Coco Gauff hired a new coach ahead of Wimbledon, and she explained how things have been going so far as he's sticking around for now.
Pere Riba is a former player who used to compete on the ATP Tour fairly recently. He was a pretty solid player but never really reached the same heights Gauff has, but that didn't stop the American tennis phenom from hiring him on a trial basis.
The initial plan was to have him for the grass and Wimbledon, and while it didn't go quite as planned, it seems like Gauff liked the experience which is why they will continue through the US Open stretch. She confirmed ahead of the 2023 Citi Open in Washington.
He used to play on tour not too long ago. He’s pretty young for a coach, and he has a great personality. You have to travel with this person. You see them more than your family — you want to make sure you get along on and off the court. We’re working together right now through the U.S. Open, and obviously if things go well, we’ll continue after.
Gauff has had a very interesting season as she started it on a high note but then struggled for a good chunk of it. There are glaring issues in her game, forehand, which she plans to work on but more broadly, the American hopes to adopt a very attacking style of tennis.
The forehand, though, is the major question mark, if she can't develop a strong and attacking one the change in aggression won't work.
I should be playing that aggressive style, focusing on my serve plus one. There are times I’ve served 126 miles per hour, and I think for me, you know, I’m not going to hit 126 every time. But I definitely want to increase my first-serve speed average. It’s not that I can’t get there; it’s that sometimes I need to trust in it. So it’s committing on the serve every single point.
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