BEIJING — Coco Gauff has shored up her coaching crew by way of the tip of the season and into subsequent 12 months. The World No.6 introduced the tip of her partnership with Brad Gilbert after the US Open and has now added Matt Daly to teach alongside her longtime coach, Jean-Christophe (“JC”) Faurel.
Beijing: Scores | Order of Play | Draws
Daly, 45, performed collegiate tennis on the University of Notre Dame and graduated in 2001. He lately coached Denis Shapovalov on the ATP Tour final season. Gauff began working with Daly every week earlier than flying to Beijing for the China Open.
“I'm really excited,” Gauff informed WTA Insider in Beijing. “I believe that is in all probability what it should seem like subsequent 12 months too. I'm tremendous excited for a new change and hopefully to enhance different elements of my sport.
“Working with Brad was really great and obviously we had a great partnership. I think it was just time to do a reset, a refresh, and add some things in my game that I felt like I need to do to have a better season next year.”
The prime precedence for Gauff and her crew is addressing her serve. Earlier this month, her US Open title protection ended in the fourth spherical to Emma Navarro. She struck 19 double faults in the loss.
“There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, too, but the focus right now is the serve,” Gauff stated. “When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that's the basis for my game.”
Don't anticipate to see a brand-new service movement from Gauff this week. She describes the new modifications as “subtle” however is already seeing a marked distinction on the apply. Now comes the check of replicating these outcomes in match situations.
“Already, the little bit we've done has made a drastic improvement to where I was three weeks ago,” she stated.
“At this point, there's not a crazy amount, like going through a whole technique change or resetting everything. It's just subtle things that, doing it for a week now, will help me.”
A semifinalist in Beijing final 12 months, Gauff is seeded No.4 this 12 months and will face France's Clara Burel in her opening match later this week. The 20-year-old enters a busy Asian swing at No.6 on the PIF Race to the WTA Finals. She is attempting to lock down a spot at her third straight WTA Finals.
“I've never felt pressure to make the Finals except the first year when I was trying to make it,” Gauff stated. “This 12 months, it might be nice to qualify and expertise an organized Finals, however I'm additionally not attempting to place an excessive amount of stress as a result of this can be a new coaching setup and I'm including issues. This match, we began a pre-season early, in a manner.
“So I'm not really thinking about it. If it happens, that's great. If not, I get an earlier vacation. It's a win-win. But everybody wants to make the final eight, so that would be cool.”
Last 12 months, Gauff arrived in Beijing exhausted from her gritty run to her first Grand Slam title in New York. This 12 months, she has an additional bounce to her step.
“I did more things this time,” Gauff stated. “Last 12 months, I used to be so drained so I did not do something. This time I adjusted a lot quicker and I really did the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, which was actually cool.
“I got to spend two weeks at home so I feel refreshed. Hoping to finish this season off strong.”
