Coco Gauff enjoyed another strong year on the WTA Tour as she finished the year ranked number three in the world.
In 2023 Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open as a teenager, beating Aryna Sabalenka in the final.
It was always going to be tough to follow that in 2024, as Gauff lost in the US Open fourth round to fellow American Emma Navarro.
Gauff brought in Matt Daly as her new coach and immediately began seeing some strong results to close out her season.
It all started in Asia, as Gauff won the China Open, taking down Karolina Muchova in straight sets as she clinched her second career WTA 1000 trophy.
She then finished her year in style, as Gauff won the WTA Finals, beating Qinwen Zheng in the final.
The 20-year-old looks to be in fine form ahead of the 2025 WTA season, but one legendary coach previously noted several big issues within her game.
Pete Sampras’ former coach Robert Lansdorp once explained the big mistake Coco Gauff is making
Speaking to CoachLife, Pete Sampras’ former coach Robert Lansdorp had explained what Gauff’s coaching team have done wrong with her forehand.
“When [Coco] Gauff was a junior her coach had her try and hit a forehand like Serena [Williams],” he said.
“But Serena has a different grip, so it never can be the same.
“Coco Gauff, everybody knows her forehand is weak, they have talked about it but they don’t know how to correct it.”
Lansdorp offered up some advice for the world number three.
“It is so simple to correct,” he claimed.
“You correct it in the first place by trying to hit at least 40 or 50 percent reverse forehand so it becomes natural.
“She is trying sometimes to hit reverse forehands, you can see her on the wide forehand, but it doesn’t look like she knows what she is doing.
“All she has to do is follow through down more, not like Serena [up high], with that grip where the ball sails on her.
“You have a very short hitting zone with that grip, it’s not like an eastern grip where you’re hitting zone is short.
“A reverse makes it worse, follow through down makes it work, as you still get through the ball a little bit.”
What did Robert Lansdorp mean by ‘reverse forehand’?
Lansdorp clearly thought Gauff should implement the ‘reverse forehand’, but what does the shot actually look like?
The Dutch-American explained how two of his former players Sampras, and Maria Sharapova used the technique.
“[Pete] Sampras hit it with a little shorter follow-through, his grip was not too western so he would hit a reverse like this,” he said.
“I remember the first time he hit a reverse it was like 30 years ago, I fed him the ball fast and he hit a reverse forehand, and I’m questioning him ‘Why didn’t you move your feet?’, and he says ‘The ball skidded on the line’.
“When the ball comes low, and it comes fast and into the body that’s when you have to hit the reverse.”
Lansdorp coached Sharapova in the lead-up to her Wimbledon success in 2004 and explained how the Russian implemented the technique.
“Maria Sharapova, when she first came to me she was like 10, 11 years old, she was with me for eight years,” he said.
“She hit the forehand a little late, so first I had her open up, and then I had her hit a reverse.
“Maria [Sharapova] hit a great reverse forehand, she would not have won Wimbledon if she did not have a reverse forehand.
“She had a reverse forehand, Serena [Williams] didn’t have a reverse forehand.”
The reverse forehand is commonly used in modern tennis, and thanks to his efforts in developing the technique, many now refer to the shot as the ‘Lansdorp forehand’.
Lansdorp sadly passed away in September, but his legacy in tennis will live on, having contributed significantly to several tennis stars’ successes over the years.
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