Due to the changes in her training squad, Coco Gauff’s most recent performances have improved significantly from those of the past. The 19-year-old phenom has already advanced to the Washington Open finals in her maiden competition under the new coach.
Gauff recently hired the Spanish coach Pere Riba to help her play with greater aggression. In comparison to the other trainers, Pere Riba is very young. He has previously collaborated with players like Qinwen Zheng and Arantxa Rus.
While her attitude has improved significantly this week at Washington, she has been communicating with her coach more difficult than usual. The language barrier is a frequent issue that many sportsmen in sports deal with. Professionals don’t all speak English fluently and learning a language takes time. Current problems for Pere Riba are similar. Being Spanish, the coach’s desire to learn English was not very high.
She said in her on-court interview: “My coach Pere does not know the difference between external & internal focus. Yesterday, I said I have external focus and I think top players like Rafa have external focus. He thinks they have internal.. He’s from Spain. We’re working on his English (laughs with the crowd).”
Rennae Stubbs: “You looked at your player box & said external focus…”
Coco Gauff: My coach doesn’t know the difference between external & internal focus.. Top players like Rafa have external focus. He thinks they have internal.. He’s from Spain. We’re working on his English”😂 pic.twitter.com/zB5e8gKpc2
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 5, 2023
Coco Gauff in 2023
LWWWLWWLWW At the moment ranked no.7, Gauff played her last match on the 6th of August when she defeated world no.9 Maria Sakkari 6-2 6-3 in the final in Washington to win her 4th career title.
Currently, during this year Gauff has managed to achieve a compiled 31-12 match record. Gauff conquered 2 titles in 2023 in Auckland and Washington.
She is also scheduled to play at the U.S. Open (U.S. Open). The main draw will start on the 28th of August.
