2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff is struggling so much with her serve that she has changed up her coaching staff just before the start of this year’s edition.
Gauff has added technique coach Gavin MacMillan to her team after serving a truckload of double faults at both the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters.
For the year, Gauff has 320 double-faults which leads the WTA circuit. To make matters worse, that total is over 100 more than the second-most.
“Gavin became available. I just felt this was the best decision for my game and I had to go with what I was feeling,” Gauff said. “Matt is a great coach, a great person, and I love working with him. We had a very successful partnership, but I’m just looking at long term.”
In her quarterfinal loss to Jasmine Paolini in Cincinnati, she had double faulted 16 times which was 19 percent of her serves. For comparison, Paolini double-faulted on 2.3 percent of her serves. In Gauff’s Round of 16 loss to Vicky Mboko in Canada, she double-faulted on 12.8 percent of her serves.
When she lost to Dayana Yastremska in the first round of Wimbledon, her double-fault percentage was 15.5%.
Clearly intent on rediscovering the form that saw her win the French Open, Gauff has turned to the man who helped Aryna Sabalenka get past her serve woes.
To make room for MacMillan, grip specialist Matt Daly has moved on from the Gauff team.
How Did Gauff’s New Serve Coach Help Sabalenka?
MacMillan is a biomechanics coach who first worked with Sabalenka in 2022. At the time, Sabalenka was having huge trouble with her serve and MacMillan was tasked with rebuilding her service motion. She was a top 10 player struggling to break through for big wins.
There were significant improvements and the results followed. She won her first Grand Slam title at the 2023 Australian Open and repeated as champion in 2024. She also won her first US Open title last year after losing in the final of 2023 to Gauff.
“The moment we started working, I felt like, ‘OK, there is something. I definitely have a better feeling on my serve,'” Sabalenka said. “I just trusted the process, trusted myself. Like, the first tournament I played, I already felt the difference, and I felt, ‘OK, I’m getting there.’
“So, for me, it was just about repetitions, a little bit of time and full commitment to whatever he was saying.”
Gauff will have to show the same commitment to improve her serve. Time will tell if it’s just come a bit too soon to be a serious contender for the US Open.
