After the defeat of highly rooted contenders like Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, it is now time for Coco Gauff to mourn her disappointing 3-6, 6-4, 3-6 defeat against Emma Navarro. Tennis legend Serena Williams took time to highlight a missing element in Coco Gauff‘s recent form. Although she didn’t mention any technical aspect, Williams said that the young champ was in sheer need of confidence. And the fact that her coach wasn’t there(but someplace else) console her, at the very least, has got the fans fuming.

Emma Navarro delivered a stunning upset over Coco Gauff in the fourth round of the US Open. Despite Gauff’s powerful play and exceptional fitness, Navarro’s defensive prowess and strategic play proved to be the difference. The third-seeded Gauff struggled with her serve throughout the match, committing a staggering 19 double faults, including 11 in the final set. Navarro capitalized on Gauff’s errors to claim a hard-fought victory.

Just hours after that, fans started to lash out at her coach Brad Gilbert for not being present with her apprentice during her toughest time.

Coco Gauff fans step forward to highlight Brad Gilbert’s “cringe” move

The fire against Brad Gilbert’s live session was well ignited as a fan initiated discussions on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “Brad Gilbert going on air spinning the Gauff loss while she’s in the press conference room is just too cringe for me to watch tbh,” the post caption said, targeted to invite more fans that carried a similar thought process.

It has been a while since Gauff fans started to doubt Brad Gilbert’s dedication to backing her apprentice. A fan, highlighting the fact that the coach is “double dipping” between coaching and his role as an analyst, wrote, “One of those or both will come to an end but most likely it’ll be coaching Coco. Super cringe for all…” This wasn’t a candid response but a derivation of Gilbert’s distance from Gauff since the Paris Olympics.

Another fan marked the timing of Gilbert’s live session as “unprofessional”. Dropping a serious take on both of his roles, he wrote, “He will be fired by Coco-deservedly. And should be replaced on ESPN.” The fact that Gilbert is pursuing two roles has made it hard for him to master any of them. Because of the setbacks in the French Open, Wimbledon, Paris Olympics, Cincinnati and now at the US Open, fans are no longer ready to see him continue.

A fan clearly suggested that there’s no future for Gauff and Gilbert together. “Can’t take her seriously until she lets him go, she’s not getting anywhere with him,” he wrote, suggesting the split amid Gauff’s declining performance graph. The defeat against Navarro ended No.3 Gauff’s title defense and a muscular 11-match winning streak in New York. And put Navarro, who began the year ranked No.31 on the PIF WTA Rankings, knocking on the door of a Top 10 debut.

“Right now, he’s talking his way out of a coaching job,” a fan wrote. Gilbert is generally seen paying more attention to dropping his analysis of controversies and external matters of the sport. Because of this, fans have concluded that he isn’t focused on coaching Gauff anymore.

A Gauff fan delivered emotions after her disappointing defeat against Emma Navarro. While a split with Gilbert is the only way out he could think of, he suggests, “Please please please it’s time fire him”. There was a time when Gauff single-handedly led the American line of WTA stars. While other players like Navarro and Jessica Pegula are moving ahead of her, demanding a change in coach becomes legitimate.

With these and several other comments on a similar note, the fans made it clear that they were not at all in support of Gilbert’s recent move. As the tournament continues to move without its former champion, it still remains to be seen what will be her next move.