In the relentless theater of professional tennis, where every swing of the racket can swing the pendulum of fate, Coco Gauff has always been the wide-eyed prodigy who dared to dream bigger than the court itself. At just 21, the Florida firecracker has already conquered the French Open, dazzled at the WTA Finals, and carried the torch for American women’s tennis with a blend of raw athleticism and unshakeable belief. Her 2025 season, a tapestry of triumphs woven with threads of frustration, reached a jarring crescendo in Beijing’s Diamond Court last weekend. There, under the glare of floodlights and the weight of title-defending expectations, Gauff was dismantled—6-1, 6-2—by fellow American Amanda Anisimova in a semifinal slaughter that lasted a mere 58 minutes. It wasn’t just a loss; it was a wake-up call, loud enough to echo across the Pacific to the ears of Rennae Stubbs, the sharp-tongued Australian legend and former coach to Serena Williams herself. And Stubbs, never one to mince words, has a pointed question hanging in the air: Why isn’t Gauff shutting it all down to fix what’s broken?
The match unfolded like a nightmare scripted for slow-motion replay. Anisimova, the 24-year-old phoenix rising from her own ashes of mental health breaks and career crossroads, arrived in Beijing as the world No. 3, her game a symphony of flat, ferocious groundstrokes honed to perfection on the high-bouncing hard courts. Gauff, seeded second and riding a 10-match winning streak in the Chinese capital—her longest run at a single event since her Roland Garros glory—entered as the favorite, her serve tweaks under new biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan touted as the silver bullet to her season-long woes. But from the opening game, it was clear the bullet had misfired. Anisimova raced to a 5-0 lead in the first set, her forehand returns arcing like heat-seeking missiles into Gauff’s corners. Gauff clawed back one game to dodge a bagel, her backhand slicing a defiant winner down the line, but the damage was done. The second set mirrored the misery: another 5-0 hole, a late break and hold for cosmetic points, and then silence as Anisimova sealed it with clinical efficiency.
For Gauff, the defeat stung deeper than the scoreboard suggested. Her first-serve win percentage plummeted to a dismal 38%, riddled with double faults that turned potential holds into gifts. It was her first loss on Beijing’s main stage since a 2023 semifinal tumble to Iga Swiatek, snapping a streak that had her dreaming of back-to-back titles. Post-match, the two-time Grand Slam champion kept her composure in the presser, her voice steady but her eyes betraying the storm within. “She played well,” Gauff said of Anisimova, crediting her opponent’s blistering level. “Yeah, for sure, she and Aryna are tough when they’re playing that level of tennis. I felt like today, no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get into the match. So yeah, I’m going to take this and learn from it.” When pressed on returning to the China Open—a venue where she’s savored “great times”—Gauff’s resolve shone through: “Yeah, for sure. If I’m not injured, I’ll definitely come back. Obviously, today wasn’t my day. But I’m looking forward to next year.” It’s classic Gauff: optimistic, unflinching, the kid who once stared down Venus Williams at Wimbledon now staring down her own shadows.
But across the globe, Stubbs watched the carnage unfold and couldn’t hold her tongue. The 53-year-old, a doubles Grand Slam winner and podcast provocateur whose no-nonsense takes have made her a must-listen for the tennis cognoscenti, dove into the fray on her Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. She’s been sounding the alarm on Gauff’s serve for months—ever since the US Open, where 27 double faults haunted the American’s campaign like a persistent ghost. “Everybody knows, I have said it several times in the pod, I would have shut it down for the season and really try to work on those technical flaws,” Stubbs declared, her voice a mix of tough love and genuine concern. It’s not just about the mechanics, she argued; it’s the mental erosion that comes from grinding through glitches. “The mental toll of the tour” is what Stubbs fears most—the invisible grind that chews up young stars, turning potential into pressure. Her question, implicit but impossible to ignore, cuts to the core: What will it take for Gauff to prioritize healing over hurdling forward?
Stubbs knows the terrain all too well. As Serena’s coach during her twilight triumphs, she witnessed firsthand how technical tweaks—like overhauls to the serve or footwork—can unlock legends, but only if timed right. Gauff’s collaboration with MacMillan, a guru of motion analysis, promised revolution: a more fluid toss, a pronated snap to combat the high tosses that left her vulnerable on hard courts. Yet, against Anisimova’s onslaught, it all unraveled. Anisimova, for her part, was poetry in power post-match: “I was able to put on a really good performance,” she said, her excitement palpable. “I knew I was going to have to play really well against Coco if I wanted to get the win, and I’m really excited to be in the final.” She backed it up, too, storming to the title over Linda Noskova in a three-set thriller, her fifth final of 2025 and a statement that she’s no longer the prodigy in waiting—she’s the predator.
This clash wasn’t just a semifinal; it was a microcosm of American tennis’s thrilling, turbulent renaissance. Gauff and Anisimova, both products of the USTA’s junior pipelines, represent the next wave crashing against the old guard. Gauff’s French Open crown in June, Madison Keys’ Australian Open conquest in January—these are the sparks of a potential sweep, as Stubbs herself hoped earlier in the year when Anisimova reached Wimbledon’s final (only to fall in a heartbreaking double bagel to Swiatek). Back then, amid the social media vitriol that followed Anisimova’s nerves-fueled flop, Stubbs was a fierce defender: “Anyone who goes on social media to trash Amanda needs to really check themselves. This is a kid that just made her first major final & deservedly so. She’s also someone who’s overcome a lot.” Now, with roles reversed, Stubbs turns that empathy toward Gauff, urging a pause before the precipice.
As Gauff pivots to the Wuhan Open—where she’s the No. 3 seed with a semifinal to defend and a bye into the second round—the timing feels fateful. Anisimova’s withdrawal from the event, citing fatigue after her Beijing heroics, hands Gauff a breather, but Stubbs’ plea lingers: Shut it down, Coco. Dive deep into those drills, let the body and mind reset. The WTA Finals in Riyadh loom, with its $15 million purse and the chance for Gauff to join Pegula, Keys, and Anisimova in a four-American invasion unseen since 2002. But glory demands sacrifice, and Stubbs’ question isn’t criticism—it’s a clarion call from one warrior to another. In a sport that devours the unprepared, will Gauff listen? Her next serve, quite literally, may depend on it. For now, as she steps onto Wuhan’s hard courts, the world waits—not just for winners, but for wisdom.
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