When Coco Gauff hired seasoned coach Pere Riba in the summer, everything seemed to be going well. However, they recently decided to part ways.
For many in the community, especially given the way it was announced, this was pretty shocking news. Chanda Rubin and Lindsay Davenport revealed that Gauff was no longer collaborating with Pere Riba during her match against Ons Jabeur at the WTA Finals.
Prior to Wimbledon, Gauff recruited Riba based on some positive suggestions from other athletes. He was a very modern voice in Gauff’s group, encouraging her to play a more aggressive style of tennis.
The Spanish former player Pere Riba, who assisted the American in winning her first Grand Slam title, has been notably absent since Brad Gilbert assumed the position of head coach.
Riba announced his split on social media on Wednesday, mentioning personal and family health issues as the cause of his departure. He wrote on his Instagram: “I want to inform you that Coco and I won’t be continuing our journey together in 2024. However, let’s focus on the positive aspects of this year, 2023, as it has been a great one. We did our best to keep our partnership going into the next year, but unfortunately, due to some personal and family health reasons on my side, I need to take a step back.”
The 19-year-old hinted that the call was out of her control but stated she would have wanted to keep building on their mutual success, which peaked with her first Grand Slam victory at the US Open.
She said: “If it were up to me, I would’ve loved to have him here. But things happen; life happens. There are no bad terms on our end. Sometimes people think it’s bigger than it is. Some things just didn’t work out. That’s all. I still think he’s a great guy. He did some amazing things for me personally and for my game. I’m sure he’s gonna be successful in his next step.”
"Unfortunately, due to some personal and family health reasons on my side, I need to take a step back.” 😔@CocoGauff's former coach Pere Riba opened up on his decision to split with the American ahead of #WTAFinals Cancun. ⤵️https://t.co/vSJ5eXJwu7
— TENNIS (@Tennis) November 2, 2023
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Coco Gauff in 2023
WWWWWLWWWL Currently the world no.3 (career-high), Gauff played her last match on the 1st of November when she surrendered to world no.2 Iga Swiatek 6-0 7-5 in the round robin in Cancun (draw).
Currently, during this season the American has managed to achieve a 50-15 match record. Gauff clinched 4 titles in 2023 in Auckland, Washington, Cincinnati and U.S. Open.
Coco Gauff |
| Embed from Getty Images |
