"She's incredibly resilient and moves better than anyone on the women's tour": Coco Gauff needs one area to improve in Roland Garros defence says ex-coach Gilbert
WTATuesday, 19 May 2026 at 01:00
Brad Gilbert and Nick Monroe sat down to discuss the most recent Rome Open on the Big T Podcast hosted by Tennis Channel. In particular they marvelled about the champion on the women's side in Elina Svitolina but also Gilbert's ex-charge Coco Gauff.
Svitolina sealed a superb 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 victory over the American who will defend her French Open title in short order very soon and Svitolina was the first to be praised by the duo.
"Let’s start with Elina Svitolina. At 31 years of age, after becoming a mother, she reinforced how dangerous she is on clay courts. Eight years after last winning in Rome — in 2017 and 2018 — she’s now won the title again this year against Coco Gauff," said Monroe to begin the podcast.
"She also beat the world No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 players to win the title, with all three matches going to three sets. Against Coco Gauff, she finally got it done on her third match point."
"What impressed me most was her composure during the long rallies. We know she’s a great counterpuncher and defender, but one interesting stat was that she went 81% of the time either into Coco Gauff’s forehand or down the middle of the court. She gave Coco no angles and really exploited some weaknesses in her game. For Svitolina to win those matches against the world No. 2, 3 and 4 in three sets really showed how physically fit she is."
Lauding Svitolina
Brad Gilbert also lauded praise on the returning mother as she again continued to make strides towards her best again years on from her first triumph in Rome. "First of all, you mentioned it’s been eight years since she last won here, which equals the biggest title of her career. But honestly, I think she’s a much better player now.
"Strategically, she used the middle of the court a lot over the last three matches, and then she’d inject pace with her best shot — the forehand down the line. I feel like seven or eight years ago she didn’t have that power in her game.
"I thought she did a great job being patient and then picking the right moments to pull the trigger with that forehand down the line, without overdoing it. She battled unbelievably well over those last three matches."
"Yeah, she battled. She’s a hustler, Elina Svitolina, and I think that’s why people love watching her. She’s almost reinvented her game a bit by playing more aggressively than she used to.
Elina Svitolina won the title in Rome.
But while they praised Svitolina, they also reserved a section for Gauff with Monroe lauding her fighting spirit.
Looking at Coco Gauff’s side of the draw, she really had to fight through some matches. She had to save a match point against Iva Jovic, who was serving for the match after being up a set.
But as we know with Coco Gauff, that fighting spirit is always there. One thing I noticed against Svitolina was after losing the first set, Coco managed to find a way to win the second set. But her serving was interesting. To stay in that second set, her first-serve speed dropped from 104 mph to 79 mph. She ended up winning the set in a tiebreak.
It looked like she was just trying to make more first serves. We’ve talked a lot about her serve over the years — and BG, you coached her some years back — but I wonder in those big situations whether it’s just putting a band-aid on the serve, or whether the serve is genuinely improving in key moments.
One glaring issue for Gilbert
While Brad Gilbert who used to coach her sees her as having one glaring issue to solve that will help her achieve even more than she is right now.
"To your point about the serve, Coco has a big serve, and they’re using the first serve a lot now just to start the point and avoid second serves. But one number really stands out: she’s winning less than 40% of her second-serve points this year. She won even fewer than that in this final. She only hit one ace in the match."
"I’d like to see her be a little more aggressive on the first serve, especially when she has leads. She can hit 125 mph, and I think it lifts your confidence when you can throw in a few aces or quick serve-plus-one points. Obviously, she’s incredibly resilient and moves better than anyone on the women’s tour, but if she starts using the serve more aggressively, I think she’ll start getting more free points — and she needs those.
"First and foremost, after a tournament like this, you probably take a couple of days off and maybe work on your cardio a bit.
"For the women, with matches still best-of-three sets, preparation is a little different compared to the men playing best-of-five. But I think more than anything, Coco loves to work.
"You’d continue focusing on specific areas — maybe the serve or the return-plus-one patterns. In the women’s game especially, the serve-plus-one and return-plus-one are huge.
"I’d also like to see her continue using that heavy forehand shape. So many women want to go forehand-to-forehand with her, and if she can hold up in those patterns when everybody knows it’s coming, that’s a massive advantage."
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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- Some bold French Open predictions in this one 😁. My money is on Gauff and Swiatek.
MrAndreeva18-05-2026 - I didn't see them -- where were The God's sitting??
mandoist17-05-2026 - What a crock-o-shit this media attack is! There are plenty of such incidents to choose from in tennis. Players often walk past as they are concentrating on what's coming. Some realize it and turn back to connect with the kid; some just simply are focused elsewhere and should not be anti-Social Media Slammed for it. Wasting space online when there are more important subjects to cover.mandoist17-05-2026
- May God continue to bless and anointing this beautiful young woman!Rapunzel17-05-2026
- Poor sap. She dumped him with a Capital "D" !! Oh well... as long he "doesn't tell me what to do" he may survive most of this season.mandoist15-05-2026
- Anytime your opponent blows their opportunities can be called "luck". Have to admit though, Gauff can run like hell. Ditto for Svitolina. Of course there's always that old addage: "Have to be Good to be Lucky".mandoist15-05-2026
- They should change the name 'Wildcard' to "Sponsorship Card".mandoist15-05-2026
- Unreal. The amount of luck Coco Gauff had in that last game was simply insane. Most players need 14 matches to get that lucky.MrAndreeva12-05-2026
- Her body mass is too much for the pace of a chamopinship run. Time is catching-up to her.mandoist10-05-2026
- "Injury" seemed to have very little to do with her loss. She almost said it out loud in her presser! Anyone paying close attention could see minor 'cracks' appearing in her game since last season. It's been proven that getting side-tracked by media junkets, filming TV commercials, soaking-up the perks, and incessant 'Social' network posting leads to major distractions from the tournament grind.mandoist10-05-2026
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