Coco Gauff is the reigning champion at the China Open, and she has advanced to the last 16 at the 2025 event with two victories, but how has her serve performed so far?
The American star hit the most double faults among all WTA players in 2024 (430) and also leads the tour in this unwanted statistic so far this season. Gauff’s serve was particularly troublesome during events in Montreal and Cincinnati in July and August.
In the week before the US Open last month, Gauff made the big call to split with her coach Matt Daly, who helped her secure her second Grand Slam title at the French Open in June.
The world No 3 hired biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan with the aim of solving her serving issues. MacMillan previously helped Aryna Sabalenka fix her own double faulting problems.
With MacMillan’s guidance, Gauff made a change to her service motion despite the short window before the start of the US Open. Gauff showed great resilience to reach the fourth round in New York amid struggles with her game before falling to a lopsided defeat to Naomi Osaka.
Gauff has admitted that she is treating her Beijing title defence “like a practice tournament” and that she is using this part of the calendar “as a pre-season.” She also confirmed MacMillan is not with her in China due to other commitments.
Gauff’s serve at the 2025 China Open
In her opening match in Beijing, Gauff earned a convincing 6-4, 6-0 win against 89th-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova.
The serving numbers were encouraging for Gauff as she landed 69% of her first serves and won 66% of her total service points (72% of points on her first serve and 53% on her second serve).
Gauff served four aces and committed five double faults, and she saved all 10 of the break points the 24-year-old Russian had on her serve in the match.
In her second match, Gauff was pushed much harder as she overcame world No 25 Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in two hours and 47 minutes.
The American hit four aces, made 62% of her first serves and won a solid 66% of points behind her first delivery, but her second serve was a bigger issue.
Gauff won just 37% (14 of 38) of her second serve points as she hit nine double faults, and she was broken seven times having faced 10 break points.
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Two of Gauff’s three double faults in the first set came in the same game as Fernandez broke back for 4-4, but ultimately, it did not prove costly. In the second set, Gauff hit two double faults and won 40% of her second serve points as the 23-year-old Canadian levelled the match.
Despite being broken in her first two service games in the deciding set, Gauff broke Fernandez four straight times to establish a 5-2, double break lead.
Gauff’s five double faults and lowly 20% of second serve points won in the third set threatened to derail her as she was twice broken when serving for the match and pegged back to 5-5 before finally prevailing.
It is clear that Gauff’s serve is a work in progress and that it will take time for her to reap the rewards of the technical changes she is implementing.
In the short term, the second serve in particular seems to still be a concern, but it is encouraging that the double fault numbers have not been as high as they were prior to her work with MacMillan.
Gauff has again proven her mental toughness and showcased her ability to survive tough matches in which her serve is hampering her.
What did Gauff say after her win over Fernandez?
In her press conference after beating Fernandez, Gauff said: “I played Leylah earlier this year and I knew it was going to be a tougher match today just because I felt like she was playing some good tennis.
“She beat Maria [Sakkari], like, in a good score [in her previous match]. All the matches she won in DC. I knew she would approach this match differently. I had to adjust. But I’m happy to get through.
“Yeah, I mean, the conditions were so slow, which I feel like she does well with that because she likes to take the ball so early. So I felt like my heaviness wasn’t doing a lot with her, like, as the balls got older.
“I found when I had new balls, I would win like two or three games in a row. I think the toughest part was just dealing with the conditions and trying to feel like I could hit through her, but I couldn’t do that as well today as I felt like I did earlier this year.”
Asked what happened in the second set, Gauff said: “I mean, it was a back-and-forth set. I had chances I think in the 2-All or 3-2 game to break. I felt like I got a little bit too passive. Then that last game, couple doubles. I don’t even remember what happened.
“But she played well. I mean, I knew, like, how the first set went, it was kind of back and forth. A couple points don’t go your way and you lose the set. But yeah, she definitely played great tennis. I thought she was being aggressive, striking the ball pretty well. She wasn’t really giving me much free points either.
“Yeah, I think I wish I was more aggressive in some moments. I could tell she stepped up the aggressiveness in the second. I think in that 3-2 game on those break points I should have put the ball deeper and maybe tried to get her to open up the court.”
Gauff will face 15th seed Belinda Bencic in the last 16 in Beijing.
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