Coco Gauff has definitely had a rollercoaster of a year, and it seems like she’s still figuring things out on the court. After enduring a tough stretch in her career, Gauff made the bold decision to shake things up. Parting ways with her long-time coach Brad Gilbert and bringing Matt Daly on board as her new mentor was supposed to mark a fresh start. But, as fans saw during her quarterfinal clash with Yulia Starodubtsewa at the China Open, the changes haven’t exactly clicked—at least, not yet.
The American sensation is playing her first tournament under her new coach. While she made some great progress initially, it seems like she is again struggling to keep her momentum intact and is facing some serious woes with her service game. Gauff won her latest encounter against the Ukrainian star, but what caught the attention of the community were the stats pertaining to the match.
The 20-year-old failed to demonstrate control over her gameplay. Playing against Starodubtsewa, Gauff shot 11 double faults as against just 1 of her counterparts, which is far more than her previous performances. The 2023 US Open winner has shot 315 double faults in the 53 matches she has played this season, per WTA tennis.com, which keeps her average fault around 6 per match. However, her latest performance is quite concerning. Besides, she fired only two aces in the match, which is way below her average. For the unversed, she has shot 186 aces in her 53 matches, which takes her average to around 3.50. Her service game witnessed further struggles as well.
Gauff has an average of 71.7% 1st serve wins this season. However, in her match against the Ukrainian player, this number witnessed only a minimal rise and stood at 79%. Remember, this number was 83% during her match against Katie Boulter and hence, the latest match sparked further concerns. Interestingly, the service game was one of the major aspects that Gauff wanted to work on after her new partnership, but the number of double faults she shot in her latest match, does not highlight much improvement.
Earlier, Gauff opened up on her aspirations with her new coach and said, “There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, too, but the focus right now is the serve. When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that’s the basis for my game.” But despite the latest struggle, Gauff is determined to strive and prove herself on the courts.
Coco Gauff reveals that she is still ‘adjusting’ to a lot of things
Change of coaching is not easy for any player and Coco Gauff is no different. Despite reaching the semifinals at the China Open, Gauff admitted that she is not at her best and is bound to make several adjustments to become comfortable with her new coach, Matt Daly.
“Today, I can’t control how I play or how she plays, but I can just try to control my mindset and commit to the process.” For now, it would be interesting to see if Coco Gauff can pose some serious threat to Paula Badosa in the semifinals and inch closer to the title win. Can Gauff lift the title after the coaching reshuffle? Well, only time will tell.
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