Coco Gauff's coach, Brad Gilbert has given one principal reason for the teenager's historic US Open triumph.
Gauff has recently admitted that she felt she needed to win a Grand Slam as a teenager. Last year's US Open represented one of the final opportunities for the American to achieve that dream.
Veteran coach Gilbert joined Gauff's team in August 2023. He has previously worked with big names such as Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori. Agassi won 6 of his Grand Slams under Gilbert's guidance.
Gilbert received much praise for his role in Gauff's triumph at Flushing Meadows. Although all the other current and previous members of Gauff's team also deserve a lot of credit for their roles in her development to that point, Gilbert did seem to help the teenager's mentality.
Now, Gilbert has spoken about his work with the US Open champion. As well as confirming that Gauff has practiced hard in the off-season, he named the key element she found during her title run.
"Coco, three times she found herself a set down, once down a break in the third. So she had to problem-solve. And those are the best kind of wins, when you grow the most, winning those types of matches."
Gauff was a set down against Laura Siegemund in the first round, Elise Mertens in round 3 and in the final against Aryna Sabalenka. The mental strength she showed to repeatedly comeback, with all the pressure on her was incredible.
Gilbert also used a famous example from one of the players he coached to further illustrate his point.
"As I look back on it, it so reminds me of a tournament that was really special. The 99 French. Andre had to wrangle his way through five difficult matches."
Gauff, who won her opening match of the season in Auckland, is a long way from Agassi's overall career achievements. However, with her work ethic and talent, she undoubtedly could match and surpass his accolades.
0 Comments