Earlier this week Coco Gauff said she was going through a ‘rebuilding period’ in her career after what has been a rollercoaster past few months on the Tour and it seems to be paying off.
The American is currently playing at the Washington Open where she has reached the final after beating Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova in the semi-finals on Saturday. Earlier in the tournament, she also defeated Hailey Baptiste and Belinda Bencic. Gauff is the youngest player to reach the final in Washinton since its inaugural edition back in 2011. It is also the first time in her career that she has reached the final of a WTA 500 event.
Helping the 19-year-old through her latest tournament is Brad Gilbert who has agreed to join her team on a trial basis. Gilbert is a highly regarded coach who mentored Andre Agassi when he won six out of his eight Grand Slam titles. He has also previously worked with players such as Andy Murray, Andy Roddick, and Kei Nishikori.
Under the arrangement, Gilbert is working alongside Gauff’s principal coach, Pere Riba, as a consultant. Riba was appointed to the team shortly before Wimbledon this year.
“Both of them really instilled a belief in my game. Bringing someone in sometimes they feel like they need to change everything, but I think with both of them it’s not, like, big changes.” Gauff told reporters on Saturday.
“I think they are really confident in my game. So I think it makes me even more confident, especially when it comes to the serving. A couple of times (against Samsonova) I was down breakpoints or Love-30. They don’t tell me to, like, get the serve in. They tell me to go for it.’
“I think that’s why I’m able to come up with those aces. In the past I don’t think I had that mentality. I was just trying to get a decent serve in. Now I feel like I’m really going for them.”
Gauff’s hope is that her new team setup will continue on the Tour heading into the US Open. She has experienced mixed results at the Grand Slams this year with a run to the fourth round of the Australian Open and then the quarter-finals of the French Open. However, she crashed out of her opening match at Wimbledon.
“We were just trying it this week but I think with the way it’s been going, we are going to continue.” She said of her work with Gilbert.
“With anyone, you don’t want to say, let’s plan for a long time. I really only had one conversation with him in person, and that was at Wimbledon.’
“I’m thinking that it’s pretty obvious the differences that he and Pere have made in the short amount of time, and I like the way the team dynamic, everyone is getting along, so that’s the most important part.”
Gauff will play Greece’s Maria Sakkari in the Washington final on Sunday where she will be seeking to win the biggest title of her career so far.
