By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Tuesday, August 20, 2024
Photo: Garrett Ellwood/USTA/US Open
Coco Gauff he usually wears headphones when he walks on the field.
When the 20-year-old Gauff begins her U.S. Open title defense next week, she must tune in to her gut instinct to bounce back in New York, the Hall of Famer Chrissie Evert said today.
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Citing Gauff’s consultations with coaches Jean Christophe Faurel and Brad Gilbert over the past few games, Evert said it’s time for the Delray Beach-born first baseman to step up and make her shots. Evert’s comments came during today’s Zoom call between her and her former No. 1 John McEnroe conducted with the media to promote ESPN’s ball-to-ball coverage of the US Open beginning Monday, August 26 at noon on ESPN.
“I think she has to trust her instincts when she plays a match,” Evert said of Gauff. “And don’t always rely on role models and coaches and people telling her what to do.
I just think she’s at an age now where she needs to play with a little more feel, a little more instinct and a little more confidence. And get away from patterns. She was frustrated with them (her exercise box). Like she was blaming them, but really tennis is inside you.
“John (McEnroe) and I didn’t have the training that they have now and I think we realized it ourselves. We played instinctive tennis and I think Coco needs to do more of that.”
Last September, Gauff gathered in the past Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to capture her first major in front of a wild crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was Gauff’s 12th straight victory and came as she became the youngest woman to win the Cincinnati Open.
At 19, Gauff became the youngest American to win the US Open since her tennis hero, a 17-year-old Serena Williams, defeated world No. 1 Martina Hingis in the 1999 final. She also joined Serena Williams and Tracy Austin as the third teenage American woman to win the US Open in the Open Era.
Although Gauff opened the season successfully by defending Auckland for her seventh title before semi-finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, she has been reeling in recent weeks. Evert expects Gauff to see a steady dose of “forehand, forehand, forehand” at next week’s US Open.
American flag bearer at the Paris Olympics together LeBron James, Gauff was knocked out by Emma Navarro in a tearful loss at Wimbledon, went down by Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic at the Olympics, lost to Diana Shnaider in Toronto and was dumped out of Cincinnati by Yulia Putintseva last week.
Gauff’s forehand from the west side has been a constant target for opponents, who have hit the backhand like a pinata, her second serve has let her down at times and she has grown emotional during some matches.
Evert says seeing Gauff shed tears on the field and sometimes bark in her box this summer is a sign of high expectations and intense disappointment breaking out into emotion.
“The thing about tears: you just don’t consciously know the expectations that creep into your cells in your body,” Evert told Gauff. “But everyone from day one has been thinking about Coco Gauff: She’s the next Serena Williams. She will be the next one to dominate.
“It stays with you for a long time. I also think when she got really upset and excited during Wimbledon, I think she needs to start figuring out her game plan.”
How will Gauff handle the burden of carrying the bull’s-eye on her back as the reigning US Open champion in New York City this month? Can she shake off the second-string and flimsy issues that have hurt her this summer?
Coaches Brad Gilbert and Pere Riba helped Gauff complete her quest to win the US Open last year by streamlining her approach, emphasizing her forehand ability, pressing defense and her two-handed forehand. .
While some have said that Gauff needs to work with a hitting technician to shorten her elaborate arm swing and try to modify her grip in a semi-western over time, McEnroe says Gauff has the game and the mind to t turned things around.
“Coco is a great player, she can figure it out – you know just pay attention,” McEnroe said.
Former No. 1 McEnroe said “it’s hard to say what’s going to happen” with the Gauff-Gilbert partnership, but insists that when it comes to regaining form, time is on Gauff’s side.
“As far as Brad is concerned, it’s hard to say what’s going to happen. But Brad is one of the best coaches that’s been around,” McEnroe said of his ESPN colleague and partner Gilbert. “He’s been around some great players. Maybe Brad is an acquired taste to some extent. , but you know that people who have acquired a taste for it, have done it very well.
“I think he should be in the Hall of Fame for his coaching, personally. So I don’t think (training) is the problem. I think if she decides within a year that she wants to try someone else, you know that’s her right, she’s the player.
“But last year when he joined forces with Coco there was a big breakthrough. She won the Open. I think he’s done a great job. She’s young. We’ll see what happens. She has plenty of time to understand this.”
