What Coco Gauff simply must do better if she wants to win a second Grand Slam title after shock Australian Open exit

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Coco Gauff will continue her search for a second Grand Slam title at the French Open, having suffered a shock exit at the Australian Open.

Gauff congratulated Paula Badosa after their quarter-final tie, with the Spaniard having beaten the American in straight sets.

The former was the third seed at the Australian Open, but fell 7-5, 6-4 to the 11th seed at Rod Laver Arena.

Sam Querrey thinks Gauff can win another major, having already tasted such success at the 2023 US Open at the age of just 19.

Gauff followed in the footsteps of legendary figure Serena Williams with the triumph, with the former having become the first American teenager to win the event since the latter achieved the feat in 1999.

Coco Gauff must cut down on double faults after shock Australian Open exit

But another chance to double her honours list has now been and gone, with Gauff’s service having clearly been an issue throughout the Australian Open.

Her struggles in that area have been well-documented, with plenty of specifics needing to be worked on by her and coach Matt Daly.

READ MORE: Coco Gauff’s former coach highlights stat about American women after Madison Keys beats Iga Swiatek to reach Australian Open final

But a very sensible start would be attempting to cut down the huge number of double faults that the American makes on the court.

She began in Melbourne with a massive nine double faults against Sofia Kenin, who hit zero, before Gauff hit seven against Jodie Burrage and four against Leylah Fernandez, compared to their figures of six and three respectively.

The American youngster returned to nine double faults against Belinda Bencic in round four, with her opponent making just one.

Gauff did, of course, win those matches thanks to her superior figures elsewhere, but six double faults came back to haunt her against Badosa, who hit just two.

Coco Gauff tops WTA double faults for 2024 and 2025

It is, of course, very important to note the small but important fact that Gauff is remarkably only 20 years old.

And she already boasts stunning success from her brief career so far, with nine WTA titles having gone her way, including the small matter of a Grand Slam.

READ MORE: Andy Roddick tells Coco Gauff what he wants her to do now after her surprise Australian Open exit

She bounced back from a 2022 French Open final loss to Iga Swiatek by beating Aryna Sabalenka in that US Open final, before beating both on her way to the WTA Finals trophy last year.

Occupying third in the WTA rankings, she is simply a superstar already, and is only going to get better with time and experience.

But it does seem like her efforts really need to be focused on her service game, and in particular cutting down on double faults.

She topped the leaderboard for WTA double faults in 2024 with 430, and already finds herself top of the pile in 2025 with 58.

And it certainly isn’t a new issue for the American, who hit a massive 19 double faults in her 2024 US Open round of 16 loss to Emma Navarro, and 17 in her 2024 Indian Wells quarter-final win over Yue Yuan.