By Richard Pagliaro | @TennisNow | Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Picture credit score: Robert Prange/Getty
Wimbledon—The grass recreation stays a slippery slope for Coco Gauff.
Flat-hitting Dayana Yastremska toppled reigning Roland Garros champion Gauff 7-6(3), 6-1 sending the world No. 2 crashing out of her Wimbledon opener on Tuesday.
It’s Gauff’s second first-round exit at The Championships within the final three years and diminished her to tears within the locker room and in her post-match press convention..
Two years in the past, Gauff misplaced to former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in her Wimbledon opener.
The 2-time Grand Slam champion made ignominious historical past with Tuesday’s exit. Gauff is the primary reigning Roland Garros champion since Francesca Schiavone in 2010 to lose within the Wimbledon first spherical. Gauff joined Schiavone and Justine Henin, who fell to Eleni Daniilidou on the 2005 Wimbledon, as simply the third French Open title holder to fall in Wimbledon’s first spherical.
So what’s the problem and the way can Gauff, who has but to surpass the Wimbledon spherical of 16, enhance her grass recreation?
Clearly, Gauff’s excessive western forehand grip makes it troublesome for her to dig out low balls on garden. That was obvious towards the flat-hitting Yastremska, who belted 10 extra winners within the match and was extra assertive enjoying first-strike tennis.
Afterward, Gauff pointed to 2 main areas of enchancment she should make on grass:
1. Sharper Serving
2. Asserting her aggression extra and beat opponents to the punch on garden.
Gauff, who served successfully in her Roland Garros run, served simply 45 %, gained solely 44 % of second-serve factors and struck simply 6 winners in a 79-minute loss to Yastremska.
Grass success begins along with her serve, Gauff stated, as a result of when she’s touchdown it she will play off the entrance foot and be much less reactive.
“Positively serving higher. I imply, after I can serve properly, and a few video games I did, it is undoubtedly an added menace. I feel I did not serve that properly,” Gauff stated. “Yeah, I imply, clearly I’ve to have the ability to counter that and likewise be as aggressive too as she is at occasions.”
The problem for Gauff, who has reached the Roland Garros remaining in two of the final 4 years, is her clay success limits her transition time to grass. That makes modifying her recreation fashion for grass robust as a result of she’s enjoying longer on clay. One other problem is beneath stress, Gauff tends to depend on her legs and defensive abilities, which works properly on clay however isn’t a profitable grass components.
“I feel it is simply altering my enjoying fashion slightly bit, which is troublesome, ‘trigger for me it is like I strategy clay and I play this a technique for nonetheless lengthy clay season is, six to eight weeks, or I do not know,” Gauff stated. “Then I really feel like after I go on onerous, I haven’t got to vary as a lot, however I nonetheless have to regulate it slightly bit.”
Time is on the 21-year-old Gauff’s facet and she or he has proven problem-solving abilities on onerous court docket and clay. The query is: Can Gauff play a extra assertive fashion on grass with out modifying her excessive forehand grip?
An alternative choice for Gauff, who has been a powerful doubles participant, is to attempt to impose her web abilities extra usually. In yesterday’s loss, Gauff gained three of 5 journeys to web.
Shifting ahead, Gauff could properly wish to attempt to apply her web recreation to grass. Nonetheless that additionally requires enjoying nearer to the baseline, which is usually a problem for Gauff given her extra expansive backswing on the forehand facet.
A disconsolate Gauff shed tears on the finish of her post-match presser, however stated she’ll attempt to use her break day to recalibrate for the US Open.
“I really feel like I might have been slightly bit higher in these robust tiebreaker moments, particularly after Roland Garros, the place I felt like I realized so much in these tiebreakers,” Gauff stated. “Yeah, I imply, clearly I am not going to dwell on this too lengthy as a result of I wish to do properly at US Open.
“Possibly shedding right here first spherical is not the worst factor on the planet as a result of I’ve time to reset. Yeah, undoubtedly sucks.”
