Andy Roddick and Jim Courier give their verdicts on Coco Gauff’s forehand issues
American tennis greats Andy Roddick and Jim Courier have weighed in on Coco Gauff’s struggles in her 2025 Italian Open final defeat.
Gauff committed 33 forehand unforced errors in her 4-6, 2-6 loss to Jasmine Paolini in the Rome championship match.
The world No 2 was also plagued by serving troubles as she was broken five times by the Italian, won just 47% of her service points and hit seven double faults.
The 21-year-old American also hit 15 double faults in her semi-final win against Zheng Qinwen as she narrowly avoided defeat having trailed 3-5 in the deciding set.
Despite the concern over these areas of Gauff’s game, the 2023 US Open winner will arrive at the French Open as one of the leading favourites after making back-to-back finals in Madrid and Rome.
Speaking on Tennis Channel following the Italian Open final, Courier identified Gauff’s forehand as the biggest issue she is contending with.
“She was very frustrated with her team – they were trying to help her, it’s noisy in there,” the four-time Grand Slam champion said.
“I’m not sure that she could even understand necessarily, what they were saying, but the first serve percentage was very low today, a lot of double faults, but it was all about the forehand.
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“I mean, she had 33 unforced errors in that shot alone. You would need a real big shovel to fill that hole in, and it’s something that’s very concerning, because you don’t want that to happen at the biggest moment.
“Which is what happened here, though she’s been so good and so resilient this whole this tournament in Madrid as well, in being able to fight her way through matches like this. So I didn’t expect that the second set would be even easier than the first set.”
Roddick argued Gauff should be less aggressive with her forehand when the shot is not performing at it best.
“Listen, the forehand, which we all talk about all the time, is always going to be in the back of her head until it’s not,” the 2003 US Open winner assessed. “And you know, all of us say she has to be aggressive on it, she has to go for it.
“I actually think the opposite, if she’s if she’s not finding it early, there’s just not a world where she can get to 33 errors on that side in two sets, right? I actually think it goes the other way.
“I think she should be aggressive early, and then if it’s not there and the errors are mounting, I think she has to just use her motor, right, use her legs to try to find herself in the match. She kind of made it a little bit easier for Paolini.”
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