Dude. She literally has won a slam, is in he finals in china, she's 20 years old. And has been in the top 5 for like 3 years. WTF?
Gauff Continues to Fall
- Thread starter glenda
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Rovesciarete
Hall of Fame
Maybe my usually dour writing style makes it more difficult for the occasional irony, wrapped in truth, to come across…
Gauff has had great success despite having a surprisingly weak forehand but the truly great tennis players had, as far as I can remember, all a relatively better one. Speaks for her qualities in other areas of the game and hopefully also for untapped potential.
Well she just won the China masters so maybe she isnt falling to much.
Nostradamus
Bionic Poster
coco need to hire Mortogorue and that should fix her forehand
fecund345
Semi-Pro
Put the yellow construction tape on her serve because it is getting better. She just needs to keep her head up just a little longer to see herself hitting the ball. But her angle of acceptance has improved dramtically on both serves.
She has not fixed her forehand because the racket acceleration needs to increase a little. In addtion, she needs free up her wrist by positioning the butt of her racket handle on the pad of her hand.
The biggest improvement is that she hits most of her forehand down the line with a lot of shape. This protects her forehand from relentless attacks (because the opponent would have to open up the court for Coco with a backhand down the line shot of their own trying to exploit her forehand) and funnel everthing to that fabulous backhand.
She know longer shows stress after a double fault and she is actually hitting her targets on both serves instead of just getting it to the middle of the sevice box.
Coco wins the French and The US Open next year. She will win the other 2 Slams the following year once she adopts the ATP style take back which requires a shorter backswing which is restricted to the hitting side of her body.
She has not fixed her forehand because the racket acceleration needs to increase a little. In addtion, she needs free up her wrist by positioning the butt of her racket handle on the pad of her hand.
The biggest improvement is that she hits most of her forehand down the line with a lot of shape. This protects her forehand from relentless attacks (because the opponent would have to open up the court for Coco with a backhand down the line shot of their own trying to exploit her forehand) and funnel everthing to that fabulous backhand.
She know longer shows stress after a double fault and she is actually hitting her targets on both serves instead of just getting it to the middle of the sevice box.
Coco wins the French and The US Open next year. She will win the other 2 Slams the following year once she adopts the ATP style take back which requires a shorter backswing which is restricted to the hitting side of her body.
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travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
I’d rather have elite athleticism and a dodgy forehand than an elite forehand and dodgy athleticism.
Ronaldo
Bionic Poster
Mortgage her future
Ronaldo
Bionic Poster
Thank goodness it is Fall............................................How is this thread going
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
If she actually beats Sabalenka now, this place will go haywire and explode with conspiracy theories...LOL
Sudacafan
Bionic Poster
That can never happen. Sab's TikToks are much better.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Gauff's done well to turn things around but before people blame the coach or act as if this is a miracle turnaround, you got to take a look at who she's played.
In this 9 match winning streak she's on she hasn't played/beaten a top 15 player which is kinda surprising considering she just won a 1000 title and is into the SF of another. Her best win by ranking is #17 Kostyuk. She barely escaped Osaka in Beijing, got through as Naomi had to retire. Smoking Muchova in the final was impressive but Karolina played the worst match i've seen by her and always loses to Coco.
Let's see if Coco can do something against Sabalenka. Her first top 10 opponent since Berlin way back in June when she lost to Pegula.
In this 9 match winning streak she's on she hasn't played/beaten a top 15 player which is kinda surprising considering she just won a 1000 title and is into the SF of another. Her best win by ranking is #17 Kostyuk. She barely escaped Osaka in Beijing, got through as Naomi had to retire. Smoking Muchova in the final was impressive but Karolina played the worst match i've seen by her and always loses to Coco.
Let's see if Coco can do something against Sabalenka. Her first top 10 opponent since Berlin way back in June when she lost to Pegula.
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
What does winning against top-10 player even means in women's tennis?! Does it hold any merit anymore if everyone ranked inside top-200 play like top-10 anyway, then why the heck does it even matter?! LOL When was the last time all four semi-final spots were booked by top-10 ranked players in grand slams in women's tennis?! And facing Sabalenka isn't the same as facing just "some" top player, anyone else other than Swiatek and Gauff herself ranked inside top-10 are head and shoulders below her in class and mastery of the game...
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
What are you trying to accomplish with this post? Cause I don’t want to criticise and call it stupid which was my first thought. Just because the top 4 seeds don’t make the SF’s means what? Sure it’s probably been a while, does that make it bad?
I very much disagree that anyone in the top 200 is top 10 and that’s what I think is particularly stupid about your post.
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
Agree or disagree, that's the state of women's tour these days...anyone not named Swiatek or Sabalenka have equal chances of winning ANY and i literally mean ANY of the four slams! Absolutley anyone ranked inside top-200! And Raducanu was a clear proof of that! So once again, why does it matter that Gauff haven't faced against player ranked inside top-10 if this is the case?...Look she got the job done, things that matter! It's not the men's tour, where it's significantly more consistent on yearly basis, this is women's tour with it's own psychological specifics, stop putting so much value to top players, it has no value in women's game, not these days at least!
JJGUY
Hall of Fame
The coach change is very positive for Gauff, she is clearly having a resurgence! I feel Gauff is the type that many would call just being "lucky", but it's more than that, if she can keep winning with a faulty forehand or a better draw or luck or her willpower, that's her career, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Absolute joke of a post. Is that any different to the mens tour with someone not named Sinner or Alcaraz winning slams? If you want to throw Djokovic in there you can but everyone else in the top 10 are about the same if not worse than the WTA top 10. Do you see Rublev or De Minaur winning a slam? Yet there consistent top 10.
If you’re still talking about Raducanu 3 years on you’re clutching at straws while Sabalenka holds 2 slams and Emma is a footnote. If you hate womens tennis that’s fine but to say anyone in the top 200 could win a slam is a pathetic joke and just shows how you view womens sports.
Absolutely. She has a ton of talent. Yea her forehand aint great. Been gone over a million times. But she has other things that most players dont. Maybe people think she has been hyped to much. I get that. But she can and will do damage on this tour. The public/press will always have their expectations and expect her to be the Williams sisters, or Evert or whatever. She may not be them. But she's pretty freaking good.
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
Well first of all i don't hate women's tennis, if i did i wouldn't be sitting here and defending Gauff from the likes of you, second of all where did you see me saying something about winning slam? So being consistent is synonymous with winning slams?! You can't be called consistent if you are capable of consistently reaching quarter-finals and semi-finals of grand slam tournaments??! That's some standards you have there...LOL
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Um…. You literally said
Stop embarrassing yourself by lying. You literally posted about winning slams.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
You clearly don’t care or know that much about womens tennis if you can sit there and honestly say that #179 ranked Knutson has equal chance at winning a slam as #7 Zheng or #4 Pegula.
Pathetic and embarrassing post saying that anyone in the top 200 that isn’t Swiatek or Sabalenka has an equal chance at winning a slam.
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
Just because i said can doesn't mean they all would be doing it, by saying can i meant having potential! You really can't tell the difference between the two?! Tell me, who has won Australian Open 2020? A top-10 player? What about RG 2017?? A top player? What about US Open 2019?? Top player? RG 2021, top player? Was that expected that Rybakina of all people wins the Wimbledon in 2022? Or Ash Barty RG in 2021? Vondrousova must have been such a favourite for the Wimbledon last year, right?...Not sure who is lying here...
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
I’ll direct quote you again since you’re now trying to backpedal.
Anyone not named Swiatek or Sabalenka have equal chances of winning ANY and I literally mean ANY of the four slams. Absolutely anyone ranked inside top 200.
Your words. Right? You said that? Don’t backpedal. You literally said ANYONE inside the top 200 has equal chance of winning slams. Comparing #179 ranked Knutson or #193 ranked Sharma to #7 Zheng or #4 Pegula winning slams.
That is so damn embarrassing. Shows what you think of womens tennis. You should rectify that.
No one well barely anyone here respects tennis players that are freaking really really good but dont win many slams. Same old nonsense. But with Coco in particular I think most people dont really contemplate that this women in two years could be doing it all. They nitpick her cause of the hype. HA. Would have loved to see this board back in like 1978 when Martina Navatoliva was just a good player but could not win when it mattered. Ha.
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
If Andreescu could beat freaking Serena Williams of all people in a grand slam final on Arthur freaking Ashe in front of home crowd roaring and supporting her, then #179 or #193 ranked player sure as heck could do the same to the likes of Zheng or Pegula! LOL In that regard there is not that much of a difference whether it's someone ranked below #150 who does it or someone ranked inside top-50! LOL What matters is that the match is not won by the favourite top-10 player!
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
You really don’t follow womens tennis do you? Andreescu won Indian Wells earlier that year and LITERALLY BEAT Serena in the Cincinnati FINAL 2 weeks before that US Open which she won. Bianca was one of the favourites to win that slam. You’ve actually completely embarrassed yourself now with your lack of knowledge about the womens tour. Educate yourself before you post about this next time.
Not arguing with someone who knows so little about the WTA. Bye
Mr.Lob
G.O.A.T.
I watched Coco play Badosa, about a week or so ago. Coco looked like a totally different player than the one 4-5 months prior with Brad Gilbert. She looked confident and focused. Not as pouty. The forehand was much more consistent and
a weapon. Expect bigger things from Coco in 2025 if she can manage to hold form.
a weapon. Expect bigger things from Coco in 2025 if she can manage to hold form.
Alcawrath
Professional
Watched a good portion of that Wuhan final against Sab. Coco's forehand looks a lot better than at USO. Her serve let her down and ultimately cost her the match though. Once she started double faulting it began destroying her confidence levels in all aspects of her game. I've got hope she'll fix it in the off season before AO!!
D-Lite
Hall of Fame
That was an absolutely wild number of DFs she hit which is akin to the numbers Sabalenka was hitting when she had the yips a few years ago. This was absolutely the reason Gauff lost the match which will be so frustrating for her and her team. Hopefully they can even sort it out by the YEC or at least partially. I feel like on the WTA side we have been starved of big rivalries. Both Sabalenka and Swiatek are bossing Gauff now. Sabalenka and Swiatek is probably the only proper rivalry but Swiatek isn't playing right now when there's a battle for year end #1 happening. Rybakina withdraws/retires too often. Many other players have been injured or off the tour for long periods when they would have likely been a top rival. It's a shame and I hope we finally get more match ups next year. For instance Gauff and Rybakina have only ever played ONCE in 2022! How is that possible for 2 top 5 players? Pegula is probably more of a threat to Swiatek and Sabalenka but her top level hasn't seen her go beyond the QF of a major more than once.
Alcawrath
Professional
Based on what I just saw Coco is sabalenkas biggest threat. Coco was up a set and 4-2. If she works out the serving yips then she's right there. Pegula looked outmatched from the first point. She kept it close, but she couldn't put sabalenka on the rows like Coco did today.
Aussie Darcy
Bionic Poster
Feeling vindicated after that performance by Coco.
19 double faults against an actual quality top 10 player who’s also the one who’s won 2 slams this year.
Explains a lot about her “win streak” she was on.
19 double faults against an actual quality top 10 player who’s also the one who’s won 2 slams this year.
Explains a lot about her “win streak” she was on.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Gauff is on pace to reach #1 in 2026.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Gauff actually had 21 DF, vs only 2 for Sabalenka.
Even with 19 extra DFs, Gauff still won more total points in the match.
Alcawrath
Professional
Why is win streak in quotes? The number of double faults indicate that with Coco up a set and 4-2, sabalenka (the best woman tennis player on the globe) couldn't beat Coco, Coco beat Coco.
TheGoldenEra1990’s
Hall of Fame
Swiatek is absolute garbage off clay these days. Sabalenka needs to be pushing for a calendar year slam next year for sure
Rovesciarete
Hall of Fame
With Coco Gauff's Big What-if Jeff Sackmann has written a timely article which reflects some raw thoughts of mine in much better and longer sentences supported by proper data:
Lot of folks find it difficult to understand that a winning player can have clear weaknesses and that they are successful despite them. In turn this which makes not only me wonder how they could perform if they improve them to a more normal level.
Coco is so young and the double fault rate was so high that I'm certain that she will improve there over the next years.
I think me joking around regarding this post is I get frustrated when people just rip into some of these players because they are not who the media invented. But she's still a really good player. No she aint Serena or others but she goes out and competes. I mean she isnt some dominant player( yet) but she's good enough to be in the top five for a really long time now. And she has the ability to pull off upsets against the big girls. So maybe she won't be an ATG. But she is still pretty good.
Djokodalerer31
Hall of Fame
LOL this is aging worse and worse with each new month...
GRASScaraz
Hall of Fame
Gauff is done falling. Could be No.1 next year
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Coco Gauff will Surpass Iga Swiatek for #1 in 2026.
I don’t usually make this type of prediction. But with so many quick to pounce on her loss today and gloat about her poor H2H vs. the only remaining player ahead of her in the rankings, now is the time to set the record straight on what’s going to go down in the near future. Come at me!
tt.tennis-warehouse.com
With all due respect to the other players in the field, including Sabalenka and Swiatek, clearly Gauff vs. Zheng is the dream final for the WTA and organisers in terms of attracting eyeballs and interest.
It’s difficult to get a much better scenario, than star players from the countries with the 2 biggest media markets in the world by far squaring off against each other in a big final. If the 2 of them meet in a major final in the future, that would be a pretty huge deal.
Anyway regarding Gauff I’ve always found it amazing how much negativity there has been regarding her career and progress, and how much criticism she has received, given all she has achieved at her young age. I mean she won’t be old enough to legally buy an alcoholic drink in her country until March next year. It always seemed that despite inevitable and understandable slumps in form, and technical areas that she needs to work on (inevitably so) and she was doing incredibly well all things considered. And she is part of the 1% of players or so with a WTA ranking that has won a singles major (without considering her other achievements) and to repeat she is still just 20.
Also stating the obvious I know, but regardless of any stupid proclamations that the likes of McEnroe, Evert, ESPN in general have made about her in the past including at Wimbledon in 2019 when she was 15, clearly she herself wasn’t responsible for any of that.
It’s difficult to get a much better scenario, than star players from the countries with the 2 biggest media markets in the world by far squaring off against each other in a big final. If the 2 of them meet in a major final in the future, that would be a pretty huge deal.
Anyway regarding Gauff I’ve always found it amazing how much negativity there has been regarding her career and progress, and how much criticism she has received, given all she has achieved at her young age. I mean she won’t be old enough to legally buy an alcoholic drink in her country until March next year. It always seemed that despite inevitable and understandable slumps in form, and technical areas that she needs to work on (inevitably so) and she was doing incredibly well all things considered. And she is part of the 1% of players or so with a WTA ranking that has won a singles major (without considering her other achievements) and to repeat she is still just 20.
Also stating the obvious I know, but regardless of any stupid proclamations that the likes of McEnroe, Evert, ESPN in general have made about her in the past including at Wimbledon in 2019 when she was 15, clearly she herself wasn’t responsible for any of that.
travlerajm
Talk Tennis Guru
Gauff and Zheng are also the two youngest players in the 8 player field.
joselito66
New User
Classic thread
