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Coco Gauff and Brad Gilbert will no longer be working together. However, according to reports, Gilbert is slated to make a swift return to coaching by becoming a part of Alycia Parks' team.
On Wednesday, September 18, Gilbert confirmed his split with Gauff. The iconic coach was roped in by Gauff into her team ahead of last year's US Open Series. The collaboration was initially rewarding as the former World No. 2 won the Citi Open, the Cincinnati Open, and the US Open, spearheaded by Gilbert and her then-primary coach, Pere Riba.
However, not long after, Coco Gauff and Pere Riba went their separate ways, leaving Brad Gilbert alone in charge of the 2023 US Open champion's coaching duties. The 20-year-old started the ongoing tennis season brightly as she won the ASB Classic in Auckland and then reached the Australian Open semifinals. Since then, though, Gauff's fortunes have, for the most part, gone south.
Recent outings at the Paris Olympics, National Bank Open in Toronto, Cincinnati Open, and US Open have seen Gauff struggle with her serve and forehand. As a result, the 20-year-old now finds herself out of the top 5 of the WTA Tour rankings. Gilbert, formerly the coach of Andre Agassi, Andy Roddick, and Andy Murray, took to X (formerly Twitter) to announce his departure from Gauff's camp.
"Thanks to @CocoGauff and the entire team for an absolutely amazing summer run in 2023 and for 14 months of incredible team effort. Coco, at just 20 years young, your future is incredibly bright, and I wish you nothing but continued success ahead. I’m excited for the next chapter in my Coaching career," Gilbert wrote.
In the aftermath of Gilbert's split with Gauff, tennis media outlet Just 2 Tennis reported that the iconic coach may be in talks with Alycia Parks over becoming a part of her team.
Parks, a 23-year-old American talent, reached a career-high ranking of World No. 40 last year. However, since then, her form has drastically dipped, which has seen her drop to No. 116 on the WTA Tour rankings. Gilbert's experience and expertise may just turn out to be what she needs to improve her form and, subsequently, her ranking.
Gauff parting ways with Gilbert does not come as a surprise, as the coach came under fire for the 20-year-old's erratic US Open display that ultimately led to the collapse of her title defense.
Serena Williams' ex-coach Rennae Stubbs had questioned Coco Gauff's game in Brad Gilbert's presence at US Open 2024
Rennae Stubbs, the former doubles specialist and the coach of Serena Williams for the 2022 US Open, criticized Coco Gauff in front of Brad Gilbert during a discussion on ESPN. The discussion came in the aftermath of Gauff's dismal display against Emma Navarro in the fourth round of this year's US Open.
"So under pressure, bad technique breaks down and her technique is...hard for me to say because Brad [Gilbert] is sitting here...but her technique, the elbow, is too low, the grip is a little weird as well. So it's hard for her to get that nice first serve and then the same or similar second serve," Stubbs said.
The Australian's assessment of Coco Gauff's second serve stemmed from the 20-year-old serving a shocking 19 double faults against Navarro. Gauff made a total of 60 unforced errors on that ill-fated night.
