Coco Gauff’s “unbelievable” ability to win matches despite her service woes has been praised by Lindsay Davenport amid her Canadian Open campaign.
World No 2 Gauff is the top seed in Montreal and will take on home favourite Victoria Mboko in the fourth round on Saturday, having beaten Danielle Collins in round two and Veronika Kudermetova in round three.
However, the 21-year-old’s campaign has been far from straightforward, with the American serving a combined 37 double faults across her two matches.
Gauff served a career-high 23 double faults against Collins, ultimately beating her compatriot in a final-set tiebreak, before serving 14 against Kudermetova.
After rallying from a set down to beat the world No 42 on Thursday, the reigning French Open champion admitted that her ongoing service struggles were a frustration.
“Obviously, I am disappointed in myself when it comes to that part of the game because I didn’t play D.C. [Citi DC Open] to work on that and made changes to that,” commented Gauff.
“Doing well in practice and serving really well in practice. I just would like it to transfer to the match.”
Gauff’s service struggles have been an ongoing source of discussion regarding the American, with the two-time Grand Slam singles champion struggling in several matches over the past 12 months.
Earlier this year, she served 21 double faults during her three-set win over Moyuka Uchijima in Indian Wells, while she hit 42 across her run to the Italian Open final in May.
Despite her struggles, Gauff has still managed to secure her position towards the very top of the WTA pecking order.
And she has now received praise from Davenport, a three-time Grand Slam singles champion and former world No 1.
Speaking on Tennis Channel, the tennis great highlighted Gauff’s struggles but praised her compatriot’s “ability” to pull through and still win big matches.
Davenport said: “It was interesting she [Gauff] kept looking down at her grip when she was serving. It looked like they were trying to make some changes with the serve.
“She was not comfortable with it yet. It looks like they know it’s a problem, and she didn’t have the confidence with it last night [versus Collins].
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“Her toss was all over the place. But she still wins. It’s unbelievable her ability to figure out ways to win when she is playing, honestly, C-level tennis out there.
“She did a fantastic job managing her emotions.”
Gauff returns to action on Saturday night versus rising star Mboko, whom she previously faced in Rome back in May.
The world No 2 rallied from a set down to beat the Canadian on that occasion, though 18-year-old Mboko has continued to progress since then.
Mboko came through qualifying to reach the third round of the French Open on her Grand Slam debut, and then made it to the second round of Wimbledon as a lucky loser.
The Canadian is making her Montreal debut in 2025 and has progressed to the fourth round as a wildcard, defeating Kimberly Birrell, 23rd seed Sofia Kenin, and Marie Bouzkova.
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