"Did not make an effort to clean it up": Coco Gauff's junior coach says Mouratoglou, Gilbert took eye off her forehand issue

Thursday, 13 February 2025 at 10:31

Coco Gauff's former coach has openly described her forehand woes as being an issue that has manifested itself due to poor maintenance on the side of Patrick Mouratoglou, Brad Gilbert and other such names who have coached her since.

Sly Large coached Gauff as a junior. He was involved with her until just before her breakout at the age of 15 which saw her appear at Wimbledon and shoot into mega stardom. Large detailed previously how her father called him to see if she had potential.

Future coaches took their eyes off the ball

This was at the age of just six years old and he called her 'tiny and determined' in previous interviews which chimes true with how he described her forehand which he said was a facet of her game that needed work but that in his view it was deserted along the way. He stated she started to develop a 'hitch in her forehand' that they didn't see.

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“What happened somewhere along the line, between 13 and when she went to Mouratoglou, she started developing a little hitch in her forehand,” he said on the Coach Life podcast.

“My only guess is, I didn’t see her for a couple of years, my concept is that they must have taken their eye off of her forehand. For four years we didn’t take our eyes off of the forehand, it was always every day a work in progress.

But while Gauff now has the issue where her forehand is very much a topic of discussion, back then he claimed that while he was with her it was never such an issue.

“The forehand was never a problem I can tell you that 100%, Gerard (a former coach involved with her) will tell you the same thing, her dad will tell you the same thing too.

Coco Gauff went to Patrick Mouratoglou after her stint with her childhood coach.

Coco Gauff soon became the top junior player in the world and for Black as a result, he said this likely went onto the backburner instead of remaining a problem that needed to be solved.

But as was evidenced in her latest loss to Marta Kostyuk, it is an issue that has reared its head now as she has ascended to new heights in the tennis world.

“What I’m sure of, is she became number one junior in the world at 13 years old, so everybody must’ve thought everything was fine, nobody was keeping an eye on everything, making sure what got her to number one spot, kept that going.

“I saw (the forehand issue) when she was 15/16 years old, but what I’m surprised about, even when the new coaches saw it, they did not make an effort to clean it up because she was winning, still number one in the world (in juniors)."

Hits out at Brad Gilbert

He also spoke disparagingly about the advice given by Brad Gilbert who he refused to call a bad coach. But he said that he gave her some bad advice.

Reflecting now and looking at the position she is in, he sees it merely as a few tweaks in a different direction which would steer her closer to where she needs to be. Under Matt Daly perhaps that will be done given he already sorted her serving issue quite quickly.

Given her latest loss, the forehand will be the latest point of discussion and Black used Federer, Nadal and Djokovic as an example of players who kept thriving and improving their tools even when they were the best.

“The most disappointing part is listening to a couple of her coaches, especially Brad Gilbert, who I think is a very good coach,” he continued.

“He actually said they weren’t going to change anything in the forehand.

“I’m like what! That was Cori’s strong point growing up.

“If they just spent a couple of months making the tweak, it’s what makes the men so good, [Roger] Federer, [Novak] Djokovic, [Rafael] Nadal, they kept improving when they were growing, it’s amazing, they kept improving in their 30s.”

Samuel GillEditor-in-Chief

Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of TennisUpToDate.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces across the TennisUpToDate network, playing a central role in the daily operation and development of the site.

Based in Leicester, Samuel has a broad background in tennis media. In his current role, he works closely with editors and writers to ensure coverage meets clear journalistic standards, with particular attention to verification, consistency, and timely updates when new information becomes available.

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