Hey there, fellow tennis enthusiasts It’s your girl Mia Johnson-Carter here, living the dream in Miami. Today, I’m super excited to share some awesome news about Coco Gauff, who is on a journey to rediscover her tennis form and make significant changes in her game. Let’s dive into what’s happening with this young American tennis star!
Coco Gauff’s season has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. After opening 2024 with success in Auckland, she hasn’t been able to achieve any significant results, dropping to 6th place in the ranking. However, she sees the China Open as an important chance to rediscover the sensations she experienced during her fantastic summer 2023, crowned with success at the US Open.
In an interview with WTA, Coco explained that she wants to use the tournament to put into practice the adjustments to her game that she is working on with her new coach, Matt Daly. Here’s what she had to say:
“I’m very excited. I think it’s going to be the same next year. I’m really excited about a new change and hopefully improving other parts of my game. Working with Brad has been great, we’ve had a great partnership. I think it was time to reset and add some things to my game that I felt I needed to do to have a better season next year,” she said, before talking about her serve: “There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, but right now I’m focusing on my serve. When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that’s the foundation of my game. The little bit that we’ve done is already a drastic improvement compared to three weeks ago. At this point, there’s no need to change the whole technique or reset everything, it’s just little things that, if I do them compared to a week ago, will help me.”
Gauff’s place at the end-of-year WTA Finals should not be in question, but she doesn’t feel pressured about it. She explained: “I’ve never felt pressure to get to the WTA Finals, except the first year when I was trying to do it. This year it would be great to qualify and experience the Finals, but I’m also trying not to put too much pressure on myself because this is a new training structure and I’m adding things. With this tournament, in a way, we started the pre-season early. So I’m not thinking too much about it. If it happens, great. If it doesn’t, I’ll take a vacation, it’s a win for everyone. But everyone wants to be in the round of 16, so it would be great.”
Gauff concluded by talking about her upcoming Asian swing that will start at the China Open in Beijing: “This time I did more things. Last year I was very tired and did nothing. This time I adapted much more quickly and visited the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, which was fantastic. I was able to spend two weeks at home, so I feel reinvigorated and I hope to end the season on a high note.”
This moment could be a sort of year zero for Coco Gauff. The young American will restart from the Asian season with a new coach and new ambitions for upcoming tournaments and for the next season where she will try to return to being a tennis player capable of competing in all Majors. The pressure accumulated after her triumph at the US Open has evidently played an important role in her season; precisely for this reason Gauff has made a clean break with recent months and resumed her path towards a new direction which everyone hopes is the right one.
Regarding the split with Brad Gilbert, the young American’s former coach who was André Agassi’s coach for a long time, personally announced the end of their collaboration with an official post on his X profile. He didn’t fail to thank Gauff for this journey that also led them to conquer a Slam.
“Thank you to Coco Gauff and the entire team for an absolutely extraordinary run in the summer of 2023 and for these 14 months of incredible teamwork. Coco, at only 20 years old, your future is incredibly bright and I wish you nothing but continued success. I cannot wait to begin the next chapter of my coaching career,” he wrote.
Coco responded with: “Thank you Brad, we have had an incredible journey and I wish you the best for the future.”
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