Follow us on Google Discover Coco Gauff is enjoying her downtime after a busy period, but she will have one eye on the WTA Finals.
Gauff enjoyed a strong Asian swing, but another opportunity for further success is just around the corner in Riyadh.
The American won the WTA Finals in 2024, and is one of seven players who have already qualified for this year’s event.
Gauff is third in the Race to the WTA Finals behind Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, and ahead of the American trio of Amanda Anisimova, Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys.
Jasmine Paolini is the latest WTA finalist, with Mirra Andreeva and Elena Rybakina set to battle it out for the last spot.
Photo by Wanghe/Getty ImagesJimmy Connors tells Coco Gauff what to do to get ‘back on top’ of the WTA Tour
Gauff enters the tournament as the defending champion and on the back of a title-winning run at the Wuhan Open, but Jimmy Connors believes she still needs to improve in one key area.
The former world number one said on the Advantage Connors podcast: “She needs to clean that up [the unforced errors and double faults]. If she can cut down on the errors, her athleticism and the way she moves is [great].
“If I was looking for a young 14 or 15 or 16-year-old girl to teach to try to be the best, the first thing I would look for is her movement. You cannot teach that.
“You can teach tennis but you can’t teach them to move and how to get to the ball and all that. She’s got all of that. If she gets her mind right and gets a few things straight then she will be back on top in a heartbeat.”
The very worrying Coco Gauff stat which proves she has a big problem
Having once reached number two in the rankings, world number three Gauff has enjoyed another phenomenal season on the WTA Tour, in which she’s won two titles.
One of those arrived at the French Open, where the American doubled her Grand Slam titles tally after winning the 2023 US Open.
But her serving struggles have still caused her major issues at times, with the 21-year-old having a particular issue with double faults.
Just before the US Open, Gauff hired Gavin MacMillan in a bid to improve her serving, with the latter having previously helped Sabalenka in that area.
Gauff believes progress has been made under MacMillan, who does have a huge job on his hands given her worrying double fault figures.
From her 61 matches in 2025 so far, she has hit a mammoth 405 double faults, with Ekaterina Alexandrova second in the list with 292.
PositionPlayerMatchesDouble faults1Coco Gauff614052Ekaterina Alexandrova702923Linda Noskova592784Marta Kostyuk442615Dayana Yastremska512576Alycia Parks342567Amanda Anisimova582478Jelena Ostapenko382419Ashlyn Krueger4423510Jessica Bouzas Maneiro462352025 WTA double fault leaders (WTA Tour stats)
In comparison, world number two Swiatek is 11th in the list with 226 double faults, while world number one Sabalenka is 42nd with 154.
Both players have played considerably more matches than Gauff this season, although one real positive she can take is that trophies have still gone her way despite the evident problem.