Coco Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert has trained icons like Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, and Andre Agassi. So understandably has the expertise when judging someone’s tennis skills. As it turns out, the someone on this occasion is none other than Republican politician and entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy. Interestingly, Gilbert chose to comment on Ramaswamy’s forehand, which was the subject of ridicule from tennis great Martina Navratilova last year.

Founder of Roviant Sciences, a biotech company, Ramaswamy is no tennis rookie. The 39-year-old was once a nationally ranked tennis player in his youth and learned one-handed backhand slice when he broke his wrist according to a former teammate. He also used to be a ball boy at the Cincinnati Open.

He regularly practices tennis and took to his X on September 13 to post a glimpse of his tennis skills in a video. In a red t-shirt and white shorts, Ramaswamy can be seen hitting some good backhands and forehands with full force on a tennis court and ends up winning the point. The caption of the video read, “Early morning grilling at Ohio State tennis. Works better than coffee.” 

The post caught the attention of Gilbert, who has been coaching players since 1994. The tennis coach couldn’t help but share his take on Ramaswamy’s tennis skills. The former on his X profile commented, “good footwork low take back on fearhand.” The 20 singles title winner, Gilbert, who has been coaching Coco Gauff since last year and has guided her to win her first grand slam, seems to be impressed with Ramaswamy’s casual swing. The Republican politician will be glad to see this praise, especially after Navratilova’s sharp comments about his game.

Last year in August, Ramaswamy uploaded a video on X, where he was taking part in a tennis practice session while being shirtless. He showcased his hitting abilities as well as his swift footwork, but it didn’t seem to impress Navratilova.

The tennis icon took a dig at his skills on the court and even drew a comparison to his political abilities. The 18-time Grand Slam champion tweeted, “That’s one ugly forehand. I especially like the small stutter steps that take Vivek nowhere.:), I wonder if that could be an analogy for his politics.”

Good tennis skills or not, Ramaswamy has an association with the sport that goes way back. He has mentioned how he used to be a ball boy at the Cincinnati Open 30 years ago and last month reminisced about the same. On his Instagram, he posted a photo holding his two young sons and added the caption, “30 years ago, I used to chase tennis balls here as a ball boy. Now I’m chasing around two boys as a dad. Great to be back at the legendary Cincinnati ATP event!” Moreover, there is something special that connects him to tennis royalty.

Interestingly, one of his stints as a ballboy was for none other than the legendary Andre Agassi. He revealed this in a video posted on X on August 25, where he can be seen sharing the court with Agassi as his hitting partner. In the caption, Ramaswamy wrote, “I used to be a ball boy for @AndreAgassi, we were hitting partners today. His sage advice: the longest distance between two points is that between your mind & your heart. Bend the former to meet the latter.”

Meanwhile, it has been a difficult past few weeks for coach Gilbert. It has hardly been two weeks since we saw the US Open’s defending champion Coco Gauff’s shocking exit from New York from the round-of-16 match. While her consistent sloppy performances in the singles matches of the season came under scrutiny from fans, Gauff’s coach quickly dismissed the criticism and praised her for her overall great performances. 

“It’s been a good 14 months… she’s accomplished a lot and the great thing is, she has huge upside at 20… Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great tournament for her..” However, besides Gilbert, there is one other player on the horizon who has openly suggested taking up the role of the 20-year-old’s coaching responsibility!

Nick Kyrgios is willing to coach Coco Gauff!

Since her semifinal exit in the French Open earlier this year, Coco Gauff has been struggling to enter a QF of another event. An early-round loss in all the events of the Paris Olympics further deepened her frustration. Now adding a round of 16 defeat at Wimbledon and her inability to defend the title in the Cincinnati Masters has furthered her misery. Therefore, after her US Open exit, among many, one fan advised Coco Gauff to ‘sack’ Gilbert and take up a new coach.

They wrote, “My honest advice to @CocoGauff is to sack @bgtennisnation. He became Gauff head coach in November 2023, and her game has regressed since then. Brad loves himself more than anyone else, and that doesn’t work if you are a head coach.” When another fan suggested Kyrgios take up the job, the Aussie replied, “I’d coach her.”

However, it seems Gilbert will continue his coaching relationship with Gauff and also entertain us by providing his valuable analysis of tennis skills from time to time!