Coco Gauff says she is in ‘rebuilding period’ after adding renowned coach to team

Ewan West 01 Aug 2023 8:18 PM

Coco Gauff hits a forehand

Coco Gauff has revealed she feels she is in a “rebuilding period” in her career after adding prestigious coach Brad Gilbert to her team at the Citi Open.

The world No 7 declared she has the foundation of her game, but thinks the next step is “building the house” and “trying to hit the next gear.”

Gauff, who turned 19 in March, has already been ranked as high as No 4 in singles during her young career. She was won three titles – all at WTA 250 level – and reached the final of the 2022 French Open.

Former world No 4 Gilbert has been advising Gauff at the ongoing WTA 500 event in Washington. The 61-year-old coached Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to Grand Slam titles, as well as working with Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Sam Querrey.

Gauff also hired former ATP player Pere Riba – who previously coached Zheng Qinwen and Arantxa Rus – earlier this summer.

Speaking ahead of this week’s Citi Open in Washington, the 19-year-old described the phase she is in as she looks to develop her game further.

“I definitely do feel like I’m in a rebuilding period. I’m trying to hit the next gear of my game. I feel like I have the foundation in my game. Now it’s building around that, it’s building the house, I guess, essentially,” Gauff said.

“I have the land and I need to build the house on top of it, make it as extravagant and big and pretty as possible. That’s a good way to put it. I never thought about it like that.”

The world No 7 also spoke about her new-look coaching team – featuring the experienced Gilbert and 35-year-old Riba.

“I’m really happy with how the dynamic is going. I was a little bit nervous at first but I feel really good about everything now. I’m really open to learning from the game and learning from people and getting different perspectives, so I think that it will help me,” continued the American.

“My team I think have done a good job communicating amongst themselves before they bring anything to me. So I really feel we’re all on one page and one accord.

“I think having someone with a little bit more experience will help me like for the pressure moments, the semi-finals, finals, quarter-finals. Those moments that I still think I need to get better at.”

Gauff, the No 3 seed in Washington, will play either Hailey Baptiste or Karolina Pliskova in her opening match at the tournament.