"There's no doubt about it" - Legendary coach Rick Macci confident he can fix Coco Gauff's serving woes in one hour

World No.2 Coco Gauff has been going through a rough period since winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open. The American's serve has been the talking point of her poor play, prompting renown coach Rick Macci to declare he could fix the problem.

Gauff has a history of serving issues, having committed 430 double faults in her 71 matches in 2024, the highest in the WTA Tour. The Atlanta native is currently leading the tour in double faults this season, hitting 250 in her 41 matches thus far.

After a first round exit at Wimbledon and a round of 16 loss to rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko at the ongoing Canadian Open, Gauff's serve has come under scrutiny. She hit 23 double faults in her first round match against compatriot Danielle Collins, and looked very shaky on serve against Mboko.

Nonetheless, Macci, who has trained the likes of Serena Williams and Andy Roddick during their youth, believes he has the solution to Gauff's serving issues. The American coach highlighted some technical changes that could be done "in an hour", which would solve Gauff's second serve problem.

"I mean, there’s no doubt about it, I could flip the script with her second serve and forehand," claims Macci. "No doubt about it, but it’d have to be done in the off-season.
"The second serve, still a little bit of an issue. It bubbles up under pressure. Everybody and their brother has chimed in. And not that the advice they’re giving is incorrect, but everybody’s probably looking at a symptom. And they’re not really understanding the origin or the culprit.
“What I mean by that – this has to be science-based and it has to be done from a biomechanical point of view. And I’ve looked at her serve from every different direction and right now, because she’s been doing this since a little kid, the muscle memory is baked in extra crispy. She has very, very long arms, she has a very loose arm."

The 70-year old coach would go on in detail regarding the solution to Gauff's second serve issues, highlighting how her serving stance would need to change.

"So, what I would do, and even my partner Dr. Brian Gordon — who has his PhD in Biomechanics, he did his thesis on this stuff — I would have her go to a platform stance, right now she does a pinpoint," continued Macci. "And I’m not saying it’s wrong. I mean, [there are] world class servers [who use] pinpoint.
“But the corrective technique has to jolt the muscle memory, and I gotta reprogram the reflexes from the beginning. So, in a platform stance, it’d be like fresh out of the oven. And then from there, the whole timing would be very different, her vertical component would be easier to correct – that means her upward movement.
“So all these things that you see – opening up too soon, her head coming down, people talking about the toss and all this – that’s not the issue. They’re looking at it wrong. And I have no doubt, in one hour, this could be corrected. But as long as she keeps doing pinpoint, it’s all just gonna be like, just a modification of something that she’s just wired."

Gauff's next appearance on tour will be at the Cincinnati Open, where she has a first-round bye. The American is a former champion at the event, defeating Karolina Muchova in the 2023 final.