Rennae Stubbs says Coco Gauff is "fighting demons" within her game at the moment and her advice for the 21-year-old is to prioritize improving for the rest of the year and not think much about her results.
Just as was the case in her previous US Open matches, Gauff clearly focused so much on not spraying double faults. And while she finished with just five double faults against Naomi Osaka, she also blasted 33 unforced errors and ended up losing 3-6 2-6 in just over an hour of play. Overall, it was a very rough day at the office for the 2023 US Open winner, who looked dejected afterward and even admitted to breaking down in front of her team.
On her podcast, Stubbs – who worked with Serena Williams during the 2022 US Open – praised Gauff hiring a biomechanics coach to help her resolve her serve woes. However, the Australian tennis legend also noted that the real change can't come overnight.
Stubbs: Gauff's fighting her serve, her forehand… Break every single thing down and work on it
"Coco’s not comfortable. She’s fighting demons. She’s fighting her serve. She’s fighting her forehand. Gavin’s come in to try and do his best to kind of correct some of the stuff, but that’s impossible to do in a week. It’s impossible," the former doubles world No. 1 said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
"I think she should take the entire rest of the year. The whole rest of the year and break every single thing down. Because today we saw a complete tennis player in Naomi Osaka. She has a more complete serve. She has a better grip on her. She sees a short ball. She knows where she’s going with it."
Gauff seemingly plans to listen to Stubbs since she said in her post-match presser that plans to focus on "improvements" for the rest of 2025.
