Coco Gauff is an incredibly talented player but there's just one stroke that is holding back the teenager.
Currently, the sixth highest-ranked player on the WTA Tour has already lost in the third round of the 2023 Madrid Open to Paula Badosa. And it wasn't a defeat that the American will want to remember as she got crushed 3-6, 0-6 and one thing was apparent throughout the match.
The Spanish player was constantly targeting Gauff's forehand and as she revealed also in the press conference before their meeting, it was a clear tactic and intention from Badosa that may soon be adopted by many more players.
In the past, former world no. 4 Mary Joe Fernandez talked about the talented American and she even advised her to take 6-8 months off the WTA Tour to fix her weaknesses as her young age would still allow her to do it.
But the former Canadian player isn't the only one to notice it. Even the journalist that was asking Paula Badosa questions at the 2023 Madrid Open didn't hold back when talking about the teenager's forehand, as he asked: "I was thinking, as I was watching, it's not really attack the forehand. It's give the forehand, right? Tell us about that."
Of course, there is mutual respect between the two players and Badosa didn't want to disrespect Gauff by talking about her forehand as a major weakness, and so the Spanish player made sure to first mention all of her opponent's qualities.
"I mean, she's a very good -- she plays amazing when she's defending. She's very fast. She has crazy backhand, very good serve, especially first serves. I just try to return her every ball to make her play one more. Sometimes when she feels she doesn't have free points on the serve, she starts to serve a little bit worse."
But then, the Spaniard admitted that she was purposefully targeting her opponent's forehand throughout the match to eliminate all of her other qualities and gain significant advantage.
"And of course going more to her forehand, most because her backhand is very good, and when you have like the spot there, you just go there, but I just tried to go to her forehand. Yeah, sometimes just give it to her and make her like do more what she can. And, yeah, that's a little bit the tactic that I can say now. I hope she doesn't read it (smiling)."
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