Coco Gauff Told to Follow Serena Williams as Canadian Open Exposes Major Flaw

Despite putting up some remarkable performances in the last few years, Coco Gauff‘s serving woes have now become the biggest hurdle in her quest for titles. In retrospect, her 19 double faults against Emma Navarro in the R16 of the 2024 US Open were one of the key reasons behind her failure to defend the title last year. That number increased to 21 at the 2024 Wuhan Open in her match against Aryna Sabalenka, and the trend continued against Moyuka Uchijima in this year’s Indian Wells. In this season, the American has already committed around 250 double faults. Her recent stats at the Canadian Open have yet again added to her ‘double trouble’.

In Montreal, she faced defeat at the hands of the 18-year-old Canadian, Victoria Mboko. She needed just 62 minutes to beat the world number 2 by 6-1,6-4 in the R16. In that match, Coco Gauff committed five double faults, and with this, her numbers went up to 42 in her three matches here at the Canadian Open. Reacting to those worrisome figures, Serena Williams’ ex-coach Rennae Stubbs said, “I don’t understand why now she has literally two coaches. Nothing has changed on her serve…like the ball toss is so far ahead of her on the second serve.”

In the same episode of The Rennae Stubbs Podcast, the Aussie legend advised her to follow Serena Williams’ footsteps. “Yeah, I mean, my suggestion to her would be, after the US Open, no Asia. Just shut it down like Serene would do. She didn’t play Asia. She didn’t even play the WTA Finals. Like, because you also have to look at the surface, right? Now, if the end of the year was on clay, go for it, play. But it’s on fast, hard courts in China and in Asia or in Europe, indoors, which none of them are going to be great for her, for her serve. So I think you either decide that you’re going to break it down, like big time and change it and change everything about it, the grip, the ball toss, everything,” said Stubbs. Bad technique magnifies under pressure? Yes, that’s what she believes at the moment!

Coco Gauff herself admitted that she’s “disappointed” with her serve. But having said that, she claimed that she didn’t play at the Citi Open this year in order to work more on these issues. Gauff revealed that she had done well during the practice sessions. For now, her goal would be to transfer those learnings to the matches she plays. Hearing this statement from Gauff, Rennae Stubbs went on to add, no matter what she does in practice sessions, her “technique is not good.” She pointed out that her elbow is down, her grip is wrong, and even the ball toss is in the wrong position.

There have been a few stats circling social media, which highlight Coco Gauff as one of the players who has committed the most double faults in a single WTA match. Surely, this isn’t a pleasant stat to be associated with, and hence, she has already set her target for the upcoming matches. Coco Gauff knows that she probably won’t ever be double fault free, but if she can bring that number down to 2% or 3%, this would make a big difference and help her win the matches more easily. 

However, despite this worrying factor in her game, there is one thing that has impressed tennis legend Lindsay Davenport. 

Former world no. 1 points out the likes in Coco Gauff’s game

Coco Gauff’s incredible habit of edging victories from the jaws of defeat has become the talk of the town in recent times. So, other than her serving woes, several tennis experts have often praised Gauff for ‘winning ugly’. During a conversation with Tennis Channel, Lindsay Davenport praised her compatriot’s ability to pull through and still win big matches. 

Davenport pointed out that Gauff didn’t look too confident during her match against Danielle Collins. “Her toss was all over the place. But she still wins. It’s unbelievable her ability to figure out ways to win when she is playing, honestly, C-level tennis out there,” said Davenport. According to her, Coco Gauff did a fantastic job in managing her emotions in that epic all-American clash.

But the Canadian Open is a thing of the past now, and Coco Gauff is now all set to enter the Cincinnati Open. She won the title here in 2023, but last year, she was defeated by Yulia Putintseva in her very first match. A stronger comeback is the hope. Just a few days ago, on the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Lindsay Davenport said, “It’s not a perfect situation for her to be unhooked. I mean, the pressure’s off. She’s won her second major, but when you’ve won majors and your goal is to be number one in the world and to be the best, this is not okay.“

She further added, “I mean, Gauff could tell herself, ‘Oh, well, don’t worry I just won Roland Garros’… That’s not how a champion’s mind works.” According to Davenport, Coco Gauff will be keen to start her practice session in Cincinnati and look forward to building some momentum from that tournament before heading to NY for the US Open. How far do you think Gauff can go at the 2025 Cincinnati Open? Tell us below.