It’s hard to declare Coco Gauff‘s season as either overwhelmingly good or bad. On the one hand, she won her first Grand Slam since 2023. On the other, her overall consistency has since taken a hit. The 21-year-old has had an inaccurate service game while being plagued by double faults. But to fix the deficiencies, Gauff brought in a new team member: Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics expert and serve ‘doctor’ of sorts who helped fix Aryna Sabalenka’s service woes a couple seasons ago. It’s been two months since the appointment, and McMillan has finally opened up about how the collaboration with Gauff is going.

Despite bringing MacMillan on board right at the start of the US Open, overhauling one’s service motion is not a quick or easy process. But Gauff has shown signs of returning to her best after winning the Wuhan Open, a clear sign of the patient and steady approach that MacMillan has been using. “If your only goal is to try to win the US Open immediately, then yes, I would say like we’re going to struggle to try to do that,” he said in a recent interview with Tennis Channel.

“If our goal is to get her ready for Australia next year, then obviously we’re gonna start making those changes immediately and give ourselves as much time to get her to be able to adjust to these things… The margins are very small. So the goal is overall obviously improvement,” he said before issuing a warning. “And if you’re not doing that, the people coming up in the sport are going to catch you. It’s just a function of time.”

MacMillan underlined that one of the key areas they’re working on with Gauff is improving her forehand to make it more effective in the long term—though the difference was already clear during her run in Wuhan—as well as her kick serve. If improvement is the name of the game, then all evidence suggests Gauff is at no risk of being caught by the next generation, as MacMillan forewarned.

After all, he also noted that “we’re in a fortunate position where she’s [Gauff] the best athlete on tour and their brains are just wired so well” when discussing how to keep the 2-time Grand Slam champion’s brain challenged.

Lately, Gauff has shown that she can regain her lost spirits when the chips are down. After a saddening exit in New York, it seems she has made an impact, especially during her Wuhan campaign.

Coco Gauff regains momentum ahead of WTA Finals

Coco Gauff’s post-US Open journey has been commendable, to say the least. Yes, there were matches where she was seen struggling, but the overall improvement is noteworthy in terms of results. Earlier this month at the China Open, she made it to the semis before losing against compatriot Amanda Anisimova.

In her next event in Wuhan, where her record has been positive in the past, she shined once again. After reaching the semis last season, she went on to clinch the title of the WTA 1000 tournament. She bested compatriot Jessica Pegula in the summit clash with a scoreline of 6-4, 7-5.

Moving forward, her goal is to reclaim the crown in Riyadh next month. Gauff defeated Qinwen Zheng last season to win her maiden WTA Finals trophy. This time, too, she is thinking to replicate that performance. Following her victory in Wuhan, she admitted that “it’s a pretty tough title to defend, given that you’re playing the top eight players in the world.”

Entering the event, her strategy is going to be simple—just like how she made it happen in 2024’s edition. “I’m just going to go in with no expectations. I just want to make it out of my group. That’s what my goal was last year.”

It will be intriguing to see whether Gauff can win the WTA Finals trophy for a second time while improving her on-court consistency under MacMillan.