Coco Gauff’s Former Coach Quashes ‘Conflict’ Rumors Once and for All as He Looks Back on a Sudden Parting of Ways

There has been hardly any case in tennis when a coach and player announce the end of their partnership when they are in their prime. But, something of this sort happened with US Open champ Coco Gauff and her head coach Pere Riba. After helping her land major major success in 2023, the two decided to part ways, soon after her victory at the Flushing Meadows. This came out as a surprise to many as none expected this to be the case.

However, in a recent revelation, Pere Riba has come ahead to talk about the things that happened which led to the two parting ways with each other. The Spanish coach further went ahead to assure that it wasn’t due to the internal conflicts that the two separated.

Pere Riba dives deep into his decision to part ways with Coco Gauff despite earning major success

In a recent revelation, Pere Riba sheds light on the surprising decision to part ways with Coco Gauff. 35 days after leaving her tennis camp. Riba remembered about the fruitful journey that bore significant victories, including Gauff’s maiden WTA 500, WTA 1000 triumphs, and her inaugural Grand Slam title.

However, he went ahead to address that there were some unforeseen family issues which resulted in their separation for the 2024 season. He, however, emphasized the mutual respect and transparency that defined their discussions. Despite the separation, Riba lauds Gauff’s maturity and their harmonious relationship, even to date while suggesting that it was the external things that led to the separations and not the internal conflicts.

“Everything has gone great with Coco, in every way,” says Riba. “It has been a very good experience, a lot of work has been done and very beautiful things have come out of that work. Suddenly, some family problems arose that I didn’t know how long it would take to solve, that’s what meant that, even if we both were looking for a way to stay together, we couldn’t do it for 2024.”

“We’ve always talked about things very honestly, we’re both very clear on that aspect. She’s a great person, very mature, she’s someone who understands this kind of situation perfectly. There’s no conflict whatsoever, I get along great with her and I still want things to go spectacularly well for her,” he further continued.

Thus, some external family issues led to the separation of the two and not internal issues. The relationship between Pere Riba and Coco Gauff is still great despite parting ways with each other.

Also read: Coco Gauff Turns up the Volume in a Karaoke-Filled Thanksgiving Night, Days After Revelling in Doja Cat Concert

That being said, after helping Gauff land major success throughout the year, Riba has joined hands to work with his former student as they would be looking to start the 2024 season on fire.

Pere Riba joins hands with former student Qinwen Zheng

In a recent revelation, the 15th-ranked Chinese player, Qinwen Zheng decided to join hands with her former coach Pere Riba. As the 2024 season is about to start in just a few days, the two stepped on the court and started training ahead of an intense season. The Chinese player took to Instagram to announce the partnership between the two as she looked all set to kick-start her new season.

Thus, after ending things with Gauff on a  good note, Pere Riba has now joined hands with his former student as he would be looking to help Zheng emulate the same success that he once helped Coco Gauff with. However, Riba had to go through a lot of backlash from the fans after his decision to join hands with Zheng broke the net.

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