Coco Gauff has revealed a major change to her coaching team, just months after she seemed to have found the perfect set-up that helped her to win her maiden Grand Slam.
Back in June, Gauff added former Spanish player Pere Riba to her team and not long after renowned coach Brad Gilbert also joined – initially as a consultant before he became more involved during the North American hard-court season.
The teenager took her game to the next level during that period as she won her maiden WTA 500 title at the DC Open before notching her first-ever WTA 1000 title at the Cincinnati Masters. She then went one better at the US Open when she won her first major.
Gauff was full of praise for both Riba and Gilbert and suggested they could have a long-term partnership, but commentators revealed during her WTA Finals match against Ons Jabeur that Riba was no longer a member of her coaching team.
And the 19-year-old confirmed during her post-match press conference that she split with Riba after the China Open.
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t my decision,” the American said. “But we had to end the partnership. If it was up to me, I would have loved to have him here. But you know, things happen. Life happens. So no bad terms on our end.
“Sometimes people think it’s bigger than what it is. But some things just didn’t work out and that’s all. I still think that he was a great guy. And obviously, he did amazing things for me personally and also for my game. So I’m sure he’s going to be successful in his next step.”
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Gauff is yet to reveal if she will replace Riba or if Gilbert – who coached former world No 1s Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick to Grand Slam titles – will take on more responsibility.
Back in August she revealed that the duo of Riba and Gilbert have added a new dimension to her game.
“Just having a new perspective these last couple of weeks helped me a lot mentally in the way I see the game. I think just having two really different generations coaching me – Pere only stopped playing three or four years ago and Brad won this tournament in ’89 so it’s a completely different spectrum. It’s cool to see the different dynamic,” she said.
“At first I was worried because I didn’t know Brad really that well, nor Pere. Some people do have ego issues and don’t want to work with another person and blah, blah, blah, but they have made this as smooth as possible and that was one of the things I was scared of.
“I knew I needed a new coach and I knew I needed to bring in someone with experience, but it is not always as easy. People still have to be able to work together and I think that dynamic has helped me a lot.”
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