Gauff Splits with Coach Gilbert

By Richard Pagliaro | @Tennis_Now | Wednesday, September 18, 2024
Photo credit: Sarah Stier/Getty

The trip is over for the Coco Gauff-Brad Gilbert alliance. 

The 2023 US Open champion Gauff and coach Gilbert have parted company, ending their partnership of 14 months. 

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“Thanks Coco Gauff and the entire team for an absolutely amazing summer run in 2023 and for 14 months of incredible team effort,” Gilbert posted on social media. “Coco, at just 20 years young, your future is incredibly bright, and I wish you nothing but continued success ahead.

“I’m excited for the next chapter in my Coaching career.”

Thanks 🙏 to @CocoGauff and the entire team for an absolutely amazing summer run in 2023 and for 14 months of incredible team effort. Coco, at just 20 years young, your future is incredibly bright, and I wish you nothing but continued success ahead. I’m excited for the next…

— Brad Gilbert (@bgtennisnation) September 18, 2024

The split means both coaches who guided Gauff to the 2023 US Open championship—Gilbert and Pere Riba—are no longer working with the Delray Beach-born baseliner. Riba left shortly after Gauff won the US Open and has been coaching Olympic gold-medal champion Zheng Qinwen.

Thank you @bgtennisnation ! We had an incredible run and I wish you all the best in the future! pic.twitter.com/5A2pzJjHUB

— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) September 18, 2024

At the 2023 US Open, Gauff rallied past Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to capture her maiden major before a raucous crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was Gauff’s 12th straight win and came after she became the youngest woman to win the Cincinnati Open. At age 19, Gauff became the youngest American to win the US Open since her tennis hero, a 17-year-old Serena Williams, defeated world No. 1 Martina Hingis in the 1999 final. She also joined Serena Williams and Tracy Austin as the third American teenage woman to capture the US Open in the Open Era.

Though Gauff opened this season successfully defending Auckland for her seventh title before semifinal runs at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, she’s been reeling in recent weeks.

Since reaching the Berlin semifinals last June, Gauff has failed to survive the round of 16 in her last five tournaments, posting a 9-5 record in that span. Compatriot Emma Navarro knocked Gauff out of the fourth round at Wimbledon and the US Open as opponents have pounded the Gauff western-grip forehand.

The American co flag-bearer at the Paris Olympics alongside LeBron James, Gauff fell to Navarro in a tearful Wimbledon loss, went down to Wimbledon semifinalist Donna Vekic at the Olympics, lost to Diana Shnaider in Toronto and was bounced out of Cincinnati by Yulia Putintseva last month. Despite those results, Gauff is still ranked No. 6 in the world.

Days before the 2024 US Open, Hall of Famer John McEnroe said he didn’t believe his ESPN colleague Gilbert was the issue with Gauff’s slump.

McEnroe also said time is on Gauff’s side and he’s confident she has the game and mind to turn things around.

“Coco is a great player she can figure it out—you know just pay attention,” McEnroe said last month.  “As far as Brad goes, it’s hard to say what will happen. But Brad is one of the best coaches that has been around.

“He’s been around some great players. Maybe Brad is an acquired taste to some degree, but you know the people that have acquired his taste, have done very well. I think he should be in the Hall of Fame for his coaching, personally. So I don’t think [coaching] is the problem. I think if she decides in a year she wants to try someone else, you know that’s her right, she’s the player.

“But last year when he joined forces with Coco there was a great run. She won the Open. I think he’s done an excellent job. She’s young. We’ll see what happens. She has plenty of time to figure this out.”