Gauff’s coach Gilbert reveals help from legend

Coco Gauff’s coach has revealed that he called in the expertise of former world No. 1 Andy Roddick to help the rising American starlet with her serve.

Brad Gilbert, while commentating on ESPN, said that he had enlisted the advice of Gauff’s compatriot Roddick in the off-season to guide the 19-year-old’s service action.

Roddick, whose serve was one of the greatest weapons in his arsenal, had been coached by Gilbert between 2003 and 2004, winning the US Open, becoming world No. 1, and reaching the final of Wimbledon in 2004 in their time together.

Gilbert became Gauff’s coach in August 2023, and under his tutelage, she has won the Washington Open, the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open.

in her first-round match at the Australian Open in straight sets, 6-3 6-0.

“I coached Andy at a young age,” Gilbert told ESPN. “He’s got an amazing serve, and I was thinking, ‘what a great person to take a look at Coco’s serve’.

“It’s kind of full circle. When I coached Andy, I was his age now. Andy was like Coco’s age. It was a great two days. Really helped things out, simplified Coco’s motion, abbreviated a little bit.”

Gauff storms past Schmiedlova in impressive opening win – Australian Open highlights

Gauff spoke about the pair’s assistance with her serve in her pre-tournament press conference.

“For me, it was a very small change,” she said. “It only took me, like, two days to get – maybe three – to get really comfortable with it.

“It was just to make the toss more consistent. Instead of throwing from so low, to start up higher to make the toss more consistent.

“Other than the final in Auckland, I think I served really well. I hit probably the most aces I’ve hit consistently in matches or most unreturnables, I think I was at 80% or 90% first-serve points won. It was a good change. Hopefully, I can continue that serving throughout.

“Sometimes I still have to remind myself of it. I think for the most part I was really open to it. I think my serve is something that when it’s on, it’s a really big weapon and can get me out of some situations. Just to make it more consistent was the goal.”

On Tennis Channel last year, Roddick heaped praise on Gilbert’s coaching style.

“Brad is a genius at taking very complex things and simplifying them,” he said. “We’re going to focus on these two things out of the gate, and we’re going to do it all in practice.

“Then those things are covered, three days later, we’re going to add in something else. He’s very good at layering in information and kind of simplifying [the] game plan, he’s a master strategist.

“There will be no shot that any one of the opponents is going to hit. Now there’s what they hit sometimes and what they hit under pressure, and he’s very good at finding the differentiators between those two because they’re not always the same.”

Stream the 2024 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+.