Coco Gauff Breaks Silence on Her Missing Coach Amid China Open

As the lights of the China Open prepare to shine on Beijing’s courts, all eyes are on one of tennis’ brightest stars: Coco Gauff. She won the title last year, defeating the Czech, Karolina Muchova, by 6-1,6-3 in the final. Can she defend her title this year? Time will tell! But this time, it isn’t just her blistering serves or groundstrokes making headlines—it’s the sudden absence of her coach, Gavin MacMillan. What happened to him, and where is he? Finally, Gauff put an end to speculation about her biomechanics coach in the pre-match press conference in Beijing.

This partnership generated significant buzz during the US Open. Gauff’s biggest problem this season has been her serve. She has played around 51 matches this season, but has already committed 347 double faults! Looking to cut down on her double faults and find consistency in her serve, Coco Gauff hired MacMillan, a biomechanics specialist who was instrumental in solving Aryna Sabalenka’s serving woes. While talking about the inclusion of MacMillan into the team, Gauff previously said, “It was, like, a very sudden decision. Gavin became available. I just felt this was the best decision for my game, and I had to go with what I was feeling. I know Gavin has had experience with this before, so [I’m] hoping I can just take on his knowledge and see what can happen.“

At the 2025 US Open, Coco Gauff played four matches in that tournament and committed 27 double faults. There were a few moments when we saw her struggling a bit, but she showed some signs of technical improvement on her serve. However, her practising without MacMillan in Beijing led to speculation about whether they had ended their partnership after only a few weeks. Putting all the speculations to rest, Gauff recently came up with a statement, saying, “I’m still working with Gavin, but he’s not here because we started last minute, so he had other plans for this part of the year. We’ll be working with each other right when I get home from here.”

She further added, “But it was a good learning experience. For me, it was a tough challenge, I think mentally more so than anything, just, like, kind of losing trust in a lot of things, trying to find that in that tournament. But I really do think that it gives me confidence for the future. I mean, the second week kind of having some really low moments on court. So I’m looking forward to now feeling refreshed and happy, feeling like I can trust myself all over again and see how do with this mindset.“

Coco Gauff is currently ranked third in the world, and she has a win-loss record of 38-13 this season. Her only title triumph came at the French Open this year. But as things stand, her spot inside the Top 3 could be in real danger in the final phase of the 2025 season. Several experts suggested she should take a break after the US Open to solve her serving woes, but the American has a huge number of ranking points to defend in the final weeks of 2025.

She won the China Open last year; hence, she will have to defend 1,000 points this year. While in Wuhan, she made it to the semis last year, collecting 390, and her 2024 WTA Finals triumph earned her a total of 1,300 points. If Gauff had opted out of this part of the season and dropped 2,690 points from her rankings total, she would’ve gone down to number 8 in the rankings. Now, since she is already geared up to kick start her Asian swing, it’ll be interesting to see if she can hold her spot in the Top 3 by defending those points. No pressure Coco.

Coco Gauff doesn’t feel much pressure before the 2025 China Open

Coco Gauff has a tough road ahead at the China Open! On Monday, September 22, the WTA draw in Beijing was released. The American has received a first-round bye, but in round 2, she will face either Kamilla Rakhimova or Lucia Bronzetti. Gauff hasn’t played much against Rakhimova in the singles events, but she has a 3-0 record against the Italian. If she wins this match, she will face either Belinda Bencic or Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round. Both of these players have already won one title each this season. Bencic won the Abu Dhabi Open earlier this year, while Ostapenko clinched the BOSS Open title. Gauff has a 3-2 record against Bencic at the moment, while it’s 2-1 against the Latvian. So, it’s pretty tight!

In the fourth round, Gauff may face Leylah Fernandez. She has a 2-0 record against the Canadian, but we are all well aware of the potential of the 2021 US Open finalist. Winning this battle would ensure Coco Gauff a chance to take on the Kazakhstani star Elena Rybakina in the QF before setting up a probable clash against her compatriot Amanda Anisimova in the SF. In the final, she has a good chance of facing Iga Swiatek. Currently, Gauff trails Swiatek by 4-11 in the H2H. So, the road to title defense isn’t so easy for the American.

How does Coco Gauff look at this challenge of defending her title in Beijing? Well, in the press conference, she claimed that her main goal now is to prepare for next year and treat what’s left almost like a preseason, something that she did even in the last season. She further added, “For me, I don’t know why, but it feels different at the end of the year. Although technically I’m the defending champion of the tournament, I don’t feel that way at all. I don’t mean to say that I don’t care, because obviously I’m not playing a tournament and trying to lose or anything like that. But yes, there’s definitely a burden that, in a way, makes you not care, especially when you’ve had a good season. I think winning Roland Garros helped me shed some of that weight off.”

She feels much lighter this season, and Gauff looks at this event as a training tournament. But having said that, it’s needless to mention that she’ll come out all guns blazing after stepping onto the court in Beijing. Do you think she can retain her title this year?