Brad Gilbert has offered a simple explanation for the recent wave of coaching changes across the men’s game as the North American hard court swing approaches.

Within just a few days at Wimbledon, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev ended their working relationships with their coaches. Auger-Aliassime closed a near 10-year partnership with Frederic Fontang, while Medvedev moved on from Thomas Johansson after almost a year together. Around the same time, Jiri Lehecka and Michal Navratil also split after eight years.

Although the players are at different points in their careers, Gilbert believes the common goal is the same: Grand Slam success. The former coach of Andre Agassi said the spread at the top of the men’s game is pushing players to make changes in pursuit of improvement.

He said on the Tennis Channel, “Right now there is a massive difference in women’s 1-20 and men’s 1-20. I feel like that’s why we have seven different winners in the last seven majors.

“In the men’s, the guys at the top have massively separated, and I think that is what is forcing decisions on players who go, ‘I need to add something asap or I am going to go further back’.”

Gilbert pointed to the ranking gap between the leading men, with Jannik Sinner on 13,450 points, Alexander Zverev second on 8,480 and Carlos Alcaraz third on 8,160 despite being sidelined since mid-April. He contrasted that with the WTA picture, where Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula are much closer together.

He also noted that Sinner is more than 11,000 points ahead of 20th-ranked Francisco Cerundolo, while Sabalenka is roughly 6,500 points clear of world No 20 Anna Kalinskaya.

Medvedev has beaten Alcaraz in Indian Wells this year and pushed Sinner close at the same event. Auger-Aliassime is ranked fourth and continues to reach the second week of majors, while Lehecka sits just outside the top 10. Even so, Gilbert suggested the coaching moves show ambition rather than comfort.

He added, “I’ve heard this so much in coaching. Why does a top player need a coach?

“And I am like, because they obviously want to get better. If you don’t have a coach, you are not thinking that you can get better.”

Former world No 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas also changed direction in late June when he split from his father Apostolos after years of working on and off together.

Rennae Stubbs has suggested that Linda Noskova will need to sharpen a few areas of her tennis before she can seriously chase the world No 1 ranking.

Noskova, 21, has enjoyed a major breakthrough this month, winning her first Grand Slam title after edging fellow Czech Karolina Muchova in three dramatic sets at Wimbledon. The result took her to a career-best No 7 in the rankings, but she remains more than 3,500 points behind world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the WTA standings.

She is also seventh in the WTA race, where the gap is more manageable, with the Vsetin-born player 1,300 points behind Mirra Andreeva at the top.

The numbers underline both her strengths and the areas that still need work. Noskova is second only to Elena Rybakina for aces this season, with 289 to Rybakina’s 259, and sits third for the percentage of service points won at 63.6%, behind Sabalenka at 64.9% and the Kazakhstani at 64%.

She is also fourth for first-serve points won at 73.6%, yet her double-fault total remains a concern. Coco Gauff leads that list with 257, while Noskova is fourth-worst with 181.

According to the WTA website, Noskova ranks 38th for second-serve points won at 48.8%, an area Stubbs believes can improve. The former major doubles champion, who currently coaches Serena Williams, said on her latest podcast that a No 1 push is possible, but only if Noskova becomes far more consistent.

“There are a lot of people who think she can get to No 1 in the world. I definitely think she can be top three. To get to No 1 in the world you’ve got to be really consistent all the time. Do I think she has the capability to do that? Yes I do. I think her serve is still a bit vulnerable, her second serve in particular.

“When she lost to Talia Gibson in Australia, one of the things I said was, Martina Hingis’ mum (Melanie Molitor) has done a great thing with teaching Martina Hingis how to hit ground strokes and Belinda Bencic and Linda Noskova.

“But the one thing she doesn’t teach well, and I would not send my kid to Melanie Molitor for a serve. The thing that Noskova does well in that situation is that she’s strong and she can hit it big. But it is definitely part of her game that can get much better.

“I don’t know how she can change the service motion so much anymore. She’s 21 going on 22. But that would be an area that can get even better and bigger. If that does happen, I do think she can get to No 1 in the world because she does everything really well. She has an amazing disposition on the court.”

Stubbs also pointed to Noskova’s return numbers as an area needing more immediate attention. She is outside the top 100 in both first-serve and second-serve return points won, and sits down in 138th for return games won. Even so, she has already shown she can win a Grand Slam while carrying those weaknesses.

The 2026 US Open entry list has been published, and Emma Raducanu is included as she targets a return from injury at the final Grand Slam of the season. The most notable absentee is Victoria Mboko.

Raducanu has not played on the WTA Tour since finishing runner-up at the Queen’s Club Championship. A stress fracture in her right shin forced her out of the Nottingham Open, Eastbourne Open and Wimbledon, and she was later ruled out of the WTA 1000 events in Canada and Cincinnati as well.

Her place on the entry list does not guarantee a start, though it does suggest she remains in contention for Flushing Meadows. The same uncertainty surrounded Wimbledon, where she held a press conference on the Sunday before the tournament and said she hoped to play the following day before withdrawing hours later.

If she does compete in New York, match sharpness could be an issue. Unless she plays the Monterrey Open, the final warm-up event from 23-29 August, she would reach the US Open without hard-court match practice.

Mboko will miss a second straight major because of a knee injury. The world No 12 picked up the problem during her opening singles match at Queen’s Club, then withdrew from Wimbledon and will also miss her title defence at the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati event.

Hailey Baptiste remains sidelined too after damaging her anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus in her left knee during the second round of the French Open. That setback came after she reached the Madrid Open semi-final and climbed to No 25 in the WTA Rankings.

Varvara Gracheva is the other top-100 player absent, with an ACL injury sustained in training in March.

At the top of the draw, Aryna Sabalenka heads the field and is followed by Elena Rybakina, with the rest of the top 10 also present. Anastasia Zakharova is the final direct entry by ranking at world No 102, while Ella Seidel is first alternate. Five players have used a special ranking: Lois Boisson, Irina-Camelia Begu, Aoi Ito, Jil Teichmann and Mananchaya Sawangkaew.