Coco Gauff confirms coaching change to Matt Daly at China Open

Coco Gauff wasted no time in finding a new coach after her split from Brad Gilbert. Just a week after announcing the end of their partnership, the 2023 US Open champion hired Matt Daly as her new coach, debuting their partnership at the China Open in Beijing.

At 20, Gauff has already established herself as one of the biggest stars in tennis, reaching the heights of No. 2 in the world. But she knows that constant growth and adaptation are essential to staying on top. After splitting from Gilbert, Gauff was left with just one coach, Jean-Christophe (“JC”) Faurel, a trusted member of her teamBut she wanted to add someone new who could take her game to the next level.

Enter Matt Daly, 45, a coach with experience on the ATP Tour, recently worked with Canadian star Denis Shapovalov. Daly played tennis at the collegiate level at the University of Notre Dame. The collaboration between Gauff and Daly began a week before Gauff flew to Beijing.

Speaking to WTA Insider at the China Open, Gauff expressed her excitement about the new partnership and hinted that a long-term collaboration is in the offing:

I think next year it will probably look like that. I’m super excited about another change and hopefully improving other parts of my game. Working with Brad was really great and we obviously had a great partnership. I think it was just time to do a reset, a refresh, and add some things to my game that I felt I needed to do to have a better season next year.

The main aspect of Gauff’s game that she wants to focus on initially is her servewhich has been a notable weakness in recent times. Earlier this month, Gauff’s US Open title defense ended with a fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro, a match in which she made 19 double faults.

“There are other parts of my game that I want to work on, but the focus right now is on the serve,” Gauff said. “When I serve well, I play pretty well. For me, that’s the foundation of my game.”

As the fourth-seeded player in Beijing, Gauff had a bye in the first round and will face Clara Burel in her opening match on Friday. This isn’t the first time these two have met: Gauff narrowly defeated the Frenchwoman in a thrilling three-set match at Indian Wells earlier this year, 2-6 6-3 7-6(4). Despite not being in her best form recently, Gauff goes into the match as the heavy favorite, although she won’t underestimate Burel.