Coco Gauff’s WTA Finals title defense: myths vs facts
Coco Gauff defends her WTA Finals title despite leading the tour with 121 double faults in 18 matches. Her 9-0 record in hard-court finals highlights resilience, yet serve consistency remains a critical barrier to securing another championship.
The narrative surrounding Coco Gauff’s 2025 campaign is a mess of contradictory signals. She entered the Riyadh tournament as the defending champion, having beaten Qinwen Zheng in three sets to claim the £3.7 million prize last year. Yet her path back to the final was far from smooth. The American committed 17 double faults in her opening match against Marketa Vondrousova before salvaging a 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 win. This result kept her alive after she dropped four consecutive games and 16 of 21 points to trail 1-0 in the second set. Her serve remains the primary concern, with former pro Nicole Pratt noting an "underlying" issue eating away at her confidence.
The serve problem persists
Gauff hired biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan in August to fix her service motion, but the improvement is not yet visible. She led the tour in double faults for the season with 121 errors in just 18 matches. In New York, she committed 27 double faults across four matches before losing to Naomi Osaka in the Round of 16. At the China Open, the count reached 31 in five matches. These numbers are alarming because they directly correlate with her losses to top opponents. For instance, Jasmine Paolini beat her twice this season, including in the Rome final, often capitalizing on shaky service games. The myth that she has fixed this issue is clearly false. The data shows a player still struggling with consistency on her most important stroke.
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Double faults (Season) | 121 |
| Matches played (Season) | 18 |
| Wuhan Open Result | Winner |
| Hard-court Finals Record | 9-0 |
Resilience over perfection
Despite the serving woes, Gauff’s record in hard-court finals is exceptional. She won her first nine such matches, a feat Martina Navratilova called "crazy." This statistic contradicts the view that she is fragile under pressure. In Wuhan, she defeated Moyuka Uchijima without committing a single double fault, landing nearly 84.8 percent of her first serves. That clean performance proved the mechanical work can yield results when timing aligns. However, the broader season was a rollercoaster. She lost in the fourth round of the US Open and struggled on grass, failing to win a match on that surface. Her 2025 record stands at 48-15, with the bulk of wins coming on clay and hard courts. The question of whether she can sustain this level of mental toughness through a full season without serve breakdowns remains unanswered.
You know she is only 21, so expecting perfect consistency is unrealistic. A 25-year-old typically handles these swings better, but Gauff wants it now. She admitted in interviews that perfectionism makes her good but also causes stress. The fact that she reached the WTA Finals semifinal after being a game away from elimination shows her refusal to quit. Laura Robson noted that Gauff never let anyone see her sweat during the long matches. This resilience is her strongest asset, even if her serve is currently her biggest liability. The title defense hinges on whether she can keep her double fault count low enough to avoid giving away free points in tight sets. If she cannot control the serve, the rest of her game, including her elite movement and defensive skills, will not be enough to secure another trophy.
