Coco Gauff announced the appointment of Matt Daly to the American’s coaching team in 2024, so The Tennis Gazette looks into everything that you need to know about him.
Daly joined Gauff ahead of the 2024 China Open in Beijing and will work alongside the then WTA Tour No6’s long-time coach Jean-Christophe Faurel. Gauff added Daly to her staff for the remainder of the 2024 season and into the next season after splitting from Brad Gilbert.
Gauff sacked Gilbert after losing to Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the 2024 US Open, an event the iconic coach helped the American win in 2023. Gilbert spent just 14 months on her staff but could not help the Georgia native defend the title as one of the major favorites.
Daly and Faurel now work together to help Gauff target yet further Grand Slam glory after a largely frustrating record in 2024. She also lost to Navarro in the fourth round of Wimbledon and left the Australian Open plus the French Open in the semi-finals over the 2024 season.
So, with that in mind, The Tennis Gazette has taken a look into everything you need to know about Daly after the former collegiate tennis star joined WTA favorite Gauff’s coaching staff.
Who is tennis coach Matt Daly?
Matt Daly became the coach of American tennis player Coco Gauff in September 2024 after she split from Brad Gilbert. Daly was a collegiate tennis player with the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated in 2001 with a finance degree, before trying to go professional.
Since becoming a coach, Daly has worked with numerous ATP Tour players who have ranked among the top 100. But he was often just a low-level feature among various coaching teams before Daly began working with Denis Shapovalov in May 2023 and for the rest of that year.
Daly largely played on the Pro Futures Circuit, a part of the USTA Pro Circuit, while trying to make a name for himself. His coaching career then started largely on a part-time basis owing to family reasons, working beside Brian Barker at the Tennis Club of Trumbull in Connecticut.
Beside the former NCAA champion Mark Merklein, Daly also helped to create Grip MD. It is a training device designed to aid players of all levels learn how to execute a proper volley or serve. But his playing career hardly took off after being Notre Dame’s No1 collegiate talent.
How old is Matt Daly? When was he born?
At the time of writing, Matt Daly is 45 years old having been born on January 13 in 1979.
What has Coco Gauff said about Matt Daly?
Coco Gauff spoke very highly about Matt Daly after adding him to her coaching staff ahead of the 2024 China Open. One of their first points of business was to address Gauff’s serve.
“I’m really excited,” Gauff said. “I think this is probably what it will look like next year. too. I’m super excited for a new change and, hopefully, to improve other parts of my game.
“Working with Brad was really great and, obviously, we had a great partnership. I think it was just time to do a reset, a refresh, and add some things in my game that I felt like I need to do to have a better season next year.”
What did Denis Shapovalov win with Matt Daly as his coach?
Denis Shapovalov only retained Matt Daly as a coach from May 2023 to January 2024. Their time together started with the 2023 French Open, where the Canadian lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the third round. Shapovalov also next lost in the first round of the Stuttgart Open in 2023.
Wimbledon would prove to be slightly more productive as Shapovalov made it to the fourth round before tasting defeat to Roman Safiullin. But Daly’s time with the Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel-born star did not yield much further progress before parting ways shortly into the New Year.
First, second and third round exits littered Shapovalov’s record before parting company with Daly. The 2024 Australian Open proved to be the final event that Daly acted on Shapovalov’s coaching staff after losing 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 to Jakub Mensik during the first round in Melbourne.
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