Serena Williams’ ex-coach slams Coco Gauff’s poor form in front of American’s coach
Coco Gauff's serving display during a surprise US Open round-of-16 loss to Emma Navarro left many baffled and it even led to Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs criticizing the 20-year-old in front of her coach Brad Gilbert.
On Sunday, the No. 3 seed’s title defense at Flushing Meadows came to an end after the 12th-ranked American won 6-3 4-6 6-3.
During the match, one of the most noticeable things was the 2023 US Open champion’s struggles on her own serve. And after Gauff hit a shocking 19 double faults and made less than 50 percent of her first serve and won just 40 percent of points played on her second serve, fans but also some of the former stars were left wondering what was happening with the six-time WTA champion’s serve.
What’s worse is the fact that this has been a regular occurrence throughout the summer and that’s a big reason why she picked up round-of-16 exits at Wimbledon, the Paris Olympics and New York.
After the match, Stubbs – who won four Grand Slams in women’s doubles and two in mixed doubles – was on an ESPN panel discussing the Gauff loss and coach Gilbert was there as well.
“Where is Coco’s confidence? There’s no second serve, that’s the sign. And that’s a problem. So under pressure, bad technique breaks down and her technique is…hard for me to say because Brad [Gilbert] is sitting here…but her technique, the elbow, is too low, the grip is a little weird as well. So it’s hard for her to get that nice first serve and then the same or similar second serve,” Stubbs said on ESPN.
