Gilbert and Stubbs weigh in on Gauff's serving struggles at US Open: “Under pressure, bad technique breaks down.”

Coco Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, listened to the criticisms from Rennae Stubbs following his player’s elimination from the US Open. The 2023 champion was ousted in the fourth round after an inconsistent match against the 13th seed Emma Navarro, in a duel marked by Gauff’s 19 double faults.

During the television broadcasts, the experienced coach participates as a commentator during the Grand Slams and was part of the expert analysis following the world No. 3’s defeat. Gilbert was asked about the loss of confidence that Gauff exhibited throughout the match: “It’s funny, we go to the practice courts and it’s fine,” he started.

“Hasn’t been a problem but all of a sudden - you know, listen, for me the most important thing that gotta get right is being able, when you are in a situation, is being able to hit one speed. It’s like, okay, just hit 85 [mph] in the middle of the box, a working serve and then move on.

“Because with the women, it’s a little different than men’s second serves, and a lot of women are more aggressive on the second serve returns but I still feel like it’s just that one constant speed, being able to hit in the middle of the box like 85, 90. Serena had a massive first serve but she didn’t have a massive second. But she had a great, working serve that she could rely on.”

Regarding this, Rennae Stubbs, former coach of Serena Williams, spoke about how detrimental Gauff’s serve was in the match: “That’s the thing. I mean, the thing with Emma [Navarro] is that she’s always looking to attack, and most women are looking to attack because they often see a slow second serve in women’s tennis not like in the men’s.”

“But the difference with Coco’s, as you said, sometimes she was hitting in the mid-90s the second serve. Then she was going a little bit slower in the middle. There’s no second serve that’s the same, and that’s a problem. So under pressure, bad technique breaks down.”

The former world No. 1 in doubles acknowledged that it was difficult to criticize Gauff with Brad Gilbert sitting next to her, but continued with her analysis: “And her technique - and it’s hard for me to say it because Brad’s sitting here as her coach and all. But the technique, the elbow is too low, the grip I feel like is a little weird as well,” Stubbs continued.

“So it’s hard to get nice massaging first serve or, we call it a three-quarter pace first serve, and then same or similar as a second serve. But you’ve got to be able to hit your spots on a second serve under pressure. And as you say, she served great in practice."

“And I hate to say this, but more people serve great in practice because they don’t have 15,000 people eyeing them and millions of people watching on TV. And Billie Jean King always says bad technique breaks down under pressure and unfortunately for Coco, this year, that’s what happened. Because she’s not confident as well,” she added.

“I definitely want to get other opinions because, you know -- and also I think it's sometimes more of an emotional, mental thing because if I go out on the practice court right now, I would make, like, 30 serves in a row. I've done it before,” she said.

“I think it's also just kind of a mental hurdle that I have to get over when it comes with that. But, yeah, I definitely want to look at other things because I don't want to lose matches like this anymore.”