Coco Gauff’s biggest problem may be the hardest to solve
Tennis players can develop glitches in their game that can be fixed by good coaching and plenty of practice, but Coco Gauff’s problem won’t be fixed easily.
Even after a match when she recorded only her second win against Iga Swiatek in 13 meetings, the flaw in Gauff’s game that is threatening to destroy the brilliance flowing in most of her game continues to haunt her.
When Gauff’s confidence in her serve collapses, the demons she is trying to bury inside her come rushing to the surface.
Even on days when every other aspect is flowing beautifully, as it was against Swiatek in the WTA Finals in Riyhad, one double fault can quickly lead to chaos.
When the second double fault arrives, panic breaks out on Gauff’s face and she quickly turns to her camp for help and advice.
At that point, it may already be too late as this problem is as much mental as it is technical.
It is to Gauff’s credit that she seems to find a way to keep all other aspects of her game together when the serve implodes and that was the story once again in the second set of her latest match against Swiatek.
Gauff’s 6-3, 6-4 win against Swiatek was as much a triumph for her battling qualities as he brilliance as the serve that let her down so badly as she crashed out of the US Open in September started to crumble once again.
Yet this dogged and gutsy 20-year-old found a way to fight back, with Swiatek also throwing in too many errors as nerves appeared to grip both players are a high quality first set.
Gauff served 10 double faults in the second set, but she proved stronger in the end, letting out a huge roar after breaking serve in the final game.
“It feels great,” she said in her on-court interview. “I had confidence going in, I felt like I was playing great tennis and even when I was playing a little bit sloppy the games that I lost were still going to deuce.
“That gave me confidence. If I stayed solid, I knew I had the chance to close out the match.
“The first set I had like three straight games in a row with break points. I didn’t let it discourage me. I knew I’d get it eventually.
“Even in the last game I missed two forehand returns in the net and I told myself ‘it’s ok I’ll get the next one’ and I did.”
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After disposing of the services of coach Brad Gilbert after the US Open, Gauff ignored the advice of many in the game and refused to take a break to work on her forehand and service issues.
That proved to be a shrewd move as she got back to winning ways at the China Open and amid the concerns over her two most talked about shots, this magnificent young athlete is showing real flashes of brilliance.
The issue Gauff is battling is she has been serving with this motion all her tennis life, so making big changes now will not be easy, but that may be her only option as there appears to be technical flaws in her motion.
There are also clear psychological issues she is battling on her serve as well and they also need to be addressed.
Once she finds a way to quell her service demons, she has proved her game is a match for the best players in the world and the challenge for Gauff heading into 2025 will be to iron out the defects that are stopping her from rising to the world No 1 ranking for the first time.
Gauff’s win over Swiatek ensured Sabalenka will finish the year as world No 1 for 2024, after her wins at the Australian Open and US Open.
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