Watch: Coco Gauff criticises her coach’s lack of impact during Dubai Championships loss

Ewan West
Coco Gauff at the Dubai Championships
Coco Gauff looks on during her match

Coco Gauff questioned the impact made by her biomechanics coach as her serve faltered during her semi-final defeat at the 2026 Qatar Open.

The two-time Grand Slam winner was beaten 6-4, 6-7(13), 6-4 by world No 9 Elina Svitolina in an epic last four showdown at the WTA 1000 event that lasted three hours and three minutes.

Gauff was broken six times, hit 12 double faults and won just 43% of her second serve points, but despite her serving struggles, she displayed her trademark resilience to push Svitolina all the way.

The world No 4 lost the opening set having led 3-1, before she twice came back from a break down en route to winning a marathon second set on a pulsating 28-point tiebreak — converting her sixth set point after saving four match points.

The American then broke in the first game of the deciding set, but she lost serve twice thereafter as her 31-year-old Ukrainian opponent sealed the win.

After double-faulting into the net when serving at 3-3 in the second set, Gauff voiced her frustration towards Gavin MacMillan in her coaching box.

“I’ve been doing everything you wanted for six months… I’m not better at all,” Gauff said.

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Gauff hired MacMillan, a biomechanics expert, ahead of the 2025 US Open in August with the intention of solving her problems with her serve.

The 21-year-old hit the most double faults among all WTA Tour players in 2025 (431) and 2024 (430).

Speaking to reporters post-match, Gauff focused on the positives from her run in Dubai as she admitted her expectations for the event had been low.

“It’s tough to be on the losing end of a match like this, but there’s a lot of positives to take from it,” said the reigning Roland Garros champion.

“Elina played great, I thought I played great and it came down to the wire. I’ll definitely learn from this match in the future.

“I started off the week just trying to win one match here, and so I’m glad to have made it to the semis and I was really close to making it to the final.

“Entering a tournament not in my best form and still making the semis means a lot, so hopefully I can take this momentum into Indian Wells and Miami.”

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