The two big differences between Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek’s serves have now been identified

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Coco Gauff is on the march once again at the China Open and remains on course to retain the title she won in 2024.

Gauff beat Eva Lys in straight sets to set up a semifinal date and appears to be in fine fettle ahead of the business end of the tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Gauff had a spat with Belinda Bencic, but after prevailing, she’s now kicked on and kept things as normal as possible.

Gauff reacted after beating Lys and ahead of her quarterfinal match this morning, some claims have been made about one aspect of her game.

• READ MORE: Belinda Bencic made a huge mistake against Coco Gauff

The two big differences between Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek’s serves identified

Gauff has been criticised for her serve previously and that aspect of her game remains a bit of an issue for the American player.

Gauff is head and shoulders above any other player when it comes to double faults, and ultimately, things have to change in that sense.

Levi Huddleston is a Machine Learning Engineer for Tennis Australia, and he’s suggested where Swiatek and Gauff are different when it comes to the way they serve.

He told the Australian Open TV podcast: “We have analysed the data that we have and said that biomechanically we can track the limbs of different players and say what looks different.

“I tried to find a player who serves well and has a similar height to Coco. So Iga and Coco, both 5ft 9, about 175cm, so you can compare apples to apples there.

“What you see Iga do is that she has 24% more leg drive, where the speed coming in from her leg and how fast she is pushing up, and then she has 23% more wrist speed on her second serve. So I think Coco is not really accelerating into her shots.

“Hopefully, we will see some real changes there, because I think once she locks in that serve, it’s going to be crazy.”

Gauff’s serve currently holding her back

To have two Grand Slam titles to her name aged 21 suggests that Gauff is clearly doing something right.

However, there were almost two years between her first major and the second, which she won at the French Open back in June.

That does suggest that there are some flaws to her game, and the serve is definitely something for her to continue working on.

Gauff is the world number three, and it’s a case of so near, yet so far away from dominating the sport with these errors on one of the most crucial spots in the sport, currently holding her back.

Swiatek has six Grand Slams to her name, and if the American can correct the one Achilles heel she has, she will surely be capable of winning, if not more, Grand Slam titles every single year.