Coco Gauff has had no shortage of feedback after her disappointing result against Amanda Anisimova at the China Open.
Gauff was well beaten by Anisimova in Beijing, managing just three games in a 58-minute loss at the China Open.
Anisimova, who went on to win the title, has also narrowed the gap on Gauff in the WTA rankings.
One of Serena Williams’ former coaches has already given their thoughts to Gauff. Now Rennae Stubbs has also commented on her recent defeat.
Rennae Stubbs shares her thoughts on Coco Gauff’s defeat to Amanda Anisimova
Stubbs has often highlighted Gauff’s serve, which has come under scrutiny again after the Anisimova match. Despite that, Gauff expressed optimism about her serve heading into the Wuhan Open.
But Stubbs doesn’t believe she should even be playing in Wuhan, suggesting the entire Asian swing might not have been beneficial for her confidence.
Speaking on her podcast, Stubbs said: “The thing that I have said about Coco is how much can you take emotionally? So she scrapes through the matches in China and was not winning them easily, battling in three sets and then gets crushed by Anisimova. But that type of a player is going to crush your weaknesses.”
Anisimova had made it clear ahead of the match that she saw an opportunity against Gauff, something Stubbs believes played out on court.
Stubbs shares thoughts on Gauff’s loss to Anisimova
Coco Gauff’s serve has been a regular topic of discussion, and Rennae Stubbs, the former world number one, has been focusing on it quite a bit lately.
Even though she only managed to hold serve twice in the match against Anisimova, Gauff spoke positively about her serve heading into the Wuhan Open.
But Stubbs believes Gauff should have skipped the Asian swing entirely and questioned whether playing through this stretch is helping her confidence.
“They are going to crush your forehand and they’re going to put you under a lot of pressure. Amanda is so confident right now that she looks at playing Coco as an opportunity because she gets the balls to hit that she wants.
“She is not being pressed by someone like [Aryna] Sabalenka, who is hitting the ball back as hard as her as she was at the US Open and then she is on the back foot and she is having to then defend. She is not really defending against Coco, unless Coco is serving unbelievably and crushing backhands.
“It’s not like Coco can just say I am going to hit my forehand harder and flatter today. That is not going to happen with the technique. On clay that grip and technique I wouldn’t say is great, but it’s optimised for clay. If she plays her on clay, that is a match I want to see, because you are going to have someone belting the ball.
“But on hard court you are going to struggle against players who hit it that flat and hard, so at some point it has to start taking a mental toll on you. That’s why I was like just shut it down. Go and practice somewhere where nobody is paying attention and work on those technique flaws.”
READ MORE: Iga Swiatek asks Wuhan Open organisers to make a change after winning her opening match
Coco Gauff has made no secret of viewing these tournaments as more practice than anything else—something she reinforced again during media rounds ahead of Wuhan Open play this week.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
