All eyes are focused on  Coco Gauff as she enters the US Open with a new team. Recently, she hired Gavin MacMillan after cutting her ties with Matt Daly. It’s worth noting that MacMillan, a biomechanics guru, is a name that saved Aryna Sabalenka from her previously broken serve. With MacMillan by her side, Gauff can expect significant improvements in her serve and can truly pose a threat to Sabalenka. However, a Sky Sports expert panel featuring Martina Navratilova snubbed Gauff for her rivals in their prediction for the US Open.

According to Navratilova, Iga Swiatek has a better chance of winning the Women’s US Open tournament. She stated, “Iga Swiatek in the women’s for me, even though she hasn’t had the best summer. The Wimbledon win and the way she just conducted herself the whole tournament does mean that the old Iga is back.” 

The last couple of months have been incredible for Swiatek. Having lost the semifinal of the French Open—her favorite Grand Slam by far—she surprised herself by winning maiden titles in Wimbledon and Cincinnati.

Meanwhile, Annabel Croft believed that the final game at the US Open would be between the #1 WTA star, Aryna Sabalenka, and Swiatek. She said, “I think she’s got her mojo back. It’s between Sabalenka and Swiatek. A Sabalenka-Swiatek final would be good. It’s so difficult to predict where Coco Gauff’s at any one week, but I’d like to see her come back a bit.” And that’s how the worries regarding Coco Gauff started to emanate from the panel. 

Nevertheless, the majority support lay with Sabalenka. Marion Bartoli claimed that the women’s championship is going to be unpredictable, and yet went with Sabalenka for the win. After all, it’s really hard not to pick the #1 contender in the US Open. Gigi Salmon defended this stance and claimed that there is no player in the women’s game in recent times who can perform better than Sabalenka. 

But that shouldn’t flinch Coco Gauff. She has recognized her shortcomings just in time and is set to do her best in the US Open. But does she actually aspire to win? 

Coco Gauff addresses her shortcomings and tries to fix them before the US Open

There’s a pretty valid reason why Gauff cut her ties with Matt Daly, and opted to hire MacMillan instead. After beating Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open, Gauff has been struggling to secure another big win. She made 25 unforced errors and seven double faults at the Berlin Open. Her struggles on grass continued at Wimbledon. She became the third woman in the Open Era to lose in round one after winning the French Open.
But her struggles were all pointing to her broken serve. 

After losing to Emma Navaro in 2024, she stated, “Of course, there were things execution-wise, obviously I wish I could serve better. I think if I would have did that, it would have been a different story for me. But Emma played really well. She did everything well, I thought.” And she knew that she had to hire someone like MacMillan. 

MacMillan has received praise from Darren Cahill, as well. He stated, “He’s very thorough … I’ve spoken to him many, many times before and the fact that he’s got experience with different athletes from different sports, both male and female, he uses the new technology, he goes to the video a lot, really breaks down the biomechanics.” But at the end of the day, it’s still an unpredictable sport. Coco Gauff still has a chance to claim a win and shock the entire world. But can she do it?