Coco Gauff has had a year to remember, winning her first Grand Slam at the US Open and rising to World No. 3. The 19-year-old started the year by winning the ASB Classic in New Zealand but could only reach the fourth round of the Australian Open and although she progressed to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, her first-round Wimbledon exit did not offer any indicator of what might be about to follow.
A sudden upturn in fortunes during the American hard court season coincided with former player Brad Gilbert joining her coaching staff and the results are no happy accident.
It had been well known that Gauff had been working hard to improve her forehand – the weakest part of her game – and after bringing in Gilbert as a consultant in August the former ATP world No. 4 was able to bring her game to another level.
No sooner had the 62-year-old arrived on her team, the triumphs started to come. Gauff won the Mubadala Citi DC Open without dropping a set before securing her third WTA title of the year at the Cincinnati Open just two weeks later.
That paved the way for her maiden Grand Slam success in New York, when Gauff saw off World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in three sets to fulfil the promise she had shown since bursting onto the scene as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon.
Former Grand Slam winner Pam Shriver felt that Guaff’s decision to return to the United States and work with Gilbert was a masterstroke.
Shriver to the WTA: “I was concerned about Coco, and then just look how she finished out the summer. I feel like the voice of BG (Brad Gilbert) helped her enormously. That was probably the most important thing.
“Does he alter her forehand grip? I don’t think he’s going to mess with it too much. He’s preaching positive thoughts and good habits.”
“I would add that there have been a lot of great tennis champions who didn’t have a devastating forehand — Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Stefan Edberg, for example. And there were some times where Venus Williams’ forehand sometimes broke down under attack.
“The point is, when you have all the tools that Coco has on the tennis court — the backhand, the movement, the ability to go forward — you don’t need the best forehand in the game to win many, many majors and get to No 1.
“I think she’s going to go into 2024 feeling a heck of a lot more confident, comfortable and secure.”
Whether he has altered Guaff’s forehand or not, there is no denying that Gilbert has plenty of experience when it comes to coaching champions. He was Andre Agassi’s coach when the American won the US Open in 1994 and coached compatriot Andy Roddick to his only Grand Slam title at the same tournament in 2003.
He is a coach that commands respect and it is clear from listening to Gauff that he certainly had hers.
Speaking after her US Open success in New York, Gauff said: “I think for me with BG, I have a lot more confidence in my game. People can say you play good or the opposite, but I think hearing it from someone who probably has seen countless of my matches and worked with some of the best players in the game, I think you just really believe it.
“I don’t think the message has changed for me, it’s more about how the message was relayed to me. I think hearing that from his perspective helps a lot.”
Gilbert coached Andy Murray from July 2006 until November 2007, during which time the British star’s world ranking shot up from 36th to eighth. The pair eventually departed with Murray choosing to build a new team, but Gilbert challenged his former client to go on and become the first British tennis player to win a Grand Slam since Virginia Wade, which he realised in 2012 when he won the US Open, beating Novak Djokovic in the final.
Gilbert can’t put that particular success on his CV but it is safe to assume that he hasn’t achieved his last with Coco Gauff.
