Coco Gauff can look back on her 2025 season with fond memories, particularly given she added another Grand Slam title to her honors list.
Gauff won the 2025 French Open, having won her first Grand Slam at the 2023 US Open, defeating Aryna Sabalenka on both occasions.
The American superstar also claimed another WTA title in Wuhan, taking her career tally to 11 at the age of 21.
But it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the youngster, with Gauff left annoyed in 2025 over constant questions about her serving struggles.
Serena Williams’ former coach suggests Coco Gauff can become world number one
Gauff hired biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan just before the US Open in a bid to help solve the issues, having also parted ways with coach Matt Daly.
It’s an area of her game that Rick Macci, who once coached Serena Williams, has now highlighted in an assessment of the world number three.
He wrote on X: “Coco will be a different player in 2026. Serve will be a weapon and the forehand more compact and overall strategy controlling the center of the court.
“She has the best defense on the tour and with these additions she will be knocking on that number one door.”
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Why Rick Macci is right to be excited about Coco Gauff
Gauff has already enjoyed phenomenal success in her career so far, particularly given how young she still is.
But climbing to world number one has remained elusive thus far, with the American making it as high as number two on the WTA Tour and no further.
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She does, of course, still have plenty of time to achieve the feat, and intriguingly Gauff thinks she will peak in four years.
Improving her serving struggles will likely be key in that endeavour, with her preseason training likely involving a heavy focus on that area.
Gauff hit a huge 431 double faults in the 2025 WTA season, well ahead of the 300 from second-placed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
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However, as Macci alluded to, she is a fantastic returner, with Gauff really impressing regarding both return games won and return points won.
Her figures of 46.3% and 48.8% respectively lead the way for players with a significant number of matches played in 2025.
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