Coco Gauff has suggested she will need time before the impact of her new coach Gavin MacMillan to kick in, with her hopes of success at this year’s US Open secondary to her long-term goals.
That was the impression she gave in a brutally honest press conference after her tense first round win against Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic, with the issues she is working with McMillan to solve in evidence during her first round match in New York.
There was plenty of surprise around the tennis world when a player who won the French Open in June changed her coaching set-up in the days before the US Open.
Gauff’s move to dispose of the services of coach Matt Daly and hire Gavin MacMillan days before the start of the US Open was an unusual move for a player who won a Grand Slam title a little over two months ago, but she explained her reasoning prior to the start of the tournament.
“It was a very sudden decision,” she said. “Gavin magically became available. I just felt this was the best decision for my game, at least, and I had to go with what I was feeling.
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“I think Matt is a great coach and a great person and 100% love working with him. Yeah, I mean, we obviously had a very successful partnership, but I’m just looking at long term.
“I know Gavin has had experience with this before so, hoping I can just take on his knowledge and see what can happen.
“It was a decision I had to make and by this time next year, I’m sure I will be serving a lot better. It’s all about the mechanics and like learning a new language. It’s just about trying that new [service] motion and when I do it well, it always provides a good result.
“The other thing is not just thinking about the serve. I need to think about how I will play out the point. It’s not a mental thing. It’s a biomechanics thing and I’m just working hard to get it right.”
MacMillan is credited with rebuilding the service motion of world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka and even though Gauff has enjoyed great success in her career, that is clearly an area she needs to improve on if she wants to fulfil her potential.
Gauff has been battling nerves and technical issues on her serve throughout her career and MacMillan has a big task on his hands to find a solution, with her opening match against Tomljanovic highlighting the issues all over again.
The 2023 US Open champion had a look of anguish on her face as she struggled with her serve in the first set against Tomljanovic and while her final double fault count of 10 is not as bad as some of her performances in recent years, the unforced error count of 59 in her 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 win was concerning.
Coco Gauff and coach Gavin MacMillan.
Gauff’s forehand looked shaky against Tomljanovic and combined with a serve that she pushes into court rather than hitting through it when nerves take hold, this was a performance that had some worryingly familiar flaws for the American.
“It was a tough match,” she added. “I had chances for it to be straight sets. Ajla was tough. It wasn’t the best, but I’m happy to get through to the next round.
“I had so many chances and [I knew] eventually it was going to come. I had chances to close out in two, I had chances to go up a double break so many times, so yeah I was just like ‘eventually one of these are going to go my way and it ended up happening.
“It’s tough going through a match and fighting those inner battles. It’s great to get through it.”
Gauff looked like an athlete who was trying to compute too much information against Tomljanovic, with the decision to hire MacMillan and try to make changes to her serve while also competing in a Grand Slam likely to end her hopes of winning this US Open.
But her vision is long-term and the comment that she expected to be back in New York next year with her serving problems resolved, highlighting how this is a long-term plan for an inspiring young woman who is not afraid to confront her demons in the full glare of the watching world.
Coco described the process of changing coaches as “mentally exhausting” after the match and if she performs as she did against Tomljanovic, her US Open challenge could end in her next match.
The experienced Donna Vekic lies in wait for Gauff in round two and after the Croatian beat her in convincing fashion on her favoured clay courts at last year’s Olympics in Paris, this looks set to be a demanding test for the No 3 seed, who appears to be in a period of transition in her game.
Gauff may have been wise to wait until the end of the season to change her coaching set-up, with changes of this magnitude not ideal when she is playing in her home Grand Slam and pressure and expectations are already inflated to debilitating levels.
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