Former World No. 9 Identifies Reason Behind Gauff's Reemerged Serving Woes
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Coco Gauff has started to struggle on her serve once again, and a former WTA World No. 9 player thinks she knows why that is the case.
Throughout her tennis career, Gauff's two main shots have been in the spotlight. Her often-discussed forehand, and also her shaky serve. On a good day, the American can receive plenty of help from her serve, but on a bad day, she can struggle a lot.
Most recently, Gauff struggled at the Miami Open, where she lost to Magda Linette while making 12 double faults. It was yet another surprising loss that the 21-year-old has recorded in recent weeks.
Former WTA World No. 9 player, Andrea Petkovic, looked into Gauff's problems on serve during her Becker Petkovic podcast. The former German player explained that she thinks the reason behind the reemerged issues is the American's grip.
"This is my hot take. I think what happened when she hired the new coach, Matt Daly, he changed her grip on the serve a bit. My theory is, when you change a grip, with time, if you don’t remember it all the time, it goes back to the old grip – If you’re not constantly being warned: 'Hey, think about the new grip, think about the new grip.'"
Petkovic then looked back on Gauff's results from the end of last season when she dominated in China and also went on to win the WTA Finals afterward.
During that successful run, the young American player barely made any double faults, which was also one of the reasons why she was able to be so successful.
Now, for comparison, it isn't a surprise when Gauff makes a dozen double faults, like she did against Magda Linette in Miami, or when she makes over 20 double faults in one match like at the Indian Wells Open.
"In the last two, three tournaments of last year and the first two tournaments of this year, she had hardly any double faults, one or two per match. Now in the match against Linette, twelve double faults."
"In the match in Indian Wells, which she lost [to Bencic], eight doubles faults in three sets. Twenty-two in three sets in Indian Wells in the second round. She won the match in the end, but with 22 double faults."
Therefore, Petkovic thinks the main culprit behind Gauff's struggles is the change of the grip. The former German player suggested that Gauff went back to the old grip, which previously hasn't worked for her.
"So, something is not right with the serve. My theory is that the grip has gone back to the old one, and therefore, it does not work at the moment."
The 2023 US Open champion will have a chance to return to winning ways at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she is set to play next.
