Coco Gauff's only fatal flaw is her serve. Specifically, her trend of double faults. She can keep her opponent in matches simply because of those errors. But when Gauff is serving well, she might be the best player on the WTA tour.
Liudmila Samsonova learned this in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix as the Russian got a break early and might have been thinking she could pull off a huge upset. Things changed swiftly after she led 3-1 in the first set, however.
Gauff earned the break back, and then her serve became much more on point. She is always going to have double faults, but she was controlling games, dictating the pace of play on her serve and while returning Samsonova. The American, and WTA No. 3, raced back to take set 7-5.
Coco Gauff overcomes Liudmila Samsonova in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
At that point, she was in the midst of winning eight straight games, eventually leading the second set 5-0. The outcome was no longer in doubt, and the only real question was whether Samsonova would win a game. She finally did to avoid being bageled, but Gauff would take the second set 6-1.
While the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix isn't a Masters event or a Grand Slam, it is an important step toward the French Open. That is because of the players who choose to play, such as Elena Rybakina and Mirra Andreeva. It is a warm-up event where a player can test their readiness for the next Grand Slam in the best way.
Gauff knows she can win the French Open, too. She took the title in Paris in 2025 and will try to defend her crown in 2026. She will need to serve better, of course, but the other areas of her game are so elite that she can overcome that flaw many times. That includes what happened against Samsonova in Stuttgart.
Next for Coco Gauff is Karolina Muchova, a player with a high tennis IQ who will challenge the American even more (and the Czech is due against Gauff as Muchova hasn't won in six meetings between the two players). If Gauff can get past that quarterfinal match, she will next play the winner of the Linda Noskova and Elina Svitolina match.
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