Do we tend to underrate Coco Gauff?

RaulRamirez

RaulRamirez

Legend
Coco Gauff started so young, and in some ways the hype and hope placed on the (then) mid-teen was almost impossible to live up to.
And it could have even broken someone who wasn't as mentally strong as her. But let's check in on her.

It's hard to believe that she's still only 21, and she's already a surefire Hall of Famer. Two slams and another final, a WTA Finals win, a few (?) 1000s. She briefly made it to World #2, but is now at #3, and she's been more of a part of the WTA Top 3 (behind Saba and Iga in either order) than has the expected third member, Rybakina. (And for good measure, she's also a great doubles player, once ranked #1)

Not looking at the stats, somewhat remarkable to me is that Gauff has achieved this level with a very erratic, DF-prone serve and a less-than-great forehand. So she's doing this with, essentially, a strong return, a great backhand, amazing court coverage, savvy and mental strength. How else?

What if she is able to fix her serve, as Sabalenka mostly has, and take her forehand up a notch? Can she ascend to world #1? Saba and Iga (now 27 and 24, respectively) won't be their forever and while there are some very promising young players (including Andreeva, Noskova and Mboko), she should be in the mix for 7 or so more years.

I'll also say that not only has she handled the hype very well, but she conducts herself equally well. Nobody's perfect, but she's consistently articulate, poised and gracious.
Thoughts on any of this?
 
I’m shocked that she doesn’t already have 4-5 slam titles. I still think that she can get to the 8-9 range before she’s done. She’s that good. If/when she fixes that serve, then we will see her at #1 for 100+ weeks.

She’s plenty young yet. She’s got a ton of time.
 
Dominic & Andrey said:
Bad take
She is far from weaponless. Her BH alone is one of the very best on tour. She is way more powerful off the baseline than players like Wozniacki or even Halep.
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Wozniaki is not a big benchmark . She even has lesser majors than Gauff.

There are probably a bunch of players more talented and who have won less because of the era they were in
 
Winners or Errors said:
She has been inconsistent. Her game runs hot and cold. She wins ugly because the mobility is never gone. It frustrates a lot of the guys around here who like to gamble, because she’s like a box of chocolates…
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She's one of these players that I just can't get excited about to become her fan.
Yes, her inconsistency is at the top of the list of reasons for this.

What I do like about her is her no nonsense, shut up and just play attitude.
In contrast to say, oh say, someone like a ..... Sabalenka for example.

She's quiet, goes about her business and lets her racket do her talking.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think there is any other woman on the tour
who has wheels as good as Coco.

Most of the time when I watch her play I'm cheering for her opponent though.
In the case of her last match against jPeg, I was definitely cheering for Coco.
But I didn't have the patience to watch the whole match, just highlights. :)
 
She’s got some odd tendencies of when she goes into a funk and when she snaps out of it.

Last year after Wimbledon she started this whole meatball noodle arm forehand and a slew of double faults that carried into USO.
Then after New York she played much better. Served better. Her forehand went from a rec level liability to power, pace and spin that while maybe not a weapon, but good.

Flash forward to 2025. Same thing. Post Wimbledon. Played the same way. Same slump with same weaknesses. Then all of a sudden they improved after New York and you see a better player.

Is she just getting more nerves playing in front of US crowd? Since her USO victory in 23’ ?
 
I'm not sure about under-rate. I think she does a couple of things quite well but I'm always surprised when she wins a Slam. But I don't like her game and I find her on-court persona relentlessly sour.
 
She could become #1. But it's also worth bearing in mind that development isn't linear; that is, players don't always develop at the same rate. Just because one player is better than the other at a certain age, it doesn't follow that they always will be. Sabalenka is older than Swiatek but has for the most part been better for her for the last two years, having previously been worse. I mention this because Gauff's competition for the next several years will include players older than her, such as Anisimova, who has improved a lot this year and just beat Gauff easily a week ago. I think Anisimova is more likely to contend for #1 next year than Gauff is.
 
If you’re a fan of American tennis then Amanda Anisimova is the player to really get excited for. She’s easily the most talented and best ball striker , she just needs to lock in week to week, which she has since Wimbledon.
She’s two year older than Coco so she’ll be there for the majority of Coco’s career. The only thing Coco does better than Amanda is move.
 
fed1 said:
If you’re a fan of American tennis then Amanda Anisimova is the player to really get excited for. She’s easily the most talented and best ball striker , she just needs to lock in week to week, which she has since Wimbledon.
She’s two year older than Coco so she’ll be there for the majority of Coco’s career. The only thing Coco does better than Amanda is move.
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For me, I'm an American who loves tennis, but I don't always root for the American player.

From what I can tell in comparing them (and I could be wrong) Coco is a significantly better mover and intangibly, I think she's mentally tougher and thinks the game better.
 
Mark-Touch said:
According to who? You?
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Both are hard hitting, very athletic Americans who won slams at a young age. And of course both are African American. They have some difference sin playstyle, like Gauff's backhand being better, but they have strong resemblances.
 
RaulRamirez said:
For me, I'm an American who loves tennis, but I don't always root for the American player.

From what I can tell in comparing them (and I could be wrong) Coco is a significantly better mover and intangibly, I think she's mentally tougher and thinks the game better.
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She is much better mover, no doubt. I personally tend both to like more and to rate more highly the player who hits through the ball better rather than the player who moves better. That is, I value technique more than athleticism.

I wouldn't say I think Anisimova will have a better career than Gauff overall, but I do think she's the more likely of the two to challenge for #1 in 2026.
 
4UTRMoutet said:
Both are hard hitting, very athletic Americans who won slams at a young age. And of course both are African American. They have some difference sin playstyle, like Gauff's backhand being better, but they have strong resemblances.
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When were you planning on making this discovery public knowledge? Surely, you are not going to bury the lede on so exciting and important a finding.
 
4UTRMoutet said:
Both are hard hitting, very athletic Americans who won slams at a young age. And of course both are African American. They have some difference sin playstyle, like Gauff's backhand being better, but they have strong resemblances.
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You can now continue smoking what you're smoking. :)
 
4UTRMoutet said:
Is it not clear that Gauff has a better backhand than forehand?
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Oh, I thought you were saying she has a better backhand than the Williams sisters did!

Yes, her backhand is better than her forehand. The same was true for both of the Williams sisters.

I am not sure I have seen a woman with an obviously superior backhand to Serena Williams. I wouldn't say her forehand was quite as strong, and thus my view is that Davenport, Seles, and Sharapova all had slightly superior groundstroke technique (though obviously all had vastly inferior movement and serves).
 
Federev said:
I know I do.

I’ve been to a lot of priests, pastors, rabbis, psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, Licensed Professional Social Workers, soccer coaches, soccer moms, prominent leaders in both parties in the United States, members of the Likud, my local grocer’s cashier, and the Ambassador from UAE.

Nothing helps.
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Props for your due diligence on this matter.
 
ND-13 said:
She is a weak era vulture .

No weapons
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It's definitely not a weak era for women. She's going up against two ATG's in Sabalenka and Swiatek and there's some strong depth in the women's game.
With that said, I don't know how she does so well with so few weapons but she's a grinder and finds a way to win a lot of matches so she's doing something right.
 
NYTennisfan said:
It's definitely not a weak era for women. She's going up against two ATG's in Sabalenka and Swiatek and there's some strong depth in the women's game.
With that said, I don't know how she does so well with so few weapons but she's a grinder and finds a way to win a lot of matches so she's doing something right.
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I think her serve and forehand can be a weapon. She mentally just doesn’t trust her forehand for some reason… I don’t know. It’s not that she can’t dial up pace bc she can.

Serve: she can do the same but something is off with technique and with her confidence.

I would put her as an inconsistent performer. She seems to play well from October to May/June then has the dip of Wimbledon through USO the last two seasons.
 
I think she's rated rather accurately. She's one of the best on the tour, but clearly eclipsed achievement wise by Sabalenka and Swiatek. I personally hate when any American player does something, ANYTHING, and all of a sudden everyone is expected to worship the ground they walk on and put insane expectations upon them then slander and insult them when those expectations aren't met. She doesn't have everyone worshipping her...she's being disrespected...people hype her and she fails, she's a joke...like...there is almost no happy medium. The minute people start putting more hype on her and expecting the next superstar American Woman....and she chokes...it will all start all over again.

However...she's talented. She's got a good backhand, can move well, can slug it out with most anyone. Her serve definitely still needs work, and her forehand goes wonky sometimes...but she doesn't shy away from attacking and does well with what she has. She's still young so she can still grow and do even more.
 
Gauff would be great for tennis if her matches were watchable, but she's more or less an evolved version of Wozniacki. Her whole game and identity on the court is built around the exhausting struggle of overcoming her own severe technical flaws and shortcomings - and that pretext just doesn't make for exciting viewing. She has some admirable qualities, and it's all great until you see that pusher fh and 80 unforced errors in Slam finals, and all you can say is, yeah, Coco is a great competitor. Something is missing.
 
wang07 said:
Gauff would be great for tennis if her matches were watchable, but she's more or less an evolved version of Wozniacki. Her whole game and identity on the court is built around the exhausting struggle of overcoming her own severe technical flaws and shortcomings - and that pretext just doesn't make for exciting viewing. She has some admirable qualities, and it's all great until you see that pusher fh and 80 unforced errors in Slam finals, and all you can say is, yeah, Coco is a great competitor. Something is missing.
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I really like Coco the person but I also find her hard to watch because of her 'winning ugly' gamestyle.

Watched the highlights of her win over Jpeg (great win btw) and even in some of the highlight clips she is hitting her FH off the back foot, looping with little pace/penetration. Other clips she was stepping in and flattening it out - that's the Coco I want to see.

Really hoping this new technique coach can iron out her FH and serve, then she would be great to watch.
 
AnOctorokForDinner said:
At this point Gauff is a mildly improved Wozniacki at best. She's got a lot of time to get better though yet.
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I don't know. Her serve and forehand are liabilities Woz never had. Her movement is far better than Woz. Her backhand is a real weapon, something Woz never had. The movement and backhand alone have allowed her to capture majors.

I agree that she has time to get better. The serve and forehand will have to improve for her to become a great player. She's already quite good, though, thanks to her assets.

I just don't see the comparison to Woz.
 
Winners or Errors said:
I don't know. Her serve and forehand are liabilities Woz never had. Her movement is far better than Woz. Her backhand is a real weapon, something Woz never had. The movement and backhand alone have allowed her to capture majors.

I agree that she has time to get better. The serve and forehand will have to improve for her to become a great player. She's already quite good, though, thanks to her assets.

I just don't see the comparison to Woz.
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Are we sure it's not Sadballenko that allowed Gauff to capture majors?
I meant the Woznia comparison level-of-play-wise, not shot by shot.
 
AnOctorokForDinner said:
Are we sure it's not Sadballenko that allowed Gauff to capture majors?
I meant the Woznia comparison level-of-play-wise, not shot by shot.
Click to expand...

Sabalenka's abysmal UEs in these finals clearly showed she had meltdowns and was far from her best. That being said it also can't be understated just how freakishly great Gauff's movement can be and hence how frustrating to play she can be for even the best players when she plays well.

I would definitely rank Gauff over Wozniacki as of now, as I reckon the former actually has power behind her shots enabling herself to dictate play from time to time and not just push/retrieve.

My praise for Gauff mostly covers the few instances when she does play close to her best though which is not that often. The majority of her matches this year have been eyesores. Even some important matches she ended up somehow winning by pure grinding (vs Zheng in Rome or Keys in Paris) and total wearing down of her opponents. Which I guess can be seen as a talent in itself.
 
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