SUMMARY
- Coco Gauff crashed out of the Dubai Championships against Anna Kalinskaya.
- The match shed light on one of her old problems.
Coco Gauff is currently going through a slump in form during the Middle East swing. She took on Anna Kalinskaya for a spot in the semifinals in Dubai, but suffered a defeat. Gauff‘s departure from the tournament has shed light on some of her recurring troubles, with her forehand being the biggest one of them all.
Coco is one of the most prominent players on the WTA tour. She reached the pinnacle of success in 2023 when she enjoyed a remarkable run during the North American hard court swing. Her run culminated in Gauff winning her maiden major title at the US Open. Coco kicked off this season by defending the ASB Classic title, but she has not looked very comfortable since.
Gauff got off to a good start against Kalinskaya, as she claimed the first set. However, Anna shook off her back injury to stage an impressive comeback. She knocked out Gauff, as she defeated the 19-year-old 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Anna Kalinskaya comes back to beat Coco Gauff 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and reach her first career WTA 1000 semifinal in Dubai.
Massive result for her, who looked injured for most of the match.
Will she even play tomorrow vs. Swiatek? pic.twitter.com/auTIfhzByH
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) February 22, 2024
Kalinskaya needed to be treated for her back injury twice, but she found her footing in the second set. She did not trail in the second set, and she took advantage of Coco’s second serve.
Kalinskaya capitalized on Gauff’s weakness as she continued to attack the teen. The matchup highlighted some of Gauff’s continued technical challenges. Even the fans caught on to how “her forehand is nonexistent.”
Terrible play from Gauff. Really bad. Her forhend is non existent.
— FanTomasz Szary (@t_stanislawski) February 22, 2024
Gauff seems to be back to her old habits with shaky serving and weak forehand hitting. That’s worrying. Other than those two shots, she’s still playing well. Anna played a great second and third set, to be honest, and fully deserved the win. Hope she’s fit to play tomorrow.
— African Tennis Fan (@QwabetkQwabe) February 22, 2024
The forehand has never been Coco Gauff’s strongest weapon. She did make some changes to her coaching team and adjusted her playing, but her problems are back, it seems.
Coco Gauff and her continued troubles with her forehand
Gauff is blessed with incredible defensive skills, that have helped her rise up the rankings. Her backhand is powerful, and Gauff uses it judiciously. However, her forehand still needs a lot of work and remains one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in women’s tennis.
Coco is not consistent with the shot either, from the contact point to where she hits the ball. This has cost Gauff a lot in big matches, including the WTA Finals and the French Open finals in 2022. Coco knows she has to execute in matches because she has been doing it at practice.
“I think I need to work on the execution part because I am executing them in practice, certain moments in practice. It’s about transferring that into the match,” she said (via Eurosport).
At 19 years of age, Coco Gauff still has a lot of time to improve her skills. Even though the back-to-back losses in Qatar and Dubai will hurt, she will bounce back stronger.
