Coco Gauff might have won the French Open back in June, but remarkably, she’s still striving for consistency.
Gauff is at a pivotal point in her career, with a few aspects of her game in serious need of fine-tuning.
After winning the French Open, it was anticipated that Gauff might kick on another level, but at Wimbledon, she reverted to her old ways somewhat and lost in the first round.
At the US Open, Gauff was praised by Naomi Osaka, who, in fairness, was in fine form at the tournament and went all the way to the semifinal.
Now, with the tournament consigned to history, Gauff has been criticized for something she was spotted doing just hours before the US Open got underway.
Photo by CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty ImagesCoco Gauff critiqued for something she did hours before US Open
Steve Johnson shared what he thought Gauff got wrong at the US Open and it would appear that he’s not alone with his critique.
Andy Roddick has defended Gauff over the years and now, Jimmy Arias has echoed some thoughts from Roddick, suggesting he was shocked at something she started to do prior to the US Open.
He said on the Inside-In Podcast: “I definitely would not be going over biomechanics days before the US Open. She was there practicing, you have no idea, for hours and hours and hours every day trying to get ready.
“I was thinking at the time watching it, it was the forehand as well, she is trying to break down her forehand technically as well.
“And to have technical thoughts while you are trying to win a major seemed impossible and in the end I think it proved to be impossible for her.
“Emotionally she is in a difficult state because I’m sure walking out on to the court she has this thought that I might not put a serve in. I might not put a forehand in. And the panic that causes is too much for most people. It seemed like it was almost too much for her.
“Hopefully she can get herself the way that Sabalenka was able to fix the serve.
“The other player who did that was Djokovic, he had a year or so when he couldn’t get a serve in, and Zverev. There has been a few players who couldn’t hit a second serve.
“So hopefully Gauff can become that strong mentally and find the tip that fixes the rhythm on her serve because that is the key. The serve is all about the kinetic chain and getting the rhythm right and when you start getting tight, for her she tends to pull down and bad things happen from there.
“If she gets that right, she is such a good athlete, she is next level compared to everyone else on tour.
“She is winning matches and won a major this year and she has two giant holes in her game right now.
“I don’t think it helps that everyone talks about it, by the way. She is aware that everyone says your serve and your forehand, so she’s playing a match and I’m sure every ball is coming to her forehand and she has to be in her head.”
Gauff must address serve flaws if she’s to dominate like Aryna Sabalenka
The world number three is still in a very good place with two major titles to her name at the age of 21.
There is a sense, however, that she should have more than two big titles to her name given the vast amount of potential she clearly possesses.
Gauff can be the dominant force that starts picking up major titles on a more frequent basis but she simply has to rectify the uncertainties over her serve.
Given her age and ability, she is more than capable but the next few months, working on her game, should be the most important period of her career and could have a major impact on what sort of career she eventually has.