This year has certainly been one that Coco Gauff can look back on with pride. She made big strides, lifting her maiden French Open title, adding a second Grand Slam to her name, and winning the WTA 1000 in Beijing for the second straight year. She also reached the finals in Rome and Madrid, sparking a new rivalry with Aryna Sabalenka that set the tone for 2025. Overall, the World No. 3 has put together a strong season. The question now — can she make it even better next year?

According to Alexandra Stevenson, she definitely can. The American former pro shared her thoughts on Gauff’s progress in the latest episode of the podcast Inside-In, unpacking everything from coaching changes to the two-time Grand Slam champion’s techniques.

“She’s a very good athlete,” Alexandra said. “But technically, there are some issues with her movements, and I hope MacMillan is working on them. I haven’t seen her practice, but technically, there are things she should be able to correct immediately. In practice, that doesn’t mean she’s under pressure: the serve and forehand go hand in hand, so the forehand was worked on first, but I think the serve should have been corrected first.”

That’s been true for Coco Gauff over the past two seasons. She piled up more than 430 double faults this year, the most she’s produced in a single season, and her delivery became a clear weakness. When her forehand also faltered, criticism began to build across the tennis world.

Hoping to fix both issues before the US Open, Gauff brought in biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, whose work with Aryna Sabalenka had drawn wide respect. The move seemed to pay off when she found her rhythm and clinched a title in Beijing. Though she couldn’t defend her WTA Finals crown, the American looks forward to next season alongside MacMillan. And Stevenson hopes the team targets one thing above all.

“I think they should have tackled the serve first, then worked on the forehand, because when you don’t have a serve and you lose it, you lose your forehand. They did it the other way around, but they’re working on it, and she’s still beating the girls, because on the women’s tour, the serve is currently a problem.”

MacMillan himself addressed the issue in a Tennis Channel interview back in October. “The goal for her, not first and foremost, is to establish an effective kick serve.” So far, their partnership is gaining confidence as Gauff delivers more consistent performances following her Round of 16 loss at the US Open.

Not everyone supported her decision to switch coaches mid-season, though. Still, some believe this partnership will pay off, including two-time Grand Slam champion Caroline Garcia.

Former pro backs up Coco Gauff’s coaching changes

Garcia couldn’t hold back her excitement about Coco Gauff in a November chat with The Express. The former WTA Finals champ gushed over the 21-year-old American, calling her an absolute inspiration. She zeroed in on Gauff’s bold move to shake up her coaching team earlier this year.

“She’s just such an incredible champion,” Garcia raved. “It’s hard to believe how young she is. She has been there forever, it feels like. She’s like such an inspiration, I think, for everyone on tour and in tennis, but also outside because of what she achieved with already so much pressure.”

Gauff burst onto the big stage at 15, qualifying for Wimbledon 2019 and shocking Venus Williams in round one. She charged to the fourth round, the youngest ever in the Open Era to pull that off.

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That same year, she snagged her first WTA title in Linz, hit her debut Grand Slam final at the 2022 French Open, and cracked the Top 10 after a US Open quarterfinal run.

Fast forward to 2023, and Coco Gauff grabbed her first major at the US Open, toppling Aryna Sabalenka to become the youngest American teen champ since Serena Williams. She also nailed her first WTA 1000 in Cincinnati. Then she added her second Grand Slam and WTA Finals titles to the trophy case.

Yet Gauff stays super grounded with fans, as Garcia pointed out. “I think she stays a very normal girl, you know, when you see her. Obviously, in her game, she’s really trying hard to improve her serve, her forehand, which maybe this year has been a bit less good, even if she won Roland-Garros.”

Nobody knows what 2026 holds, but the American starlet kicks off her season repping the U.S. at the United Cup from Jan. 2 to Jan. 11 in Australia. Matches are set to begin at RAC Arena in Perth and Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney. Can Coco Gauff unleash some serious firepower on that serve?