Former ATP No. 1 Mats Wilander gave a fascinating insight into the influence that celebrated American coach Brad Gilbert has had on Coco Gauff's explosive form during the US swing.
After losing her first-round match at this year's Wimbledon, Gauff was under massive pressure to ditch her parents' advice in favor of outside counsel as part of her coaching team. At the start of the US swing, that certainly to be the case, where Gauff called on the services of Gilbert, who has previously coached some of tennis' iconic names.
In addition to her full-time coach Pere Riba, whom Gauff appointed earlier in June to replace Diego Moyano, Gilbert was sought after by the 19-year-old on a trial basis, and the impact has been instantaneous. Gauff won the two biggest titles of her career this month, including a WTA 1000 in Cincinnati.
The young American won 11 of her 12 matches across three tournaments in the build-up to the US Open. She tallied three top-10 wins, including a first-ever victory over Iga Swiatek in eight attempts. Seven-time Grand Slam champion Wilander told Eurosport that Gilbert is a coach who knows what talent actually looks like.
"I think the biggest difference with Coco can be left unsaid because I think that Brad Gilbert is a coach who understands what talent looks like. He understands what talent means. And talent doesn't mean a person who has great hands and great anticipation, but it is someone that really has that inner drive. And I think he understands that."
"But that's part of Brad Gilbert. He gets in there, he gets into their heart and their mind, and he's not going to take no for an answer. If you say no, then he's on to the next person. And I think he did that with Murray. He helped Andy Roddick win the US Open. He helped Andre Agassi come back and win the career Grand Slam. He gets what talent means."
Wilander goes on and explains that Gilbert's coaching instructions have been subtle but extremely decisive. The 59-year-old states that tennis isn't a sport of counting who wins the most points in the match, but rather the big points, and having the right approach in such points - something Gilbert imparted on Gauff, according to Wilander.
"I think that he has helped her to understand that tennis is not a sport where you just fight and fight and fight and you collect points and you put them in a pile and at the end we count them up. No, that's not tennis, that's basketball. And he's a big basketball player and fan. He's understood that tennis is about the big points, what they mean."
"I think he's just loosened her up and he's explained somehow to her that your strength is movement and your strength is not missing and fighting."
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