Gauff backed to become No.1 by Williams’ ex-coach if she makes big change

Coco Gauff has a notable handicap in her game despite an excellent career to date, but Serena Williams’ former coach Rick Macci believes she can become No. 1 by implementing a solution.

Expectations for Gauff at the start of the 2025 season will be even higher than usual after she finished 2024 very strong, notably win the end-of-season WTA final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This is the second biggest title of Gauff’s career, with the US Open being the biggest. However, the 20-year-old received the biggest payday in women’s tennis history at the WTA Finals: $4.805 million.

Gauff also won her second WTA 1000 title at the China Open. in October. It was his first title since the ASB Classic during the opening week of the season, which was a long drought by Gauff’s high standards.

In truth, the young star did incredibly well to stay competitive during those titleless months, considering some of the issues she had with her game. Gauff reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, Indian Wells Open, Italian Open and French Open.

The American had some problems with her forehand, but the main problem was her second serve. Gauff has committed more double faults in 2024 than any other player on the WTA Tour, which is a surprising statistic.

It’s important to note that Gauff played more matches than any other player last season, meaning the 2023 US Open champion had more opportunities to commit double faults. For example, Marta Kostyuk averaged more double faults per game.

However, Gauff’s double fault average was still much higher than any of his opponents near the top. She showed exceptional mental determination to win many matches when this and her forehand were both problems.

Macci, a renowned tennis coach who has coached Serena and Venus Williams, has spoken in the past about Gauff’s serve. He thinks the problem could be solved in an hour if it is biomechanically rewired.

Macci raised the issue again in an article on

“If her subtle responsibilities become an asset with the year-end biomechanical changes, look for Coco the Delray Dart for Dart in pole position and replace the pole. @CocoGauff.”

Swiatek, who has dominated the No. 1 ranking since April 2022, is currently No. 2 behind Sabalenka. However, Gauff, the current world number 3, will have to overtake both women to reach the top of the rankings for the first time.

Although it is difficult to predict when that will happen, Gauff seems destined to reach the top spot. Her exceptional talent and hard work off the court, since she was a teenager, means the WTA Finals champion is taking all the right steps.

2025 could be the best of Gauff’s career, but the quality of Sabalenka and Swiatek makes winning the Grand Slam difficult. Other players who will also believe they can win a major title next season include Elena Rybakina, Qinwen Zheng, Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini.