Coco Gauff posts alarming serve stats as she is hammered by Amanda Anisimova at China Open
Coco Gauff’s title defence at the 2025 China Open came to an abrupt conclusion as she suffered a one-sided defeat to compatriot Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals.
Anisimova hammered Gauff 6-1, 6-2 in just 58 minutes at the WTA 1000 tournament in Beijing in a battle between the top two American women’s stars. It was the pair’s first encounter in over three years since they played at Wimbledon in 2022.
Remarkably, world No 4 Anisimova stormed into a 5-0 lead in both sets, and she had two set points on world No 3 Gauff’s serve to win the first set 6-0, while she came within two points of winning the second set 6-0 on her own serve.
Unsurprisingly, given the scoreline, the numbers make for tough reading from a Gauff perspective as she won only 30 of the 89 points played (34%).
The most stark statistics, though, are related to Gauff’s serve, which continues to be a major talking point. With the help of biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan, who Gauff hired to replace her former coach Matt Daly, she changed her service motion in the week before the US Open.
Against Anisimova, Gauff landed a healthy 64% of her first serves, but won just 11 of the 28 points behind her first serve, which equates to a brutal 39%.
The two-time major winner’s second serve has often been her biggest issue, and in this match, she won only 38% (six of 16) of her second serve points as she committed five double faults.
Gauff’s serving struggles led to her being broken five times in her seven service games against Anisimova, who is renowned for her aggressive returning.
Tennis News
Coco Gauff leaves former world No 3 ‘surprised’ with coaching choice as service struggles addressed
Speaking to reporters post-match, Gauff said: “Yeah, overall a positive tournament. I had a great time here on and off the court.
“Yeah, disappointing. I felt pretty good going out there today. I don’t know, I was practising great. I just went on court and she completely took over.
“So yeah, I think there’s a lot of learning experiences. I know what I need to do against players like her in the future. Now it’s all about going back to practice and trying to implement those things.”
For Anisimova, the impressive win continues an excellent 2025 season in which she won her maiden WTA 1000 title in Doha and reached back-to-back major finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
In her press conference, Anisimova said: “I feel like I felt really good throughout the whole match. Like all my shots were working today, which is like my favourite way to play (smiling).
“I didn’t really have to adjust much. So yeah, I was just really happy with my performance. Coco is a really tough player. I knew I was going to have to really step it up today. But yeah, overall really pleased with my performance. Just happy to be in the final.”
Anisimova will face either Jessica Pegula or Linda Noskova in the Beijing championship match on Sunday.
READ NEXT: Everything Iga Swiatek said in her press conference after shock China Open defeat
