Coco Gauff is into the quarter-final of the Stuttgart Open, where she will face Karolina Muchova later today.
It marks a head-to-head that is heavily in her favour and a clash she will hope to win to properly take advantage of her side of the draw.
Given the wealth of talent on the opposite half of the tournament, the American has a fine opportunity to reach back-to-back finals after her triumph in Miami, thus kickstarting her clay-court campaign in the perfect fashion.
And, speaking after her recent and routine win over Liudmila Samsonova, Coco Gauff rated her current level on clay, as well as how her serve has been performing.
Coco Gauff rates her level on clay this season
Gauff’s serve has been under scrutiny for well over a year now, with Gavin MacMillan the man who was tasked with solving that debilitating issue.
It was preventing the 22-year-old from regularly competing at the top of the sport, where many felt she belonged, making her play each match with a significant handicap. The fact that she gained any success during the worst of it is astounding.
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Alas, the progress is clear for all to see, and she began by discussing how it feels to return to clay as the defending Roland Garros champion at her press conference: “Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t say — obviously the first time defending champion, I feel like I have come into it with being a favourite, one of the favourites before, maybe not “the” favourite.
“How would I put this tournament? Honestly, I don’t know.
“For me, it’s just trying to find my groove here. I don’t do well here. I’m trying to break that curse. I broke it in Miami, so I’m hoping to break it here. I don’t also put a lot of expectations on this tournament, because it is a clay that I don’t think suits my game. I think it suits bigger, maybe flatter hitters because of the indoors, but I definitely think I’m happy just to get through today.”
Then, touching on her serve, Gauff added: “Yeah, I made some changes, and I think it’s better. I mean, yeah, I served pretty well today, I thought. Obviously had some moments where there were doubles, but, I mean, it could have been — I had five. Really could have been three. I should have got out of that 4-0 game a bit quicker.
“Yeah, I’m happy with how I served today. I think it earned me a lot of free points, and especially my kick.”
Coco Gauff explains how she took inspiration from Rafael Nadal
Delivering her on-court interview immediately after that win over Samsonova, Gauff was asked to detail her greatest clay-court inspiration.
Unsurprisingly, her answer did not vary from the outstanding candidate, referencing Rafael Nadal at the first opportunity.
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However, the two-time Grand Slam champion was keen to distance herself from the Spanish superstar in terms of quality, laughing as she claimed: “I mean, the greatest clay court player is Rafa, but I don’t quite play like him, but I do try to hit my forehand like he does on clay.
“I don’t run around as much because my forehand isn’t as good as Rafa, but I try to hit like him, so I guess him, and then, I don’t know, it’s just me and him. I don’t know. Like a Walmart version of Rafa. I don’t want to be like obliterated online, like a lesser version of Rafa, okay?”
Nadal has actually been helping out Iga Swiatek ahead of the clay-court season recently, alongside her new coach, Francisco Roig.
