegula in her first match at the WTA Finals, Serena Williams’ former coach believes that people have got something wrong about the Roland Garros champion.

Rick Macci says what people are getting wrong about Coco Gauff’s serve

After a challenging North American hard court swing, Gauff changed her coach right before the US Open and hired biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan to help work on her serve.

The serve appeared to be improving at the Wuhan Open, but alarms were raised again when Gauff hit 17 double faults against Pegula.

Despite the obvious concerns surrounding Gauff’s serve, top tennis coach Rick Macci has suggested that he believes people have got something wrong about the two-time major winner.

“Coco and her serve is so much better,” Macci wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter). “Everybody is looking at the wrong movie. Major technical changes have been made and Gavin hit all the nails on the head so someday she will nail it at 130 mph.

“The 17 faults is just developmental number in live combat. You have to fail to succeed. That will slowly fade and she will actually win points with the second serve kicker and go even bigger and bolder on the second as conviction courage and confidence is around baking in the Gauff oven.”

In a later social media post, Macci explained that Gauff’s double faults come as a result of her going for bigger serves and it is more of a long-term project.

Macci added, “Coco is evolving in real time on the serve. She would never double fault if she hit two 75 mph lollipops and just rolled in it. She did that WAY too much before and look where we are at Nov(ember) 2025.

“Mentally she is on track not to look back and if she hit two cupcakes with extra icing and never hit the double trouble, would she do better that match. Maybe? But team Gauff is looking at a BIGGER PICTURE and number one is going to happen and her serve will be a game and career changer. What you MAY SEE is different than Rick Macci.”

Top five WTA players who have hit the most double faults in 2025

Although Macci appears to be optimistic about the world number three, Gauff has hit more double faults than any other WTA player this year.

Gauff has hit a huge 405 double faults all this year, which is significantly more than any other player.

The closest person to her in this list is world number 10 Ekaterina Alexandrova, but she has still hit 108 fewer double faults than Gauff in 2025.

The three other players who have hit the most double faults this year are Alycia Parks, whose serve was once compared to Serena Williams, Linda Noskova and Marta Kostyuk.

Gauff is currently the third highest ranked player in the world, with only Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek above her.

However, both players have hit significantly fewer double faults than Gauff, with Sabalenka hitting 154 and Swiatek 226, while also achieving more aces.