“You’re not thinking about the end result. I don’t even think about the round, but rather, ‘Here’s the opponent, and here’s the match,'” Coco Gauff‘s coach, Brad Gilbert once said. But what if he regrets that?

Well, that’s what seems to have happened when the 63-year-old played against Andy Roddick. While the defending champion Coco Gauff was healing from a round of 16 defeat in the US Open, her coach was focused on honing his tennis skills on-court in a clinic with the former US Open champion, Roddick. However, a split-second decision proved to be quite painful for him.

He took to X and wrote, “Playing in clinic this morning with @andyroddick made bad decision running for short ball from Lindsay, just before getting to ball left hamstring not happy with poor decision, i think maybe 1st time ever hurting a Hammy and now a struggle to move around.”

Gilbert, who started playing tennis at 4, and turned pro in 1982, has never experienced a hamstring injury before, making the situation even more frustrating for him. This unexpected turn of events might have also surprised Roddick, who clinched his US Open title in 2003, reached the World No. 1 spot, and even went to the Wimbledon final in 2004, under his former coach, Gilbert’s guidance. 

It seems like while going against Roddick, Gilbert took his own advice of not thinking about the end result too seriously. We hope he feels better soon. But just like him, Coco Gauff too is not having a great time on court.

She did not reach a final round in any grand slam this year, except in doubles, where she clinched her maiden title in Paris. But since then, the tennis world has been abuzz with her declining form and Gilbert has finally shared his verdict on the matter!

“…Hopefully things will get better,” Coco Gauff’s coach says after her US Open exit

Gilbert joined Coco Gauff’s team in August 2023, following which Gauff clinched the Citi Open title, Cincinnati Masters, and the US Open title! However, the 20-year-old player, who won only one title (in Auckland) since her last year’s Grand Slam victory, has been going through a challenging phase this season.

Referring to this during an interview with CNBC, Gilbert said, “Obviously you hurt for your players, you want the best and sometimes things don’t go the way you want.”

Speaking on Gauff, who had an early exit from the Olympics as well, Gilbert further added, “But I try not to get too elated when my player’s doing well, and then you try not to get too down. Sometimes they catch you with your head down a little bit and it didn’t go as well here as we’d like, but the sun comes up the next day and you gotta be positive and hopefully things will get better.”

Gilbert, who previously also worked with Andre Agassi, has been coaching Gauff for only 14 months. Now his 20-year-old student may not be doing her best right now, but the coach is convinced that Gauff has a long way to go ahead. He understands that the sport is also about mental preparation and not just physical playing.

It will be interesting to see if Gilbert and Gauff can end this year on a high note. But for that to happen, the coach will first need to heal from his injury.