Former tennis professional Chanda Rubin has expressed her worries for US Open hopeful Coco Gauff.
The 21-year-old American sensation clinched victory at Flushing Meadows in 2023, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in a thrilling three-set match, but her performance has been lackluster since her French Open win in June.
Her Wimbledon campaign ended in disappointment as she was ousted in the first round, followed by a last-16 defeat at the Canadian Open and a quarterfinal exit at the Cincinnati Masters. Discussing Gauff’s prospects of securing the title for a second time, Rubin voiced concerns about Gauff seeming “irritated” and struggling to handle the pressure during challenging moments in matches.
She also speculated that Gauff might not have had sufficient hard-court practice to make a significant impact in New York this year.
Gauff’s ranking has slipped from second to third in the WTA Rankings after the two-time Grand Slam champion suffered a 6-1, 6-4 defeat in Montreal at the hands of eventual winner, Victoria Mboko.
Despite these setbacks, Gauff managed to fend off challenges from Wang Xinyu and Lucia Bronzetti en route to the quarter finals in Cincinnati. She also benefited from a walkover from Dayana Yastremska in the third round, before succumbing 6-2, 4-6, 3-6 to world No. 8 Jasmine Paolini.
Speaking on Tennis Channel, Rubin expressed her concerns about Gauff’s readiness for her home Grand Slam tournament.
Rubin said: “Coco Gauff, she won Roland Garros, she made a tough transition onto the grass, she figured kind of, tough turnaround, she had a lot of things going on, she didn’t quite get it going there.
“Now to start the hard court swing, she’s won a few matches, she’s won some matches here [in Cincinnati], didn’t have to play a couple of matches. But I just thought she might be in a bit of a better place.”
In her match against Paolini, Gauff struggled with just a 54 percent first serve success rate. The American managed to win only 31 percent of her second serve points while committing an astonishing 16 double faults.
She also recorded 23 double faults during her clash with Danielle Collins in Canada, leading Rubin to believe her inconsistent serving is significantly affecting the rising star’s performance.
“We saw it with the double faults, she handles it so beautifully, but we saw her start to get a little bit frayed, get a little irritated, kind of direct it to her team there, so that, for me, would be the only concern,” Rubin added.
“How is she feeling? Does she feel confident she can work through some tough matches in New York? Does she have enough matches behind her on the hard courts?
“So, that would be my concern, but certainly she has that ability, she has the athleticism to turn it on and in New York she gets such incredible energy, I think that’s going to go a long way for her. But certainly, the game was a little frustrating for her, certainly against Paolini.”
Gauff’s preparations have taken a dramatic turn after she parted ways with coaches Matt Daly and J.C. Faurel just before the US Open began. The American had been collaborating with Daly since last year following her split from Brad Gilbert.
Reports suggest Gauff has now enlisted Gavin MacMillan, who previously guided Sabalenka, as she works to improve her problematic serve.
Addressing her serving struggles, Gauff admitted: “Obviously, I am disappointed in myself when it comes to that part of the game because I didn’t play D.C. to work on that and made changes to that. Doing well in practice and serving really well in practice. I just would like it to transfer to the match.
“I know I probably won’t be ever double fault-free, but if I could get that to two percent, three percent, it would make a big difference in just making these matches a lot easier.”
The US Open commences on Sunday, August 24. Gauff enters as the second seed, trailing only world No. 1 Sabalenka.