WUHAN: Coco Gauff ‘s serve – taken apart and reassembled on television and internet channels — is the most talked-about shot in tennis.The 21-year-old American, athlete supreme, teamed up with sports performance specialist Gavin MacMillan to retool her serve in the lead-up to the US Open. MacMillan, who worked with the world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka previously, using biomechanics to sort an increasingly errant serve, hasn’t travelled to China with the reigning French Open champion. He’s honouring the prior commitments made before he signed with Gauff.The world No.3, who has double-faulted 426 times in her 65 matches this season, the most in the WTA top-100, believes she’s over the worst in repurposing her serve. She will open her Dongfeng Voyah Wuhan Open campaign this week against Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima on Wednesday in the round of 32. “I’m still obviously learning a new motion, but I felt like Beijing (last week) was a good tournament for me regarding the serve. There were moments I could have served better, but overall, I don’t feel like it was a crutch for me,” said Gauff, who was beaten by the world No.4 Amanda Anisimova in the semi-finals.
Gauff, who has dropped speed on her serve to accommodate the new motion, landed 60 percent of her first serves in the match, but won just 10 of 26 of those points. In all she won 16 points on her serve in the match.“Anisimova was returning well,” Gauff said of the all-American semi-final. “The percentage of first serve points (won) was really low, but I hit like a 200-kilometre serve, and she was hitting the ball back way faster. I think I am in the right direction. It is not where I wanted to be, but I definitely feel like it is on the upwards.” “I want my serve to be a real weapon and it is in some moments, but being a weapon more consistently is what I want,” the two-time major winner said.Gauff, who has been open about the fact that her serve needed work, has refrained from commenting on the nuances. To the casual observer it is the ball toss that appears to be the area of concern. It looks like the American draws her left hand closer to her body before releasing the ball, instead of taking it forward. Gauff doesn’t do it all the time, but when the default settings come into play, it is distinct. Czech-born American Martina Navratilova picked on Gauff’s toss during a television interview in New York.“The number one thing for me is the toss, her motion looks good enough to me, ” the 18-time major winner said. “The serve starts with the toss. If she gets that organised, then the rest falls into place because so many times she has had to adjust her motion to where the ball is. It needs to be the other way around.”Gauff, who is using this part of the season to prepare for the 2026 calendar when she hopes her serve and game will be where she wants it to be, is diligent with details.On Monday afternoon in Wuhan, the 5 ft 9’ pro paid a visit to the Robot Innovation Centre, where she engaged in an activity with a humanoid. Gauff was tasked to help the robot pick up plastic fruits and a tennis ball from a table and drop them into a basket, using a remote control. The 21-year-old took her time assimilating with the machine, the one in her hand and the other standing beside her. Picking up the first fruit, an apple took time, after which the match face came on. Gauff clocked 15-20 seconds per fruit there after having found consistency in the controls.“Woohoo,” she exclaimed after completing the exercise. Dialled in is where Gauff is on the serve. She’s trying, she’s fighting and doing it all while competing.