By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday August 2, 2023
Coco Gauff clarified her coaching setup on Wednesday night at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, taking time to tell reporters about her situation with Pere Riba, whom she hired before Wimbledon, and Brad Gilbert, who is helping her as a consultant for the short term.
Gilbert, the former coach of Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick and the author of the fabled tennis book “Winning Ugly,” has drawn lots of attention since he was spotted on court with Gauff at practice in D.C. over the weekend.
Andy Roddick endorsed the pairing, responding to a tweet mentioning the pairing with two words: “Hell yes.”
Gauff says that the pair’s plans don’t go beyond this week at this point.
“We have just started this week, and right now we have plans just for the week,” she said. “I mean, obviously how things go, we may expand in future tournaments.
“Working with him has been great. I really didn't know him that well other than the commentating, just a little bit seeing his past coaching performances, but those were before I was born.”
Gilbert is an affable character, known for his sense of humor. Gauff says she has warmed up to it.
“He's a very funny man,” she said. “I was a little bit worried, because he is older, that I thought the generational thing, I didn't want to be with someone who's a wall. But he's definitely not a wall. He's making us laugh on court constantly. I think he just makes the game fun and makes it simple. So I'm hoping if everything goes good we probably will continue after this.”
A plan for the short and long term
When asked what she is looking for in a coach, the American said she wants to place importance both on the short term and the long term. It’s no secret that her forehand needs some type of overhaul, but it sounds like Gauff is going to completely tear it down until after the season – if at all.
“I'm looking for someone that has a plan long term and short term,” she said. “Obviously in season there is a lot you can do but you don't want to make many major changes. Yeah, I was looking for someone that had a plan post-US Open and sort of leading up to US Open.”
Gauff says she likes the chemistry she has felt with Riba, a former ATP player from Spain who most recently coached Zheng Qinwen.
“Now that I have been working with him, had a couple of weeks to train, I do feel like he's someone that I want to continue with,” Gauff said. “Obviously a little bit of results matter, so hopefully the results will go well. But I do feel that we have a solid team right now. I feel stable. I feel like I have improved. I don't know, in this match, I feel like I have improved a lot since Wimbledon.
“It's only been a couple weeks, so I'm hoping that with more and more hours on the court and more and more, you know, training, mentally, physically, and technique-wise, that I can make a big jump and improvement.”
As far as Gilbert goes, Gauff is enjoying and benefitting from the former World No.4’s company, but no word on whether he will accompany her to more events this year.
It could be a good fit at the US Open, where Gilbert’s commentating duties will have him on site during the fortnight.
“He's more, quote, unquote, a consultant. So I'm trying him this week,” she said. “So I hope we continue. I'm liking how I'm feeling right now. But, you know, you don't know how things go. He's still doing his stuff off-court, as well.”