Gauff's Chances At Australian Open Rated By Serena Williams' Former Coach
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Serena Williams' ex-coach, Rennae Stubbs, has predicted Coco Gauff's chances at the 2025 Australian Open.
Sabalenka has won the last two iterations of the women's singles at the Australian Open. Her 2023 triumph in Melbourne, achieved after an epic final victory against Elena Rybakina, was the Belarusian's first Grand Slam title.
The 26-year-old retained her Australian Open title after comfortably overcoming Qinwen Zheng in the final. Sabalenka's toughest match at the tournament last year was a high-quality semifinal against Gauff.
Despite Sabalenka winning the contest in straight sets, their match in Melbourne was of higher quality than their three-set US Open final. Gauff's victory at Flushing Meadows was a scrappy affair.
Although Sabalenka will remain the favorite among many because of her superb Australian Open record, Gauff's recent performances make the American a credible challenger to Sabalenka.
Gauff ended 2024 by winning the China Open in Beijing before securing the WTA Finals title after an epic final against Zheng, decided in a third-set tiebreak. The Chinese player tried but failed to serve out the match in the deciding set.
That spell of form seemed to be influenced by her decision to part with Brad Gilbert after the US Open. Gauff replaced him with Matt Daly, whose work the 20-year-old praised during her positive results in the closing months of last season.
The former US Open champion continued that during last week's United Cup after working hard during the off-season. She won all her singles matches to help Team USA reach the final of the combined ATP and WTA event.
Gauff then made a statement in her match against Iga Swiatek in the final, beating the five-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-4. That was her second consecutive victory against Swiatek after losing 11 of their first 12 meetings.
After the match, the young star described what was responsible for the improvement in her head-to-head against Swiatek. Gauff's ability to compete against and defeat the Pole greatly indicates how well she is playing.
Those improvements mean many analysts have ranked Gauff as the second favorite for the Australian Open ahead of Swiatek. Stubbs has gone further by backing the WTA Finals champion for the title in Melbourne.
In an episode of The Rennae Stubbs Podcast, Williams' former coach predicted that Gauff would win the Australian Open but added the caveat that she hears the courts in Melbourne will be faster than at the United Cup, which will likely help Sabalenka more.
"I'm going to say that I think Coco Gauff will win the Australian Open. The only issue is I hear it's faster in Melbourne than it was in Sydney, so that will help Aryna if it's a bit quicker. But I'm going to go Coco. I do slightly think Sabalenka might be the one, but I'm going to say Coco might get it."
Jessica Pegula, Zheng, Jasmine Paolini, and Rybakina are other women who could challenge Sabaleka, Gauff, and Swiatek for the title. Women's tennis is undoubtedly in a great place right now.
