Rennae Stubbs declares Coco Gauff "the ultimate player of winning ugly" and she is giving credit to the American for having that ability, but also warns the 21-year-old that it could backfire on the latter stages of a Grand Slam tournament.
At the start of the Asian swing, Gauff was evidently far from her best game, but she still made the Beijing semifinal after surviving a couple of tight encounters. That was before Amanda Anisimova thrashed her 6-1 6-2. In Wuhan, the American experienced certain issues on her serve, but still lifted the title at the Chinese WTA 1000 tournament.
Results-wise, Gauff did extremely well in back-to-back WTA 1000 tournaments in China. However, Stubbs - a former six-time Grand Slam champion in doubles - didn't appear to be too convinced by what she saw from the two-time Grand Slam winner.
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She is the ultimate player of winning ugly," Stubbs said on her podcast.
Stubbs: Will it hurt Gauff in a big Grand Slam match?
Gauff's serve and forehand have been long ago identified as the two weaknesses in her game. In September, the American addressed the serving aspect by hiring biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan.
How many players in the top 10 are going I hope I can hit that shot in the court today? and that is Coco. There were times she was double-faulting again. That was in the semis and in the final, but she just keeps going. She is built different. I give her tons of credit, I love her. I dont know if its the right thing because at some point again, in a big match at the majors, is it going to hurt her though? That she hasnt worked on those things enough," Stubbs explained.
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To Gauff's defense, she has repeated several times over the last two months that her main priority for the rest of 2025 is to improve her game rather than chase the results.
