Coco Gauff’s Bizarre Training Drill Turns Heads Amid Cincinnati Open Spotlight

It’s all about preparation in tennis! Every player brings their own style of practice to get that edge on the court and taste victory. But sometimes, those pre-match rituals can be… unique. Rafael Nadal’s warm-up has been the talk of the town for years, and Jannik Sinner’s pre-match football games with his team in the corridors at the Italian Open this year had fans smiling. But Coco Gauff’s pre-match practice sessions might just take the cake!

On Saturday, the Cincinnati Open Instagram page shared a behind-the-scenes look at Coco and her team working on the practice courts. Captioned, “Interesting training techniques @cocogauff 🤭”, the video showed a compilation of Gauff and her team playing quirky games with tennis balls.

The text on the clip read, “Coco Gauff Team Bonding,” with one shot showing Coco crouched and speed-walking across the court while her team launched tennis balls at her. In another, they were lined up at the net rolling balls—possibly seeing who could get the closest without going past the baseline. The agenda? Unclear. But maybe only Coco can answer that one! See for yourself:

Coco Gauff shook things up last year, revamping her coaching team after a turbulent run. Since then, it hasn’t been all smooth sailing, but she’s looked happier on court. At the time, she said she was “really excited” about her first tournament with the new crew.

She split ways with Brad Gilbert, and in came Matt Daly as a fresh voice alongside her long-time coach Jean-Christophe (“JC”) Faurel. “I think this is probably what it will look like next year too. I’m super excited for a new change and hopefully to improve other parts of my game,” she told WTA Insider in Beijing.

The results came fast. After a winless stretch for much of last season, Coco Gauff caught fire in September—winning the China Open and then backing it up with the WTA Finals title. This year, she went bigger still. No singles trophy for months… until she stormed Roland Garros to claim the French Open crown. That’s how you turn things around in style.

Now, the World No. 2 is ready to bring the heat to Cincinnati. She arrives after a Canadian Open that was a mixed bag—an R16 loss to rising star Victoria Mboko in singles but a doubles title with partner McCartney Kessler. Still, despite the trophy, her team left Montreal with fresh concerns about her game.

The stat that jumped off the page? Forty-two double faults across the tournament. A staggering 23 of those came in her R64 match against Danielle Collins. That number had a former pro speaking out and sharing thoughts on the American’s coaching team.

Coco Gauff’s coaching team faced with hard questions

On August 5, The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast kicked off with some well-earned hype for Gauff’s rapid rise. But it wasn’t all praise—Stubbs was straight to the point: “But my God, like her serve, 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.” Gauff, led by Matt Daly and Jean-Christophe Faurel, had just bowed out of the Canadian Open to 18-year-old Victoria Mboko, and Stubbs didn’t shy away from spotlighting Gauff’s biggest weakness.

A few days earlier, Stubbs took to Twitter with some blunt advice for Gauff’s serve. She pointed out that the 21-year-old tends to lean into the court, which causes her to fall forward and hit down on the ball instead of up. According to Stubbs, the motion needs to stay upward, striking the ball from the underside to get the desired kick. Using her own “clock” analogy, she explained that Gauff currently makes contact at about 1 p.m. and should instead be connecting at 7 p.m. for maximum effect.

Stubbs, the 54-year-old with four Grand Slam doubles titles, sees the fix clear as day—Gauff’s grip? Still off. The message: a stronger kick serve and small tweaks could turn the tide for Coco’s game.

Gauff didn’t shy away from the topic when it came up in her August 1 press conference. She admitted she’s disappointed in herself for not addressing that part of her game, especially after skipping DC to work on it. While her serve has looked strong in practice, she’s frustrated it hasn’t translated into matches. Still, she sees a silver lining—she’s been winning even with what she calls a major “crutch” in her game. Fixing it, she believes, would make future matches more straightforward and much easier.

For now, she’s recharging on the practice courts and getting ready for her next challenge—her opener against Wang Xinyu drops tomorrow. Did Montreal give her just what she needs for one more deep run before New York? Sound off in the comments!