Tracy Austin Explains What Coco Gauff Must Do to Win Wimbledon

Coco Gauff became a two-time Grand Slam singles champion after her three-set victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the French Open final.

Tracy Austin Explains What Coco Gauff Must Do to Win Wimbledon

Coco Gauff, Tracy Austin (Image via The Tennis Gazette, X/The Tennis Letter)

Coco Gauff ended the clay swing with 18 wins, the most on the WTA Tour. She reached the three back-to-back finals: in Madrid, Rome, and Paris, winning only the latter by triumphing over World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka to win her career’s first French Open title.

Gauff improved her head-to-head lead over the Belarusian to 6-5 and has become the youngest to win Grand Slam titles on multiple surfaces since Maria Sharapova (Wimbledon 2004 and US Open 2006). The 21-year-old is also the youngest American to take home the clay-court Major after 23-time Major singles champion Serena Williams. The French Open was Gauff’s second title on the surface following the 2021 Emilia Romagna Open.

Next is the grass swing where Gauff will be bidding to win her first title on the surface. At Wimbledon, she has never progressed beyond the fourth round, reaching the last 16 thrice. Former World No.1 Tracy Austin wants Gauff to make certain changes to her game to taste success at the grass-court Major. She said on Tennis Channel:

She’s been to the fourth round three times and never past that and I think it’s because of the extreme grip on the forehand, players have been able to rush her on that side. But what I’d like to see from Coco this year on the grass is to go a little bit bigger on her serve.

Last year, her compatriot Emma Navarro ended her campaign in the fourth round. Sabalenka too hasn’t yet won a grass-court title and at Wimbledon, she had advanced to the semifinals in 2023 and had skipped it last year due to an injury.

Coco Gauff’s father reveals why he wasn’t in the player’s box when she won the French Open

The French Open was Coco Gauff‘s second Grand Slam singles title. Before the clay-court Major, she lifted the 2023 US Open by beating Aryna Sabalenka.

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

Gauff has also one Grand Slam doubles title under her belt. She lifted it last year along with Katerina Siniakova by beating the Italian pair of Jasmine Paolini and Sara Errani in the French Open final.

Gauff’s father, Corey Gauff, was on Court Philippe-Chatrier during this French Open final but he wasn’t in the player’s box. He explained later during an interview with Today that nervousness is the reason why he chose to avoid watching her daughter play or listen to music when he sits in the box.

I might be listening to gospel music, hype music, just trying to take my mind mentally off of the moment, ’cause then I get nervous and I feel like she might feel my nervousness.

Gauff too prefers not to see her dad watching her play because when she turns toward her box in her search for positivity, she would see her dad nervously holding his head in his hand or slapping his thigh. When Gauff fell on the ground after winning the last point of the French Open, her dad came running to celebrate the victory.

The French Open was Gauff’s first title since her victory at the 2024 WTA Finals. Sabalenka, on the other hand, was chasing her fourth title of the season after her victories at the Brisbane International, Miami Open, and the Madrid Open.

She beat Gauff in the Spanish capital to win her third title in the tournament. Apart from tasting success in these events, the 27-year-old has also made it to four more finals: at the Australian Open, Indian Wells, Stuttgart Open, and in Paris.

She is 3-3 in Grand Slam finals and three of these defeats came against Americans. She lost the 2023 US Open to Gauff and this year’s Australian Open final to Madison Keys.

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