A disastrous season—committing 430 double faults—with her serves in 2024 led Coco Gauff to make significant changes ahead of her 2025 journey. After parting ways with ex-trainer Brad Gilbert, she brought in Matt Daly to work alongside longtime coach Jean-Christophe Faurel to provide tips on turning her weakness into her strength. Initially it seemed the change was fruitful but soon the vulnerabilities began to resurface. To everyone’s surprise, Gauff ended up topping the list for double faults, again, this season. In fact, she had already committed 234 DFs on her serves before the Wimbledon last month. And things continue to look dicey, especially after her recent heartbreak in Cincinnati. There, her serving woes continued to haunt her. But ahead of the US Open, a top coach has now come up with a warning signal (and a fix) for the World No.2 in case she fails to make necessary adjustments in time.

“So I’m looking for (a coach) to help me develop in the long-term process and try to help make my game as complete as I can be.” That’s what Gauff was hoping for after adding Daly to her camp. However, the outcome this season has been far from expectations. One look at her serving woes and you get the idea of how miserable the situation has been. It’s not just the first serve but her second serve too. The inconsistency has led to Gauff committing endless double faults in big tournaments. This week during her underwhelming performance against Jasmine Paolini – who beat her in the QF stage at the Cincinnati – she had 16. Before that, she had 43 in just three matches at the Canadian Open, 42 in Rome back in May, and 38 during the Indian Wells all the way back in March. That’s scary, right? Well, legendary tennis coach Rick Macci believes the same.

Macci trained 23-time slam queen Serena Williams back in the early 90s. For four years, during her childhood phase, the younger Williams sister learned essential tips from him before exploding on to the professional circuit. Now, Macci thinks Coco Gauff has potential to touch greatness. However, he’s now come up with a serious suggestion on her nightmarish phase. Obviously, it’s regarding her service motion, plus the forehand strokes. In an X post he wrote, “Coco will be OK as she fights and knows how to Play. But to ever breathe rare air she has to address the alarming red flare. She is at a career crossroad with the 2nd serve and forehand,” So what could be the solution? Macci suggests the World No.2 “needs a science based Plan. This will not magically go away and bubbles up more under extreme pressure that particular day.”

Interestingly, it’s not the first time Macci has expressed his concerns over Gauff. In an interaction with Tennis365, few days back, he mentioned similar sentiments. “Think about it, her wide serve to the deuce court is one of the best in the world, but then in the same breath, we’re talking about she leads the WTA Tour in double faults. So there’s a disconnect,” 

Now what’s interesting here is the choice of Gauff having two coaches at the moment just for the purpose of improving her technique. Yet, the fate remains unchanged. The US Open is almost knocking on the door and the woes still exist. That’s what another notable figure has highlighted recently. And she didn’t mince words in questioning Gauff’s internal decisions.

Former WTA icon raises doubts on Coco Gauff’s coaches

Earlier this month, Coco Gauff lost her R16 match against a teenager, Canada’s Victoria Mboko. The 18-year-old prodigy bested Gauff in straight sets with a brutal score line of 6-1, 6-4. Not to mention she eventually lifted the trophy as well in Montreal. She became the first Canadian in six years to do so after compatriot Bianca Andreescu.

Following this result, ex-WTA pro Rennae Stubbs couldn’t help but wonder about the American’s unending service problem. During an episode of her podcast, Stubbs raised a big question mark on Gauff’s team. “I don’t understand why now she has literally two coaches.” Per Stubbs, “Nothing has changed on her serve…like the ball toss is so far ahead of her on the second serve.”

In a post on X, from weeks ago, she even mentioned how Gauff can eliminate her weakness. Addressing the serve motion, she wrote, “So she’s already sort of leaning into the court. So if you’re leaning into the court, you’re going to fall into the court, which she does, and then she was going to always hit down on the ball. And you have to hit up.”

The former tennis icon further mentioned that, “You have to hit up and you have to stay up and you have to hit, and I call it 7 p.m. on a ball, right? If you think about a ball being a clock. She hits at like 1 p.m. She needs to hit at 7 p.m. right on the under the ball to get the kick serve.” What are your thoughts on Coco Gauff’s journey leading into the US Open? Will she succeed in overcoming her ongoing woes in time? Or will the 21-year-old keep committing more double faults? Let us know in the comments below.