'It's Getting Better': Gauff Trying To Address Serving Issues In Canada
WTA
Coco Gauff has been battling some serving woes in recent times, and she hopes to improve that in Canada as she made a very good start toward that goal.
The 20-year-old American is one of the most talented players on the WTA Tour, but like many other players, she struggles with consistency. Her struggles with consistency have been pronounced forever, and she still wrestles with it at times.
Whether it's the forehand, which is a major issue, or her serve, which can cause troubles, Gauff seemingly always has some weakness. Her forehand was terrible during the 2024 Paris Olympics, especially in the match against Donna Vekic, who bested her.
Her serve can be very inconsistent at times, even though it has been much better these days than before when she used to hit a lot of double faults. Both of those shots improved significantly compared to years past, but they can still be a lot better.
Her first match at the 2024 Canadian Open was a straight-sets win, and she served well for the most part. She hopes to keep that trend going, as her serve will need to be a major weapon in the coming weeks.
The season moved to the fast hard courts, and the serve is one way she can separate herself from the rest of the field, especially at the US Open, where she will be the defending champion.
"Yeah, it is getting better. Today I served well, I think I had like four or five aces. A couple double-faults here, I think it was like four, so definitely, you know, for me, I try to give myself maybe two per set."- Gauff talks her serving performance
"I think I was at four or five, so, yeah, I think that's kind of where I expect to be. Obviously you want to go with no double-faults, but I think just because I go so big on the first serve it's kind of a risk that you are willing to take."
Calls for her to work on her forehand and serve have been loud and persistent for many months, and she has been working on it. It's not something that improves overnight, and it will vary from match to match.
Sometimes, it will be better, and sometimes, it will be worse. Her start in Toronto was great, so any adjustments she made from the Olympics seemed to now have worked out.
Now, it's about consistency because she has shown to be a really good server at times. The power is there; she just needs the precision.
"Yeah, it is something that I'm working on. I am happy, like, compared to the Olympics, I thought I didn't serve as well as I would have liked to, so coming here it was important for me to just go for my serve every point, and I think that's what I tried to commit to doing today and playing against all the targets."
