Coco Gauff lost to compatriot Emma Navarro at the 2024 Wimbledon Championships, and her opponent revealed after the match how she exploited her weaknesses.
It's not a huge secret that Gauff's forehand leaves a lot to be desired. She's one of the best players in the world with a very inconsistent forehand, which is mostly impressive because the shot is one of the weakest, if not the weakest, in the Top 10 on the WTA Tour.
Getting to such a level without a proper forehand is a testament to her talent, but it's once again become an issue. Many pundits and former players who have their careers behind them called on her to fix it, and she admitted that she wanted to, but so far, not much has been done.
Her forehand can be stable in most matches, but it only has to go wrong once for her to potentially lose a chance of winning a Grand Slam. This year's Wimbledon was shaping up nicely for the 20-year-old, as she was one of the few favorites left in the draw.
However, Navarro destroyed those dreams, beating the World No. 2 player and openly admitting that her game plan was to go after Gauff's forehand.
"I really wanted to attack her forehand. I think she wanted to do the same to me. We found ourselves in a lot of forehand cross-court rallies. It was kind of a cat and mouse, who’s going to change the pattern first."
"I love matches like that where it feels like it’s not just a hitting or striking competition, there’s strategy involved. It feels like a chess match or something. That was really enjoyable for me."
Another shot that can let Gauff down is her serve, as she tends to struggle with it often. The talent is there for the American, but consistency is something she's yet to master because some of her weapons fail her often, and her fourth-round opponent was well aware of that.
"Then, yeah, I wanted to attack her serve, make her feel like if she’s hitting a second serve, I don’t want her to be comfortable on her second serve, consequentially not comfortable on her first serve."
"Same on my serve, attacking her forehand, making her hit a ton of forehand returns. Yeah, during rallies staying close enough up to the baseline where I’m not giving her too much time."
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