Former Serena Williams coach makes outlandish claim about Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff needs to get some help. Not mentally, because she is fine, but in terms of some fundamental tennis issues, yes. She needs some help.

There was no greater example of Gauff's struggles than when she had an astonishing 21 double faults in her recent semifinal match at the Wuhan Open to Aryna Sabalenka. Defeating the Belarusian is difficult enough, but giving away 21 free points is simply an early Christmas gift to Sabalenka. Gauff could have done lots of things to remedy the issue temporarily, but she didn't.

There simply is no excuse for 21 double faults. If a player can safely assume they are going to lose a point due to their own problems, then they need to try something different to stop the issue. Gauff could have just punched the ball over the net and taken a chance Sabalenka would have made a mistake. The American hardly gave the Belarusian a chance to make a mistake.

Coco Gauff's serve cannot be fixed in an hour no matter what Serena Williams ex-coach says

The issue with Gauff's serve is likely more mental than physical. She has to know she can land her serve with pace as she has done so for much of her career. Not being able to land her second serve when she is physically capable is another problem.

This is why when former Serena Williams coach Rick Macci says he can fix Gauff's serve in "an hour," he is clearly wrong. Macci posted on X/Twitter this week, "Coco and her second serve can be fixed in less than 1 hour. Once that is biomechanically rewired and that is in the EYE of the BEHOLDER the mental game overall becomes BOLDER."

Macci's last bit sounds a bit nonsensical, to be sure. Capitalizing the "eye" of the "beholder" is just weird. The fact is that Gauff's problem is not physical. If Macci can fix Gauff mentally in one hour, good for him. The truth is that he cannot.

Of course, a highly successful Coco Gauff is good for tennis, especially in the United States. She is a very mature young player with a great personality. Tennis needs her. She just needs to fix her serve.

More tennis news and analysis: