COCO Gauff produced one of the performances of the tournament by downing third seed and reigning Australian Open champion, Naomi Osaka. Gauff was sensational throughout the match, winning in straight sets 6-3 6-4, showcasing her ability to match it with Osaka through long baseline rallies, while still having areas to work on for the future. We analysed her match and where her strengths and improvements lie.

STRENGTHS:

• Flat backhand technique and placement
• Wide serves
• High tennis IQ
• Power with serves and baseline rallies

It is clear one of Gauff’s greatest strengths is her backhand, with the teenager being comfortable when hitting it flat with speed. Her placement and consistency when being able to maintain the tempo is very impressive for a player of her age. Her higher tennis IQ allows her to be able to assess the situation when on the attack and in regards to her backhand, she can take speed off the shot deceptively so it drops a tad shorter than Osaka was expecting. For a smaller player, Gauff is still able to generate food power off her serve and is baseline rallies, more than comfortable to be able to hit from the back court. Additionally, her wider serves are her strengths with her ability to generate more speed serving across her body on the forehand side than down the middle. The trait that stands out more than anything for a player with her comparable inexperience is her ability to seize big moments, which she did by breaking Osaka in the eighth game to lead her to take the set.

IMPROVEMENTS:

• Backhand slice
• Ball toss
• Net approaches/volleying

While Gauff’s ability to hit flat backhands is a clear standout strength, she does need to further develop her defensive shots, such as her backhand slice. On multiple occasions, she tried to mix up the speed of the rally with a slice, but it either popped up too high or did not have enough spin for Osaka to be thrown off balance. Nearly every time, Osaka was able to generate a winner off the backhand slice. Another area that was of particular concern on the night was her ball toss, which at one stage saw her apologise three times in a game for misthrowing it up and having to have a second crack at it. This is an area that can be easily practiced and there was a slight breeze, but can throw players off their game. Finally, Gauff’s other area of improvement is her net play, often charging forward to try and volley, but arriving a touch too early and having to stretch, therefore putting it straight into the net.

SUMMARY:

Based on her current output and obvious inexperience, Gauff has the ability to develop into a sensational talent. Without putting too much pressure on a 15-year-old, she has all the traits to become a genuine top 10 player and future Grand Slam winner. The way she is able to compete with the elite stars of the WTA Tour now when realistically she should be playing the junior circuit, is absolutely outstanding. She might not dominate consistently for at least a few years, but based on her shots and upside, expect to see Gauff as a household name for many years to come.