Coco Gauff spent the weeks leading into the US Open focused on a major overhaul of her service motion, a process that proved both physically and mentally demanding. After splitting with Matt Daly following the Cincinnati Open, she enlisted biomechanical coach Gavin MacMillan and devoted extra time on court to rework her serve. The short window between the WTA 1000 event and the US Open limited how much could be changed, and Gauff paid the price in New York.

She needed three sets to get past Ajla Tomljanovic in round one, and she admitted the sessions with MacMillan were often painful, with her shoulder hurting after training. There were tears during her second-round victory over Donna Vekic, and after a two-set fourth-round loss to Naomi Osaka she said she broke down following her exit at the season-ending Grand Slam.

Some commentators suggested an extended break might help her both recharge and continue the technical work. Gauff, however, confirmed she will not step away from competition and plans to travel to Asia later in September for the China Open. “I have no choice but to do a training block between now and Beijing, just the next tournament I’m signed up for,” she said.

She framed the remainder of the season as a learning period and a lead-in to the Australian swing. “And like, I’ve said this every year after US Open, for me, it’s just improvement mode and to get ready for Australia. I had good results last year after US Open, and I think that’s just because I didn’t, I don’t want to say didn’t care because those tournaments obviously deserve effort, but I don’t know, it’s just that your mindset is different once the Slams are over.”

Gauff is the defending champion in Beijing; that 2024 title run arrived when she was struggling through the North American hard-court swing, unable to defend her Cincinnati and US Open crowns before reversing course with a WTA 1000 trophy and then the WTA Finals title in Saudi Arabia in November. The reigning French Open champion added: “So whatever happens for the rest of the year, I just want it to be an improvement. I don’t care, results-wise. Last year, if he told me I would go win in Beijing and WTA Finals, I would have been like, whatever, as I didn’t really care going into it.

“I’m going to probably have that same mindset. And if I do well, I’ll do well like I did last year. And if not, if not. But I think for me, main improvements I get are from how I do in the Slams.”

The No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek ended the Cincinnati Open with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini, using a markedly improved serve to secure the title. Time after time Swiatek produced serves in the 110- to 115-m.p.h. range, approximately the 185 k.p.h. mark her coach Wim Fissette had envisioned when their partnership began last fall.

She hit eight aces and at least that many service winners, often at pivotal moments. Down 2-3 in the first set she produced two unreturnable serves to hold; at 6-5 she closed the set with three service winners and an ace. In the second set she fended off a break point at 4-3 with a service winner, held with an ace and ended the match with an ace out wide.

Swiatek acknowledged trade-offs in pursuit of power: she committed seven double faults and made 57 percent of her first serves, and she did not consider the night perfect. “I couldn’t even toss well,” she said with a laugh. “It was a love-hate relationship [with her serve] today.”

She described the process with Fissette plainly. “I’m always this kind of player who needs to see the proof,” she said. “When I started working with Wim, I didn’t believe that I can serve 185 [kilometers per hour] and 180 consistently. So I think he helped me with reaching this higher speed…I just kind of needed to believe it.”

Her season has shifted markedly: after failing to win during the clay swing she claimed Wimbledon and now Cincinnati, titles on grass and quick hard courts that she had once struggled to master. She credited the broader team and her mental work. “Maybe I wasn’t committing to my serve for some part of the season,” she said. “I was focusing on the right things,” she added. “Maybe not everything was perfect. Mentally I was there to just play the best tennis that was possible at that moment.”

“Thank you for forcing me to become a better player,” Swiatek said to Fissette afterward. With the title she moves from No. 3 to No. 2 in the rankings and seedings at the US Open, removing a potential semifinal meeting with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Iga Swiatek captured the Cincinnati Open with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Jasmine Paolini in Monday’s final. The one hour and 49 minute win on Center Court was Swiatek’s 11th WTA 1000 trophy and will return her to No. 2 in the WTA rankings, ensuring she is seeded second at next week’s US Open.

Swiatek entered Cincinnati on a run of form after surrendering her Roland Garros title in the semifinals in June. The reigning Wimbledon champion produced a dominant 6-0, 6-0 final over Amanda Anisimova and arrived in Cincinnati having not dropped a set en route to the title match. Along the way she defeated No. 25 seed Marta Kostyuk and No. 9 seed Elena Rybakina before meeting Paolini for the sixth time, a rematch of their 2024 Roland Garros final.

Paolini, the No. 7 seed, enjoyed a solid 2025, winning the Internazionali BNL d’Italia and rallying from a set down to defeat No. 2 seed Coco Gauff in Cincinnati to reach her third career WTA 1000 final. She began the title match on the front foot, winning the first three games and moving to within two points of a 4-0 lead against the third-seeded Swiatek.

Swiatek fought back with a five-game streak, overcoming a service break at 5-4 to take the opening set on her second opportunity. The momentum continued in the second set as she and Paolini traded breaks before Swiatek saved two break points in the eighth game and consolidated to lead 5-3.

Paolini served to stay in the match, but Swiatek produced the decisive tennis when serving for the championship, driving a pair of forehands into the court to create two championship points and closing out the match with a big serve. Swiatek then ran to celebrate with her team.