Coco Gauff Breaks Silence on Coach Brad Gilbert Staying Back for ‘Challengers’ Premier With a Tongue in Cheek Remark

Coco Gauff recently entered the Stuttgart Open, where she aimed to start her run on her favorite surface. Despite Brad Gilbert missing from her box, she managed to beat Sachia Vickery in three sets after coming very close to losing. When asked about where he could be, she reassured him that “he did not choose Zendaya” over her following an apt explanation.

While Gilbert is missing, Gauff is not traveling to tournaments without a coach accompanying her. She recently requested Jean-Christophe Faurel to join her team, and he accepted her offer. He is guiding her at the moment while Gilbert is taking a step back on Gauff’s request. Brad Gilbert was there with the ‘Challengers’ movie cast for three months for training purposes which led many to believe his presence in Los Angeles for the premiere.

After Gauff won her match against Vickery, she revealed the reason for Gilbert’s absence. “No, he did not choose Zendaya over me (smiling). I think I told him to kind of take a step back, especially starting with J.C. I wanted him to be able to work on it on his own and play a tournament by himself. And also, like, we are going to have two tournaments together. We’re going to spend a lot of time together. If you know Brad, its good to take a break sometimes (smiling),” said Gauff.

She further added, “Yeah, he’s supposed to come to Madrid. He’s not here. I think when I started with him, he was never going to be coming to every tournament. Just mainly the big ones, especially in the European part of the swing, I think, most of the time.”

However, getting used to Faurel’s guidance once again could prove beneficial for their relationship. Faurel left a deep impact on Gauff, and the player never wanted to split from him. In the same press conference, she revealed why the two went their separate ways in the first place.  

Coco Gauff reveals the real reason behind the split with Jean-Christophe Faurel

Gauff was questioned at the Stuttgart Open about how she felt about reconciling with Jean-Christophe Faurel. The youngster responded extremely positively, recalling working with him since she was fourteen. She also claimed that their last collaboration had ended owing to unanticipated circumstances. “It actually wasn’t either of our choices to stop working together. He was having visa issues and couldn’t get into the U.S. for, like, a long time, a couple years.”

Gauff added that she had always wanted to “go back to him”. “So the timing worked where I was looking for someone, and we worked well together. I’m really excited to be back with him,” she said. Faurel has helped Gauff produce fantastic tennis in her teenage years. She took down Venus Williams and Serena Williams due to his guidance before she even turned into an adult.

Now, the two have joined hands and look to rock on the WTA Tour once again, with Gilbert being on the sideline for a while. Gauff has a fantastic team guiding her right now. Can she break through the barrier and dominate the clay swing?