Former doubles world No. 1 Rennae Stubbs has offered a blunt assessment of Coco Gauff’s serving struggles, suggesting her technique could be a persistent issue unless major changes are made.
Gauff, currently ranked No. 4 in the world, has faced ongoing difficulties with her serve throughout the early part of the 2025 season. In her most recent appearance at the Miami Open, she hit 12 double faults in a straight-sets loss to Magda Linette. At Indian Wells, she recorded 21 double faults in her opening match and six more in her third-round win over Maria Sakkari.
The 2023 US Open champion leads the WTA Tour in double faults this season, with 121 across 18 matches, and has won just 38.9% of points behind her second serve.
Discussing the issue on her Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Stubbs pointed to technical flaws in Gauff’s motion:
“Her grip is wrong. Her elbow drops too low and stays close to her body. The left arm falls too quickly. These are fundamental issues,” Stubbs explained. “Bad technique breaks down under pressure—Billie Jean King used to say that—and we’re seeing that play out.”
Stubbs, who has coached legends like Serena Williams, was frank in her conclusion:
“Unless she corrects it, this will be a problem for her forever. You can’t be hitting 11, 12, 13 double faults in a match. That’s just unheard of at this level.”
Gauff will begin her clay-court season this week at the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart, where she’ll face either Tatjana Maria or Ella Seidel in her opening match.
