Coco Gauff’s ‘selective memory’ lauded as leading tennis voice reveals why she is an ‘enigma’
Renowned tennis commentator and former player Robbie Koenig has described Coco Gauff as an “enigma” as he praised her ability to win despite her “technical deficiencies.”
Gauff did not drop a set during her impressive run to the Wuhan Open title last week. The world No 3 defeated Jessica Pegula in the championship match after victories over Jasmine Paolini, Laura Siegemund, Zhang Shuai and Moyuka Uchijima.
It was Gauff’s third career title at WTA 1000 level and her first title since she secured her second Grand Slam crown at the French Open in June.
Despite the huge highlights for Gauff in 2025, there have also been difficulties. After her victory at Roland Garros, she was upset in the opening round at Wimbledon by Dayana Yastremska.
Gauff has hit 405 double faults this season — which is the most on the WTA Tour by far (Ekaterina Alexandrova is second with 280).
The American’s serve was particularly problematic during the North American hard-court swing, and she replaced her coach Matt Daly with biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan ahead of the US Open to address the issues.
Having made a change to her service motion with MacMillan’s guidance, Gauff battled to the fourth round of the US Open before losing to Naomi Osaka. She then reached the semi-finals of the China Open before her win in Wuhan.
As well as the serve, Gauff’s forehand has long been identified as an area that could improve technically.
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Speaking on an episode of the Inside-In podcast, Koenig — who won five ATP Tour doubles titles — gave his verdict on Gauff after her Wuhan triumph.
“You see how she run through that Wuhan draw, she drummed everybody. I mean, it was straight sets all the way through. She was that good,” said the South African.
“It’s almost like, when she has a loss, her ability to have selective memory and just say, ‘Okay, that was that day. Tomorrow’s a new day.’ Beat players that she’s lost to a week or two before.
“She’s quite an enigma to me with that sort of stuff. Because I’m always going on about some of the technical deficiencies, but she constantly reminds me about the importance of grit and the importance of athleticism in any sport. We can never undervalue that.
“Because our eye test is always looking for technical perfection, we can often neglect the stuff that we don’t always see. And we know how important that stuff is that we don’t see, especially at the sharp end of any sport. She’s got that in spades.
“It does beg the question, though, in when she’s playing those biggest of matches, finals of 1000s or especially finals of majors — where’s that level gonna be on that day?”
Since retiring from playing in 2005, Koenig has commentated on tennis for a host of outlets, including Tennis TV, Tennis Channel, ESPN and Amazon Prime.
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