Coco Gauff has addressed the departure of Pere Riba from her team for the first time after getting off to a winning start at the WTA Finals.
The US Open champion has confirmed that she is no longer working with the former Spanish player after pairing up with him earlier this year. It is understood that their collaboration ended after the China Open with Riba deciding to not continue working with her for reasons that have not been publicly disclosed. During their time together Gauff won titles in Wahington and Cincinnati before claiming her maiden Grand Slam trophy at Flushing Meadows.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t my decision,” Gauff commented. “But we had to end the partnership. If it was up to me, I would have loved to have him here. But you know, things happen. Life happens. So no bad terms on our end.
“Sometimes people think it’s bigger than what it is. But some things just didn’t work out and that’s all. I still think that he was a great guy. And obviously, he did amazing things for me personally and also for my game. So I’m sure he’s going to be successful in his next step.”
For the foreseeable future, Gauff will continue working with Brad Gilbert who she initially appointed as a consultant. Gilbert has previously coached the likes of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray. Jarmere Jenkins, who is the former hitting partner of Serena Williams, is also still part of the team and is with Gilbert in Cancun this week.
On the court, Gauff got off to an almost perfect start at the WTA Finals by crushing Ons Jabeur 6-0, 6-1, in her opening round-robin match in less than an hour. It is the first time the American has won a match at the event in her career.
“Ons is a great player, so I felt really unsteady the whole match even though it didn’t [look] like that,” she said. “But I’m just happy to finally get a win here in this event.”
Gauff is aiming to become the first player from her country to win the tournament since 2014. Later this week, she will play Iga Swiatek and Marketa Vondousova in the group stages. The top two from each group will then progress to the knockout rounds.
