Over the course of this year, many natural disasters have ravaged the lives of millions of people worldwide. From the floods in Europe to the New Jersey earthquake, we have seen it all. Earlier today, it was reported that a wildfire exploded in Malibu, which damaged homes and spurred mass evacuations. The disaster, named ‘Franklin Fire’ burnt more than 2200 acres and spread in no time. The former coach of Coco Gauff, Brad Gilbert stays in Malibu. Amid concerns on the well-being of him and his family, Gilbert updated his fans on it.

Well-renowned in the tennis circles, Gilbert took to his official X handle to update the fans about his well-being. He wrote, “@mrsgnation is ok 👍 🙏 with dogs 🐕 on the road out of Malibu, our power was cut and wind 💨 was like 50mph hopefully 🙏 will not be like Lethe really bad fire 🔥 in 2018.”

Live visuals emerging in the media showed the fire spreading fast and damaging the lives and properties of several people. Fortunately, Gilbert remained unscathed. But this isn’t the first time Gilbert has experienced such a tragedy. Six years back, a similar wildfire named ‘The Woolsey Fire’ spread across the region heavily, damaging life and property. Gilbert then showed how rescue flights were operated to douse the fire.

Talking about Gilbert’s credentials as a coach, he ended his successful partnership with Coco Gauff earlier this year after the latter failed to defend her US Open crown. However, before that, Gauff enjoyed some of the best moments of her career under Gilbert. The 20-year-old struggled with her form in the 2024 season, but she finished the season on a high by winning the WTA Finals.

Gauff has already begun her pre-season training for the 2025 season. Ahead of the Australian Open next year, tennis analyst Levi Huddleston backed Gauff to come good in that tournament.

Tennis analyst sees massive improvement in Coco Gauff

While Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2023 US Open, it was a barren run for her in the Grand Slams in 2024. She didn’t even make it to the summit clash of any of the major tournaments in 2024, let alone winning a title. However, Huddleston feels that Gauff has made massive improvements and is a serious contender for the Australian Open Down Under.

He revealed, “I would say that when they met at the US Open, you know Coco Gauff hit 19 double faults. So like, I think, Coco, now that she is making some improvement on that serve, perhaps it will be a different match if we see them play again. So there’s a lot of room for her to improve on that serve. I think she has, so I think, it would be really exciting to see what that matchup looks like at the AO.”

Gauff is giving it her all during the pre-season training, denoting how determined she is to come good next year. Can Coco Gauff win the 2025 Australian Open title? Let us know your views in the comments below.