Gauff’s win with her C game is a skill that is setting her apart
The American says she has not read Brad Gilbert’s book, Winning Ugly, yet but she’s doing what he preaches
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In her press conference after beating Marta Kostyuk at the Australian Open on Tuesday, Coco Gauff was asked if she had ever read “Winning Ugly”, the famous book written by Brad Gilbert.
In it, Gilbert gives numerous tips on the mental side of the game, something that every player, professional or amateur, could learn from.
Gauff, it seems, has not read it – yet. Which might be a little embarrassing, given that Gilbert joined the American’s team last summer, a combination that immediately enjoyed success as the 19-year-old won the US Open for her first Grand Slam title.
“My mom actually got it for me when we were in the talks of just possibly working with Brad and she was like, you need to read this,” Gauff said on Tuesday after her three-hour, eight-minute win over Marta Kostyuk in the quarter-finals. “She read it and I didn’t read it. But I feel like I got the real version so I don’t need a book. But maybe it could help. I’ll probably do it just to surprise him.”
Gilbert was courtside for Gauff’s win over Kostyuk on Tuesday, a match in which she played badly for two sets but regrouped in the third to record the kind of win Gilbert would have been proud of. As she said afterwards, “I had my C game. Hopefully that’s my bad match out of the way.”
Gauff: ‘Problem-solving is tennis’
It’s far from the first time that Gauff has found a way to win. In fact, it’s something that became her trademark at last year’s US Open, when she won four of her matches in three sets, coming from a set down in three of them, including the final, when she beat Sabalenka.
“Today was frustrating because I knew how I needed to play, I just couldn’t execute,” she said. “Eventually I was able to find it, which is what I’m proud of.
“Problem-solving is tennis. You could play someone today and maybe a week later they’ll play you completely different. It’s a part of it. At the end of the day you’re given a scouting report but you have to go with feeling and try your best to win. That’s what I did today.”
In some ways, it’s what makes Gauff such a champion. Even on a bad day, her attitude is such that she’s going to try to find a way. Down 5-1 in the first set against Kostyuk, she told herself to just try to win the next game, stay in touch. Once she got back on serve she kept on going, her head never dropped and somehow she won the first set, saving two set points in the process.
Gilbert’s influence has been clear in Gauff in a couple of ways. While her forehand faltered on Tuesday, it came back in the third set and under the American’s tutelage, has vastly improved. Her serve, which also was shaky in the first two sets, is much better, as a rule.
But it is her ability to find a way, even when the rhythm is not there, that is beginning to separate her from others. Gauff rarely has really bad days and even when she does, as it seemed was the case for the first two sets against Kostyuk, she gets herself out of it.
Gauff won’t beat herself
It’s something that’s been inside her ever since she burst onto the scene as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon, beating Venus Williams in the first round. It’s something she’s maintained throughout her progress into the world’s top five and it’s something that, combined with her brilliant athleticism, is taking her right to the top.
She’ll need to play better against Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-final, no doubt. But there’s one thing that won’t happen in their clash on Thursday, or at least is highly unlikely. She won’t beat herself. And that is something that Gilbert would be proud of.
“Obviously, sometimes when you’re down 5-1 you’re not expecting to win the set,” she said. “I believe every point, every game matters, and eventually the score started to get closer.
“Then I was back on serve. I was just fighting as much as possible. I knew going in, playing her, it’s a tough match. She’s pretty athletic, and we kind of play similar. I think today she was just more offensive, which I wish I was taking the offense from the beginning. So I think that was frustrating. Again, I’m just glad I was able to get through today.”
