Coco Gauff is receiving plaudits from everywhere and renowned coach Darren Cahill is among those who describe her as a “wonderful young lady”. Cahill asserts the American was born to shine and Brad Gilbert gave her self-belief to go for it.
Gauff as a 15-year-old registered her breakthrough season in 2019 after becoming the youngest player to qualify for the main draw at Wimbledon. Gauff’s steady rise was evident when she won her maiden WTA tour singles title and he reached her maiden major final at French Open last year where she lost to a clay-dominating Iga Swiatek. Her successful run on Parisian clay also helped her crack the top 10 for the first time and she was ready to achieve more.
After getting knocked out of the R1 at SW19, the 19-year-old made changes to her coaching team by bringing in Brad Gilbert who had formerly worked with ATP #1s Andre Agassi, and Andy Roddick. The Pere Riba and Gilbert pairing proved fruitful as it helped Coco lift trophies as a home hope at Citi DC Open and Western and Southern Open. Gauff was in no mood to stop after bagging her maiden WTA Masters 1000 crown at Cincinnati as she won her maiden major title by defeating Belarusian WTA world No. 1, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of US Open.
And while many think Gilbert proved to be the missing piece in the puzzle, Cahill says the American teenage sensation was already promising prospect, well-built from the foundations.
“She was already a great player, we have to be clear about that, she had already made the final of the French Open, she had cemented herself in the top 10 for 18 months, she was already a great player,” he said on the Advantage Connors podcast.
“But at that level if you can come in and make a couple of changes that makes a one per cent or a two per cent difference in a player, it means a lot and that is where good coaching comes in.
“Brad was able to come in with Pere and really fill Coco with a sense of belief. I thought she did a really good job of relying on her speed and her consistency and making the players on the other side of the court panic a little bit and I thought we saw that in the final.”
The Australian also applauded Gauff’s parents for the outstanding handling of their kid and all the work they put her in her junior career. However, the well-known coach feels Gilbert and Pere should be deservedly credited for Gauff’s transition from her formative years to a formidable pro on the WTA circuit. The 57-year-old coach analyzed the success of Gauff, Gilbert and Pere triangle.
“I am biased in this because Brad is one of my best friends and I believe he is one of the greatest coaches of all time,” he said.
“A lot of credit has to go to Pere Riba – the other coach that has been with her since the start of Wimbledon, he was with her at the same time [as Gilbert].
“To make a duel coaching thing work there has to be a great culture and great environment within the team. Every single person I speak to in regard to Coco and the person she is – not just inside the lines, but outside the lines – every single person says she is just a wonderful young lady.
“I have had the pleasure and honour to speak to her a few of times [and] she is a delight to speak to, she is like a sponge – she taking in information about her game – but she is also headstrong, which you need and all the champions have that because they see themselves as certain types of players and she knows what she is capable of.
“It has taken maybe Brad to come in and in about six weeks [to say] ‘Come on, let’s break this down, let’s work out what type of player you are…’
“I think he has taken a lot of parts of her game, which were strengths and maybe underutilised a little bit, and making sure she is working and playing to her strengths more often.
“A lot of good coaching comes from selling belief and giving that belief to your player and making sure that the player firstly sees that the coaches care about them, that they believe in them and that they are willing to do whatever it takes to make them better players. And Brad is certainly of that nature.”