‘Nobody Will Understand That Better Than Me’- Coco Gauff’s Lingering Issue Evokes Empathy in Rival Aryna Sabalenka

Double faults can lead to self-destruction on the court is a challenge well understood by Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff. While the world number two has had her fair share of errors and aces, the 20-year-old Gauff recently accumulated 35 double faults in three sets at the Italian Open. The 26-year-old tennis player recently dropped her opinion about Gauff’s situation with double faults.

Ahead of the French Open, in a pre-tournament press conference, the Australian Open champion opened up about the juggling situation that comes with dealing with aces and faults. She stated, “I think like generally, you kind of like focus on negative things more than positive, and like when you’re double faulting a lot you don’t care about those Aces.”

Sabalenka herself has also struggled with double faults, hurting her chances of winning. It transpired in August 11, 2022 in front of a stadium in Toronto, Canada, following a three-set defeat against Coco Gauff in the National Bank Open round of 16. On that day, Sabalenka served 18 double faults. She also won a match having served sixteen of them. She had served twenty double faults in a quarterfinal setback to Daria Kasatkina in San Jose, California, the week before, and twenty-three double faults in the set prior to that.

So, having all there experience, she understands the challenge Gauff is truly going through. Sabalenka further added, “You just want to fix this issue and yeah I’ve mean I’ve been I think nobody will understand that better than me and that’s a tough one but like going for Aces. They actually create these like more mistakes and then you have to go for the second Surf, then you double fault it, but then you Ace it. Then you also like keep trying to go for like I don’t know like for those Aces which is creates like more mistakes.”

The US Open winner has had trouble with her delivery during the clay swing in addition to her errors at the Italian Open. In the five matches she’s played on the slower surface before Rome, she averaged almost ten double faults. Not only that, even the world’s third-ranked player talked about creating errors.

Coco Gauff shed light on her double faults take

Gauff commended her efforts to apply technical modifications over the continuing season and tournament, working with coaches Brad Gilbert and Jean-Christophe Faurel. She said, “I bet on myself to continue to go big. I know when I go big and my serve goes in it’s dangerous. Even though this tournament I want to win, I’m trying to think long-term. I don’t want to lose the 120 (mph) serve by not going for it.”

Similar to this, World No. 2 had well-documented difficulties with her serve in the past few years before consulting a biomechanics trainer. This calculated action turned her apparent vulnerability into a powerful tool that helped her win two Australian Open titles. Moreover, it will be interesting to see what comes next for the 20-year-old at the French Open. Share your thoughts in the comment section below.