Coco Gauff Speaks on the New Service Technique She’s Implementing in Madrid

Coco Gauff will face Anastasia Potapova in the third round of the Madrid Open.

Coco Gauff Speaks on the New Service Technique She’s Implementing in Madrid

Coco Gauff (Image via X/Game, Set & Talk)

In Short
  • Coco Gauff is implementing a new service technique to reduce errors ahead of the Madrid Open.
  • She won her opening match against Leolia Jeanjean despite hitting 30 unforced errors.
  • Gauff aims to maintain confidence in her new technique to progress further in the tournament.

Plagued with service woes, Coco Gauff has begun implementing a new style of play to help reduce errors in the court. She’s banking on doing that at the Madrid Open, a tournament she reached the final last season. She opened her campaign in the Spanish capital with a simple, straight-sets win over Leolia Jeanjean.

Gauff has a hard time dealing with her service game. As of late February, she had racked up 103 double faults, more than any player on tour. At the Dubai Tennis Championships alone, she sprayed 28 double faults, which played a part in her not reaching the final, as she lost to Elina Svitolina in the semi-finals.

She got better during the Sunshine Double, as there was some substantial improvement, and that led to her reaching her first final of the season at the Miami Open. But the errors found their way back to her game at the Stuttgart Open last week. She hit 37 unforced errors during her straight-sets defeat to Karolina Muchova.

On Friday (April 24), Gauff took to the court against Jeanjean and was expected to give a clean performance, but she failed to do so, hitting 30 unforced errors, winning just 60 percent of her first-serve points. However, she overcame the slow start to the match and finally got her game together, breaking the Frenchwoman seven times.

The 22-year-old won the tie 6-3, 6-0 to reach the third round of the Madrid Open. But there’s still room for improvement across many areas of Gauff’s game if she hopes to reach the latter stages of the tournament and perhaps win it. During her post-match press conference, she noted that when she’s at her best, she produces her best service game and hopes to continue with the momentum in her next match:

I think it’s simply when I have complete confidence in myself and the new technique we’re working on. Today you could see that when I achieve that, it’s quite difficult for my opponents. So I hope to maintain that rhythm for the rest of the tournament, well, hopefully forever.

Gauff has plenty of points to defend this clay season. She reached the final of the Madrid Open and Italian Open last year, losing to Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini, respectively. She then claimed her second Grand Slam after beating Sabalenka in the final of the French Open. If she fails to defend any of those runs this clay swing, she’s bound to drop out of the top 5.

Coco Gauff reveals the difference between playing in Stuttgart and Madrid

Coco Gauff has a more complicated relationship with the Stuttgart Open than at any clay tournament. The American star has always featured at the event since 2023, but has never in her career gone past the quarter-finals. At this year’s edition, she faced Karolina Muchova, whom she had defeated six consecutive times on tour. Surprisingly, Muchova broke the curse in Stuttgart last week.

Coco Gauff (2)
Coco Gauff (Image via X/Coco Gauff)

That has been the story of Gauff in Stuttgart, but her experience in Madrid has been different. She reached the final for the first time last season before losing to Aryna Sabalenka in straight sets. During the aforementioned press conference, Gauff revealed the difference between playing in Stuttgart and Madrid:

Stuttgart is always a tough tournament for me. I never quite find my rhythm there. Maybe one year I’ll manage it. Here, on the other hand, is a tournament where I used to struggle, but last year I had a great result. I’ve learned to play in these high-altitude clay conditions. Today they suited my game well. The ball bounced very high off my racket. The transition from Stuttgart to Madrid is complicated because you go from indoors, where the ball bounces low, to here, where it bounces much higher.

Gauff will face Anastasia Potapova in the third round of the tournament. Potapova joined the Madrid Open draw as a lucky loser after Madison Keys withdrew from the tournament late. Gauff is projected to face Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals. Rybakina claimed the Stuttgart Open before arriving in Madrid.

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