Coco Gauff posted alarming stats in heavy United Cup loss – is her serve still a concern?

Coco Gauff was plagued by familiar serving issues as she suffered a heavy defeat to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro at the 2026 United Cup.

The American fell 1-6, 7-6(3), 0-6 to world No 42 Bouzas Maneiro in the first rubber of the United States’ tie against Spain at the United Cup in Perth.

Gauff was dismantled in the first and third sets, while she had to battle back from 1-4 down to win the second.

The world No 4 was broken by the 23-year-old Spaniard in nine of her 13 service games, and she committed an alarming 14 double faults on the 32 second serve points she played: five in the first set, six in the second set and three in the decider.

The 21-year-old won just 19% (6/32) of her second serve points in the match and lost all nine that she played in the opening set.

After the match, Gauff said: “Yeah, obviously it wasn’t a great match for me. I tried my best to fight back with what I had in that moment, but yeah, once it was over, I kind of just sat in the bathroom for a little bit.”

Coco Gauff’s serving numbers against Jessica Bouzas Maneiro

• Aces: 1
• Double Faults: 14
• First Serve Percentage: 60%
• First Serve Points Won: 59%
• Second Serve Points Won: 19%
• Break Points Saved: 3/12
• Service Games Won: 4/13

Is Coco Gauff’s serving display worrying?

Gauff’s second serve is a weakness that has troubled her for a lengthy period; she hit the most double faults among all WTA Tour players in 2025 (431) and 2024 (430).

The American destroyed Argentina’s Solana Sierra 6-1, 6-1 in her opening match of the 2026 season at the United Cup — a match in which she made just four double faults and won an excellent 67% of her second serve points.

While that display was hugely encouraging, it is slightly concerning that Gauff’s double fault problems returned in her second match of the campaign against Bouzas Maneiro.

In the week before the 2025 US Open, Gauff made the big call to split with her coach Matt Daly, who helped her secure her second Grand Slam title at last year’s French Open.

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Gauff hired biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan as Daly’s replacement with the aim of solving her serving issues. MacMillan previously helped Aryna Sabalenka fix her own double fault problems.

With MacMillan’s guidance, Gauff made a change to her service motion before the start of the US Open, and she had some encouraging results late in 2025, particularly at the Wuhan Open in October — where she won the title without losing a set.

With an off-season of work alongside MacMillan under her belt, the hope is that Gauff will have made significant strides towards solving her serving issues.

The Gauff serve remains a key storyline to follow in Australia.

Legendary coach Rick Macci believes Coco Gauff’s serve has improved

Despite Gauff’s struggles against Bouzas Maneiro, Rick Macci — a former coach of Venus and Serena Williams — insisted Gauff has made a technical improvement to her service motion.

“Coco and her serve is better. Technically it is better. What happened at the United Cup was all mental. She is on track,” Macci wrote on X.

Macci told Tennis365 last year that he feels Gauff would benefit from changing to a platform service stance, and he repeated this call in spite of his praise for the improvement he sees.

“I would 100% go to a platform stance and rewire everything to have even less movement to not wobble under pressure,” Macci added.

What next for Coco Gauff at the United Cup?

After Gauff’s loss to Bouzas Maneiro, Taylor Fritz overcame Jaume Munar in a third set tiebreak in the second match to level the tie.

In the deciding doubles match, Gauff teamed up with Cristian Harrison, and the pair prevailed 7-6(5), 6-0 to clinch the a 2-1 triumph for the USA.

This ensured the defending champions’ progress to the quarter-finals of the United Cup as winners of Group A.

The United States will play their quarter-final tie on Wednesday, with their opponents yet to be determined.

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