Coco Gauff’s coach will get ‘so many texts’ telling him to take drastic motion
Coco Gauff might now be a Grand Slam champion, however that hasn’t stopped her coach from being inundated with folks telling him to change a side of her sport. The 19-year-old turned the brand new world No. 3 when she defeated second seed Aryna Sabelanka within the US Open last at Flushing Meadows final weekend.
Gauff discovered herself a set down however fought again to safe a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory, leading to her maiden main title. She additionally turned the primary teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams did as a 17-year-old in 1999.
The younger American’s success has arrived regardless of receiving earlier criticism about her forehand amid recommendations that she wants to alter her grip.
She is now coached by Brad Gilbert, who can depend Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray amongst his former purchasers. But former world No. 4 Gilbert doesn’t appear involved by Gauff’s fashion and is in no rush to alter it.
When requested about Gauff’s forehand points earlier this yr, he instructed the WTA: “You can’t just change a grip without changing the arc of the swing, so that’s a big change. My guess is, from what we’ve seen, we don’t need to.
“I by no means obtained so many texts for thus many days, saying ‘Fix her forehand!’ Man, you don’t simply repair one thing like that on the fly.”
Gilbert replaced Diego Moyano as Gauff’s coach in April 2023 before being joined by Spanish veteran Pere Riba in the world No. 3’s team.
The Californian trainer drew a comparison with his time coaching British favourite Murray to explain why he should be in no rush to make drastic changes to Gauff’s technique.
“When I began with Andy Murray [in 2006], everyone was telling me, ‘He’s only a pusher.’ And but he wins. Everybody mentions the forehand criticism about Coco, and but she wins. I’m definitely not anxious about it in any manner, form or kind,” he said.
Gilbert’s reluctance to alter the way his client plays has been borne out by her results. Since hiring her new coach, Gauff has won 18 of her last 19 matches and claimed a WTA 500 and WTA 1000 title as well as the US Open.
The instant success has arrived despite the teenager having had reservations about working with a more senior figure.
“I used to be anxious about being with the older individual, to be trustworthy, earlier than I met Brad,” said Gauff. “He’s older however he nonetheless has the thoughts of, like, a 20-year-old, perhaps even youthful, a 10-year-old child typically.”