Mastermind Brad Gilbert lauds relentless Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff may have shared a few holiday updates to her social media that suggested she was enjoying her off-season break but coach Brad Gilbert insists they have been hard at work.

Gilbert says that the Gauff project is one that has pulled him in for longer than he expected but as he continues to see her making rapid progress the payoff is rich.

The coach lauded her work ethic and drive to get better.

“We actually were practicing,” Gilbert said of the off-season.

Gauff will start her season in Auckland on Tuesday afternoon against fellow American Claire Liu.

Gilbert says that Gauff impressed him even before they started working together as he monitored her game as part of the ESPN analysis team.

“When you’re watching a player, and you don’t have a vested interest, you can just look at it in an unbiased way,” he said. “I would say probably the most unbelievable thing at a young age was just her maturity — and her movement. Those stood out.”

Gauff didn’t feel that she could rest on her laurels after her breathrough US Open win.

“I’m always going to put pressure on myself,” Gauff said Sunday in Auckland. “I want to strive for more and I don’t want to only win one.”

Gilbert believes that the big difference-maker for Gauff was learning how to win ugly.

“The ability to find a way,” Gilbert said when asked what it was that clicked for Gauff.

“Find a way when you don’t have your best stuff. In Washington, we had one of those rare weeks where you just bomb through the field, and there wasn’t a close set. Even in Cincy, she had only one close match, and that was against [Iga] Swiatek. All the rest of the matches were blowouts.”

Gilbert felt that the grit she picked up aided her in a tough US Open run.

“She had to figure her way out of four different matches,” Gilbert said. “As I look back on it, it so reminds me of a tournament that was really special, the ’99 French. Andre had to wrangle his way through five difficult matches.

“Coco, three different times she found herself a set down, once down a break in the third. So she had to problem-solve. And those are the best kind of wins, where you grow the most, winning those types of matches.”

Gilbert has encouraged Gauff to take a more aggressive approach to the game.

“It’s the balance of both [offense and defense],” Gilbert said.

“Obviously, you want to win with more offense. It’s not as taxing. You have to be willing to do both. Maybe the greatest I’ve seen at both is [Novak] Djokovic. His ability to lock down on the court — he can at any moment. But then he also has this unbelievable ball-control offense.

“With Coco, that’s what we’re working toward. Keep improving, trying to get better.”

Gilbert said that Gauff’s attitude made it easy to work with and to be around.

“We’re going to try and figure that out,” Gilbert said when asked how long he would serve in Gauff’s team.

“Obviously, I’m going to do more than I thought. You know what I think about most right now? Making progress. Especially when you’re young, it’s great what you’ve achieved, but it starts over again next year.

“If you asked [Gauff] at the start of 2023, her expectations were high. She sets a high standard, and she’s driven to get better. She’s never satisfied. She wants to achieve things — that’s all she’s thinking about.”

READ MORE: Coco Gauff potential was obvious very early on says top coach