Delray Beach tennis icon Coco Gauff is taking the long view.
Gauff said she did not make a recent coaching change to help her win the 2025 U.S. Open but, instead, to help her capture more Grand Slams in the future.
During her news conference on Aug. 22 preceding the Open, Gauff acknowledged her chances at a second Open title in three years could be compromised by her sudden coaching change hoping to resurrect a slumping serve, but she’s willing to roll with the results.
“I’m looking at long term,” Gauff said in Queens. “I hope I can get it all together. If not, I have the rest of this year to work on it. But I do know I needed to make a change, technical change to it, and I don’t want to waste time continuing doing the wrong things.”
The U.S. Open begins Aug. 24; Gauff’s first-round match will be that day, likely later in the day. She faces a fellow Palm Beach County resident, Australia’s 84th-ranked Ajla Tomljanovic, whose claim to fame is eliminating Serena Williams in the 2022 Open to end Serena’s career.
The following year, Gauff won her first Grand Slam title – the 2023 Open. The 21-year-old added her second Slam at the French Open in May but since has been in a big tailspin, doomed by an erratic serve spawning double faults galore.
It was revealed earlier this week that she replaced her coach, Matt Daly, with Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics specialist.
“It was, like, a very sudden decision,” Gauff said. “Gavin became available. I just felt this was the best decision for my game at least and I had to go with what I was feeling. Matt is a great coach and a great person and 100% loved working with him.”
After winning the French, Gauff was bounced in the first round at Wimbledon, then didn’t distinguish herself in the two U.S. Open tune-ups she played in Montreal and Cincinnati, losing in the Round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.
In Cincy, Gauff had 16 double faults in her quarterfinals loss to Jasmine Paolini. At the 2024 Open, she bowed out in the fourth round to Emma Navarro, making 19 double faults. Afterward, she fired the esteemed coach Brad Gilbert.
Coco Gauff admits she could have stuck with her coach
Gauff admitted she could’ve remained at status quo, but the change illustrates her desire to be considered among the all-time greats.
“I’m doing fine and continuing playing the way that I’m playing,” Gauff said. “But I know where I want to see my game in the future. I’m not going to waste time playing the way I don’t want to play.
“I’m obsessed with the process of getting better. Yeah, sometimes maybe it hurts because I get obsessed with it too much. I feel like I have a clear future where I see myself and I feel like I’m really close. I think this aspect of the game will bring everything together for me.”
Gauff got a kick at how fans overreacted to a serving practice she did in the Flushing rain earlier this week. “When I was in the rain, it was drizzling,” she said. “People made it seem like I was, on social media, like I was in a hurricane. It was literally drizzling. The courts weren’t that wet.”
No one is doubting Gauff can get hot and win this thing since no women’s player has dominated the sport since Serena Williams retired.
Regarding the coaching change, Patrick McEnroe said on the ABC/ESPN conference call:
“If she can fix it, one would think with her other skills that she has, which are extraordinary, particularly mentally, she should, could be winning one or two majors a year if her serve was more reliable and more consistent.”
At No. 3, she’s currently the face of women’s tennis and had to miss the remade mixed doubles event because of all her sponsor gigs in New York. Her on-court outfits are becoming more elaborate and she was asked during her news conference about working with fashion brand Miu Miu.
“Especially as a woman, I feel like when you feel good, and the fit is right, you feel really confident on the court and you’re not thinking about anything else but your game,” Gauff said. “Also, I think it just brings more fans to the sport.”
Her musical tastes also became a topic when asked her preferences.
“Usually it’s between rap or gospel,” she said. “When I’m feeling super nervous, I listen to gospel because I am like, OK, I need a higher power or something to calm me down.”
There are several other Boca Raton-area entrants besides Gauff at the U.S. Open. In the women’s field, No. 4 seed Jessica Pegula, who made the U.S. Open finals for the first time last year, will face Mayar Sherif in Round 1, also on Aug. 24.
Venus Williams taking on 11th seed in U.S. Open first round
Palm Beach Gardens’ wild card Venus Williams, 45 and the oldest women’s singles player in the Open’s main draw in 44 years, will take on 11th seed Karolina Muchova, who knocked her out in the rejiggered mixed doubles event.
Taylor Townsend, the lefty who spent much of her teenage years in Boca and whose mother coaches tennis teams at Boca Raton High, will face Croatia’s Antonia Ruzic. Townsend is renowned as one of the world’s top doubles players.
On the men’s side, Boca’s unseeded Reilly Opelka, the 6-foot-11 serving machine, got an awful draw, forced against the Spaniard sensation and No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz in Round 1.
Boca Raton resident Frances Tiafoe (17th seed) will take on Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, and Boca’s Tommy Paul (14th seed) meets Danish standout Elmer Moller for openers. Both players will compete for the U.S. Davis Cup team in Delray Beach against the Czech Republic Sept. 12-13.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Coco Gauff on firing coach before US Open: ‘I’m looking long term’
Reporting by Marc Berman / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
