Tennis News: Coco Gauff's big change and Elina Svitolina's surgery
- Coco Gauff makes a massive change to her team
- Elina Svitolina announces the end to her 2024 season
By Lee Vowell
Coco Gauff knows something is off. After a terrific summer run in 2023 which included a victory at the US Open, she fell apart this summer and failed to even reach the quarterfinals at her events. She also fell in the WTA rankings to No. 6. She has won only one tournament this year in singles and that was in January.
Gauff started working with coach Brad Gilbert in August last year, just before her run of successful tournaments. The pairing seemed to reshape Gauff's career and should have made her a dangerous player for years. For whatever reason, though, that success was short-lived.
This week, Gauff announced she is parting ways with Gilbert in hopes of finding the spark with someone else that she found with Gilbert for a few months in 2023. To be sure, there were issues with Gilbert coaching Gauff from the beginning. He never stopped commentating on matches so one might have wondered how he would be able to split his time successfully. Ultimately, he wasn't.
Coco Gauff makes a coaching change and Elina Svitolina has surgery
Gauff is just 20 years old, though. She has the immense athletic ability to be a great player for the next decade, but she must clean up problems she has with her second serve and forehand. Hopefully, whoever she hires as her new coach can help her fix the issues.
One player who is done with the 2024 season is Elina Svitolina. She announced on social media that she had foot surgery but hopes to return in 2025. The issue had been impacting not only her tennis this year but her "everyday life" as well. The issue has been a "long-standing" one, she wrote.
dark. Next. Next: ATP winners and losers from the 2024 Grand Slams. ATP winners and losers from the 2024 Grand Slams
Svitolina has a record of 28=17 this year but she did make one final, the ASB Classic in New Zealand to begin the year. Coincidentally, she lost to Gauff at the event. Still, Svitolina is only 30 years old and she should be able to bounce back next year.
She and her husband, Gael Monfils, are both popular players and good for tennis. Let's hope Svitolina can come back better in 2025 and challenge for more titles.
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