Coco Gauff is shaking things up in her tennis career, and it seems like those changes are already paying off! After a tough season filled with setbacks, including her stumbles at the Paris Olympics and the US Open, Gauff made the bold decision to part ways with longtime coach Brad Gilbert. Stepping in to guide her now is Matt Daly, and from the looks of her first match under his direction, the results are promising. The American star has already shown signs of bouncing back. Could this be the beginning of a powerful comeback?
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Gauff is playing her first tournament under her new coach and is making some sensational progress at the China Open. In the latest match, she handsomely outshined Katie Boulter and has advanced to the Round of 16 of the tournament. Gauff handed a baffling defeat to the Brit in straight sets 7-5, 6-2, and will now be facing either Naomi Osaka or Katie Volynets. But the interesting fact about her latest victory is the stats that speak volumes about her growth.
The 20-year-old looked in complete control of her serve this week. In her latest match against Boulter, she fired 5 aces against a nill from her opponent. Besides, she made only 3 double faults which is comparatively better than her previous performances, as the star player has shot 315 double faults in the 53 matches she has played, which keeps her average fault around 6 per match. Interestingly, a sharp rise was also witnessed in her service game.
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Coco Gauff, serving much better this week, beats Katie Boulter 7-5, 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Beijing WTA 1000.
Awaits the winner of… Osaka vs. Volynets (played tomorrow). pic.twitter.com/PsWzIGHbzj
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) September 29, 2024
Gauff has an average of 71.7% 1st serve wins this season. However, in her match against Boulter, this number sharply increased to 82.1%, thereby highlighting a remarkable growth. She further made an improvement in her 2nd return win points which was 61.9% as compared to her season average of 58.6%. Interestingly, these were some of the major aspects that Gauff also wanted to improve after splitting up with Gilbert.
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Speaking on her aspirations with her latest coach, Gauff had said, “There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, too, but the focus right now is the serve. When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that’s the basis for my game.” And this was fairly evident at least this week at the China Open. Adding to her confidence, she is also breaking some sensational records besides her remarkable comeback.
Coco Gauff outshines Caroline Wozniacki to etch her name on a new record
Coco Gauff has emerged as one of the formidable forces on the tennis courts. Despite her young age, she has achieved major success and broken several records outshining some of the great figures of the WTA circuit. With her latest victory over Katie Boulter, the star player has etched her name on yet another record and it’s nothing but phenomenal.
Gauff has now emerged as the player with the most number of victories in WTA 1000 tournaments before the age of 21. She now has 47 victories in her name and she still has time to win more WTA 1000 matches before turning 21. Before Gauff, the record was held by the Danish player Caroline Wozniacki, who won 46 matches before turning 21.
As the season progresses, it would be interesting to see if the 2023 US Open winner can continue to make new records under her new coach and demonstrate yet more sensational progress.