Coco Gauff confirms changing technique amid serving woes in Rome

ROME, Italy—This isn’t exactly the “winning ugly” Coco Gauff had in mind.

The reigning US Open champion has been struggling with her serve throughout the clay-court swing, racking up another 11 double faults despite a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Paula Badosa at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.

“I've been working on it,” Gauff revealed in her post-match press conference on Monday. “I think today, even though the double-faults were there, I think it was still a better performance than it was last [match].”

Indeed, she struck four more double faults in her three-setter against Jacqueline Cristian—for a total of 15—but Gauff has been averaging eight or more double faults in five of her last six matches, a worrying trend for a player who relies on a strong, well-placed delivery to put her in an offensive position on court.

“I think for me the focus will be getting more first serves in,” continued Gauff, who ended the match with Badosa making just 37% of her first serves. “I think my first-serve percentage was low, but my win percentage was in the high 70s or something like that. I think once I can get that down...

“I'm going big on the first serve, so I know I'm probably going to miss more. I think it's just finding the balance of going big but also knowing when to slow down the pace just to get the serve in.”

Gauff, who has enjoyed a meteoric rise since hiring coach Brad Gilbert last summer, spent part of the off-season working with Andy Roddick, a former charge of Gilbert’s known for his own formidable serve.

“Brad and I text regularly…and he said, ‘I’d love to get her in front of you and work on her serve,” Roddick recalled on a January episode of the *Served Podcast*. “They made good on it, and it was a couple of simple adjustments for Coco. It’s easy to work with someone as talented as her, with her athleticism, her physique, her ability to take concepts very quickly.

“Her toss was very inconsistent, so on good days, you really wouldn’t notice anything. She could have good serving days, but she never really thought about her toss.”

The tweaks seemed to pay off in Australia, where Gauff won her first 10 matches of the year en route to a title in Auckland and a semifinal finish at the Australian Open, but perhaps it may be time for a tune-up—or perhaps a visit to a biomechanic expert à la Aryna Sabalenka, who famously fixed her motion and cleaned up what used to be 15-20 double faults per match circa 2022.

“There's definitely technical changes I'm trying to make,” she said. “It's obviously tough to do in-season and in-tournament.

“I bet on myself to continue to go big. I know when I go big and my serve goes in, it's dangerous. Even though this tournament I want to win, I'm trying to think long-term. I don't want to lose the 120 serve by not going for it.

With Gilbert back in her corner at the Foro Italico, Gauff sounded optimistic that she would bring the problem back under control.

“It's only been two days,” Gauff conceded. “I'm trying.”

Gauff will aim to keep the double faults to a minimum but can take solace in her strong return stats—she leads the tour in return games won, breaking serve over 50% of the time—may feel less pressure in her quarterfinal match against No. 7 seed Zheng Qinwen, who herself struggles with a low first serve percentage. In her straight-set win over Naomi Osaka, Zheng served at 48%, but struck zero double faults.