Coco Gauff is dynamic. A wondrous talent who turned 21 in March, finished No. 3 in the rankings, and won the Roland Garros Women’s Singles (after in the first round forgetting to bring her racquet bag with her to the court).
Yet despite these successes and her never surrender competitive attitude, many recall her problems… the double fault and forehand hiccups that regularly distressed her play.
Her backhand was point-ending formidable. Her forehand fluctuated… as the 7-5, 6-4 Australian Open quarterfinal loss to Paula Badosa indicated when she had 28 forehand lapses.
In March, Gauff was scattergun off both sides. She made 74 unforced errors against Moyuka Uchijima but won 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 in the second round at the BNP Paribas Open.
Two months later in Rome, Gauff made 33 forehand errors against Jasmine Paolini for a 6-4, 6-2 loss in the Women’s Singles final. Later in the year, her unforced error count totaled 62 in a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 quarterfinal loss to the Italian at the Cincinnati Open.
Never one to dodge issues, in a New York Times story she admitted her forehand was, “… in and out from game to game and match to match, and even from point to point…” Occasionally, she sliced the shots hoping to mitigate losing points.
Players are forever tinkering with their stroke mechanics – Aryna Sabalenka, Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek immediately come to mind.
Gauff worked with her coaches to improve her forehand mechanics attempting to be in better position to hit the shot… keeping her weight back, trying to have “quiet feet” (meaning being balanced) in preparation… shortening her backswing and concentrating on hitting through every forehand… while continuing to be aggressive and dictating.
The role of Sport Science Lab biomechanics guru Gavin MacMillian in reconstructing the serve of Sabalenka has been well documented. So, in late August, before the US Open, Gauff decided to stop working with Matt Daly and hired MacMillian.
He focused on improving her knee bend, keeping her head up and not dropping it when she tossed the ball, keeping her weight back, not lunging, staying relaxed and smooth, shaping the motion and making a full body rotation.
In early October, Gauff won the Wuhan Open back-to-backing Paolini and Jessica Pegula in the semifinals and final… mixing up her serve speed and spins, and seemed to have turned the “Mistake Making” corner.
But at the November Year-End Championships she was again bedeviled by stroke mechanics, defeating Paolini but losing in three sets to both Pegula and Sabalenka.
Overall, the three match assessment was positive… but there is still a good bit of work to be done, as indicated by her serving three consecutive double faults to send the second set against Pegula into a tiebreak. She won that, but lost the match 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, recording 17 double faults.
Being that it is Coco… 2026 will be different
Title photo by Tennis Australia / James Gourley