Simona Halep's coach
Patrick Mouratoglou believes
Coco Gauff is physically and mentally prepared unlike before to win her first-ever Grand Slam title.
Gauff has not dropped a set en route to the
French Open semi-finals this year and will play Italian Martina Trevisan for a spot in the final today. The American burst onto the tennis scene as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon in 2019 when she knocked out compatriot Venus Williams in the first round.
Mouratoglou thinks Gauff's game has greatly improved in recent months and that she now has the mental resilience and the game needed to win her first Grand Slam title. Speaking to Mats Wilander and Eurosport, he said:
“She is progressing at her pace. She is not someone who suddenly exploded with winning a Grand Slam coming from nowhere. And in a way it’s better because she’s building the foundations for the future. Everybody thought she would very early because she had beaten Venus Williams at Wimbledon and beat Naomi Osaka the year after at the Australian Open and people think ‘she is ready [to win Grand Slams]".
He continued:
“She was not ready and when you see her now you realise that she was not ready at that time. There were a lot of things missing. First of all she was making 15 to 20 double faults a match. It’s difficult to win a Grand Slam with this for example. She was emotionally not stable during the matches, a lot of ups and downs. It’s very difficult to win a Grand Slam with that."
And finished off with:
“If you see her here she is much more stable during matches. She is serving much better. She has erased some flaws that she had in her game that were preventing her from being able to win a Grand Slam. She is progressing. Every time you see her she is better. When I saw the draw here I said I think she has the draw to reach the final. If she reaches the final then anything can happen."