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Analysts Praise Coco Gauff’s Mid-Open Serve Overhaul as Risky but Necessary

Coco Gauff adjusted her serve during the 2025 US Open; analysts called the mid-tournament work bold.

Published

5 months ago

August 27, 2025

On-air analysts praised Coco Gauff’s decision to rework her serve during the 2025 US Open after a narrow first-round win over Ajla Tomljanovic.

“Most people would have waited until after this tournament, maybe sought out some exhibitions to be able to trial it in a low-stakes, low-pressure environment, but that’s not Coco Gauff,” said former world No. 1 Jim Courier. “That’s why she’s going to be one of the game’s greats, because she’s willing to just lay it on the line constantly and fight through it. Frankly, I love and admire it, and I’m just baffled that she has the chutzpah to do it.”

Gauff was seen working with biomechanic expert Gavin MacMillan in the days before the final major of the season, and later confirmed she had parted ways with coach Matt Daly and linked up with MacMillan. MacMillan is credited in this context with reworking the serve of current world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

“It’s really fascinating,” said Courier. “Jannik Sinner made a change with his footwork before Wimbledon a couple of years ago but that was just the footwork. She’s doing a little bit different things with her hip, her shoulders, with her racquet toss. This is highly complicated stuff, and to put it into practice in real time, I cannot stress enough how much that takes guts.”

Gauff served 10 double faults in the match with Tomljanovic, an improvement from the 16 she struck in Cincinnati the previous week against Jasmine Paolini. Under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium, and despite a degree of emotional exhaustion, she closed out a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 victory to reach the second round.

“You can see her make the real-time adjustments in between what she would miss on the first and what she would do on the second,” noted Lindsay Davenport. “If you were really looking at her, you could see her saying, ‘Ok, now I’m going to do this.’ So, she was trying to implement all these changes, between first, between seconds. That takes energy out of you, as well. My heart really broke when she was admitting that this was such a tough week.

“Normally, when you go into a major, you want things to go great, you’re trying to get your player to feel great about themselves and it’s just a little bit of fine-tuning, ‘Oh, maybe just a few more cross-court.’ Not such detailed instruction.”

Chanda Rubin highlighted Gauff’s baseline play and the quality of rallies. “She said after the match that it wasn’t great at times, but she had some incredible rallies with Ajla Tomljanovic,” said Rubin. “There was a high level of tennis at times, and I think a lot of it got overshadowed by the serve, but there was a lot I think she could be proud of how she got through that match.”

Courier warned the changes will likely prevent Gauff from reaching her peak form in Flushing Meadows but could pay dividends later. “When players talk about getting into the zone, that spot where they’re just reacting and flowing and feeling their tennis, they’re not thinking one bit about technique,” said Courier. “Unfortunately for her, she’s going to have to be thinking about this technique. She has to be super mindful. It’s literally the only thing she’s thinking about when she sets up to hit a serve.

“So, there’s no way she’s going to play her best tennis this tournament. No way. But if this works for her and by the end of this year or by the Australian Open, she no longer has to think about it and she can get into that flow state, that’s an investment worth making.”

Related Topics:Ajla Tomljanovic Aryna Sabalenka Coco Gauff

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Analytics & Stats Player News WTA

Anisimova Enters WTA Top 3 and Becomes the New American No. 1

Amanda Anisimova rises to No. 3 in the WTA rankings and becomes the top American player. ©Prange2025

Published

1 week ago

January 5, 2026

IN Tennis Times

Amanda Anisimova rises to a career-high No. 3 in the latest WTA rankings, marking her first appearance inside the Top 3 and establishing her as the top-ranked American player. She moves up from No. 4 while Coco Gauff drops from No. 3 to No. 4, a swap driven by this week’s points adjustments.

There were no tournaments last week, but points from Week 1 of 2025 have dropped off the rankings. Anisimova remains on 6,287 ranking points. Gauff’s total falls from 6,763 to 6,273 after last year’s United Cup results are removed. The net effect places Anisimova ahead of Gauff and makes her the highest-ranked American on either the ATP or WTA lists; Gauff is now the second-highest-ranked American.

Anisimova’s climb carries additional historical notes. She becomes just the third player born in the 2000s to reach the Top 3 in WTA history, and the fifth player born in that decade to achieve a Top 3 ranking across either the WTA or ATP. She is also the 15th American woman to reach the Top 3 since WTA rankings began in 1975. For context, 11 American men have reached the Top 3 since ATP rankings were introduced in 1973.

Other notable ranking changes this week include Linda Noskova moving from No. 13 to a personal best of No. 12. Clara Tauson slips from No. 12 to No. 14; Noskova lost her second match in Brisbane a year ago while Tauson won the Auckland title at the same time last season. Cristina Bucsa makes her Top 50 debut, rising from No. 51 to No. 50. Anastasia Potapova drops from No. 50 to No. 55; Bucsa lost in the first round in Brisbane last year while Potapova reached the third round.

Analytics & Stats Player News WTA

Hsieh Su-wei at 40: Four decades distilled into 40 defining numbers

Hsieh Su-wei turns 40: 40 milestones from No. 1 doubles weeks to Grand Slam and tour titles. Today!

Published

2 weeks ago

January 4, 2026

IN Tennis Times

Hsieh Su-wei celebrates her 40th birthday with a resume few peers can match. A concise selection of career milestones captures the arc of a player who has excelled in doubles, enjoyed late-career singles highlights and returned to the tour with sustained success.

She first reached No. 1 in doubles on May 12, 2014, becoming the first Taiwanese player to reach the top spot in tennis in either women’s or men’s, singles or doubles. She claimed two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024 alongside Jan Zielinski; those were their first and third tournaments together. Her three WTA singles titles came in 2012 (Kuala Lumpur and Guangzhou) and 2018 (Hiroshima).

Hsieh has won Grand Slam women’s doubles titles with four different partners: two with Peng Shuai, and one each with Barbora Strycova, Elise Mertens and Wang Xinyu. She has five Wimbledon titles, including four in women’s doubles (2013 with Peng, 2019 with Strycova, 2021 with Mertens and 2023 with Strycova) and one mixed in 2024 with Zielinski.

Her WTA Finals record features six appearances and a title in 2013 with Peng; she reached the semifinals in 2025 with Jelena Ostapenko. Across Grand Slams she owns seven women’s doubles majors, plus two mixed doubles majors. Indian Wells stands out among her 13 WTA 1000 doubles titles, winning it four times in 2014 (with Peng), 2018 (with Strycova), 2021 and 2014 (with Mertens).

Other highlights: she has 36 doubles wins in 2025 (36-18), 37 career tour-level doubles titles (35 women’s, two mixed), and 40 career tour-level titles overall (three singles, 35 women’s doubles and two mixed). She spent 59 weeks at No. 1 in doubles and is one of only 18 women to log 50 or more weeks at the top. Her Top 10 and Top 15 singles victories mostly arrived in her 30s, including her first Top 10 singles win at Roland Garros in 2017 and a landmark win over reigning No. 1 Simona Halep at Wimbledon in 2018.

Early markers include a perfect 30-0 start below tour level at 15 in 2001 and her first Grand Slam doubles title at Wimbledon in 2013. She retired from singles in 2024 after Miami. Hsieh is the top seed in doubles in Brisbane this week alongside Jelena Ostapenko.

Analytics & Stats ATP Player News

Alcaraz Tops 2025 ATP Earnings List and Clears $60 Million in Career Prize Money

Alcaraz tops 2025 ATP prize money with over $21 million and passes $60 million career total. Update

Published

3 weeks ago

December 24, 2025

IN Tennis Times

The ATP’s final prize money standings for 2025 confirm a season dominated by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz led the tour with more than $21 million in prize money for the year, while Sinner followed with north of $19 million. World No. 3 Alexander Zverev ranked third on the list with $7.5 million.

Alcaraz’s 2025 total is the second-highest single-season haul in ATP history, behind only Novak Djokovic’s 2015 figure. Sinner’s earnings for 2025 also produced a milestone: he became the first player to exceed $19 million in a season and the first to top $16 million in two different seasons.

Beyond the single-season figures, Alcaraz’s 2025 earnings pushed his career prize money past $60 million. That achievement marks him as the first player, male or female, born since 2000 to reach that level. The draft also notes that he is the first player born since 1988 to pass the $60 million mark.

The final prize money leaderboard underlines the financial gap at the very top of men’s tennis in 2025, with the two leading players combining for the bulk of top-year payouts. The published top-10 list for 2025 places Alcaraz and Sinner well clear of the next tier, with Zverev as the highest earner after them.

These numbers frame a season in which prize money concentrated at the top for a small group of players. Alcaraz’s performance in 2025 not only reinforced his place as the year’s top earner but also cemented a rapid climb in career earnings, while Sinner’s consistency produced an unprecedented dual-season benchmark in annual pay.