“She’s going to figure it out. She won a slam this year; she’s still three in the world—lots of time left for her,” said former American ATP icon Steve Johnson about his compatriot Coco Gauff‘s performance woes. The two-time Grand Slam winner has failed to shine since capturing that Roland Garros title back in June. Much of her inconsistency has to do with the serve. It is just not getting any better, despite her shift to a new biomechanics coach. While her double fault problem is a work in progress, a notable tennis figure has come out with a possible solution that can help Gauff to make a thumping return before the next season.

Rick Macci—the legendary coach who assisted 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams during her childhood back in the early 90s—made a key observation on Gauff. Taking to X, he posted about what Gauff really needs to do in order to get rid of her serving woes. “Coco now understand even more she has to rewire the forehand and have a science based ATP blueprint with have the racquet go to the Outside of the body and develop two pronations that go quicker faster but will be shorter. She can do it,” he wrote before tagging Gauff at the end.

In a separate post, he also believed that Gauff is here to stay. Showing confidence in the 21-year-old, he predicted that she will be able to turn her serve-based flaw into a strength moving into the new season. “Her serve will become a weapon. If she unplugs this December does reconstructive surgery and rewires the muscle memory and learns the ATP forehand she will be able to hold the baseline and dictate instead of defend.”

Gauff’s service nightmares have proved to be costly throughout this season. Take, for example, her recent outings at the US Open and the China Open. In New York, she failed to have consistency in landing her serves. As a result, she committed 27 double faults in four matches before Naomi Osaka ousted her in the fourth round.

In Beijing, where she was a defending champion earlier this week, Gauff struggled to keep her double fault count in check. It cost her against compatriot and World No. 4 Amanda Anisimova, who dismantled her in just 58 minutes. With that, she crashed Gauff’s hopes of winning a second-straight trophy at the WTA 1000 event.

Coco Gauff looks to find her rhythm at the Wuhan Open

Despite being a two-time major champion, Coco Gauff was made to look ordinary by a ruthless Amanda Anisimova. Looking at the stats from their battle, one can clearly understand how Anisimova gave her compatriot no time to breathe on the court.

Gauff became visibly helpless against Anisimova’s impeccable forehand and backhand returns. It seemed like the two were planets apart when it comes to the contrast in their performances. While Gauff landed nearly 61 percent of her first serves, she could win just 10 of the 26 points. When it comes to her second serve, it was forgettable, to say the least. She won only 35 percent of points on her second serve.

In comparison, Anisimova was 67 percent accurate on her first serves, winning almost 84 percent of points. On the second serve, the count was 40 percent—still more than Gauff. Speaking of break points, Anisimova was on a different level altogether. She converted nearly 63 percent of her break points. Gauff’s figure was a mere 33 percent.

However, there is no time to mourn moving forward for the World No. 3. Coco Gauff will have to find a way to regain her form, and she has got a great opportunity to make it happen. In her next campaign, at the Wuhan Open, she will try to make a deep impact. Last season, she reached the semis in this WTA 1000 tournament. She would like to do one better in the 2025 edition and clinch the trophy to build a winning momentum. Especially ahead of the WTA Finals, in Riyadh, next month.

The year-end event will see Gauff entering as the defending champion. In 2024, she won her maiden WTA Finals trophy after besting Qinwen Zheng in the summit clash. The American would like to replicate that success and wrap up this season on a high note before resuming action in 2026.