Serena Williams has made coaching stance clear as Coco Gauff splits with Brad Gilbert……Read More

Serena Williams has already made her stance on tennis coaching clear amid Coco Gauff’s split from Brad Gilbert. While working with the legendary coach, Gauff won her first grand slam title at last year’s US Open.

However, the 20-year-old was unable to defend her title in New York this year as she crashed out in the fourth round to Emma Navarro. Gauff endured chronic problems with her serve, hitting 19 double faults and producing 60 unforced errors.

Following the split, which was confirmed on Wednesday, Gilbert posted on X: “Thanks to Coco Gauff and the entire team for an absolutely amazing summer run in 2023 and for 14 months of incredible team effort.

“Coco, at just 20 years young, your future is incredibly bright, and I wish you nothing but continued success ahead. I’m excited for the next chapter in my coaching career.”

Gauff responded with an X post of her own, adding: “Thank you Brad Gilbert! We had an incredible run and I wish you all the best in the future!”

The tennis world will now be intrigued to see who Gauff hires next. Judging by previous comments, it won’t be 23-time grand winner Williams, who is focusing on her family and business interests.

Williams outlined her plans for the future as she announced her retirement in 2022. Writing in Vogue, she said: “Believe me, I never wanted to have to choose between tennis and a family. I don’t think it’s fair.

“If I were a guy, I wouldn’t be writing this because I’d be out there playing and winning while my wife was doing the physical labor of expanding our family.”

Speaking of her desire to have a second child, she said she needed to be all in or all out of tennis, adding: “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete [she won the 2017 Australian Open while pregnant with first child Olympia]. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”

Williams did have another child with her husband Alexis Ohanian in August last year, welcoming Adira River Ohanian into the world. Speaking earlier this year about leaving tennis behind, she told Byrdie magazine: “I love sports and being active. Leaving something I was still good at to be a mom was such a difficult decision.

“But I wanted another kid, so I had to do that. Now it’s about finding balance and doing other things I’ve always loved.”

In another sign of her stance on coaching, Williams revealed that Olympia had caught the tennis bug, not that her illustrious mum would be providing any lessons.

“I don’t have the patience to teach tennis,” Williams once joked to talkshow host Ellen DeGeneres. “I don’t really like to play with people who don’t know how to play tennis well. It drives me nuts. So, I was like, ‘I can’t. I don’t have the patience for this’. So I signed her up for a private class.”

Having signed Olympia up anonymously, Williams added: “She [the coach] kind of had a feeling. Still, could you imagine the responsibility!?”