Coco Gauff’s season ended with little fanfare, but she has still been on the receiving end of some huge praise for how she handled herself throughout 2025.
After all, despite adding another Grand Slam title to her collection, it was hardly a year of outstanding success for the youngster.
She suffered through long stretches of poor form and, on the eve of the US Open, made a huge change that shocked the tennis world.
Gauff replaced her entire coaching team, instead hiring biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan to guide her through the rest of the season.
Many questioned the move, with the timing coming under particular scrutiny.
However, Caroline Garcia has since shown admiration for such a bold move.
Caroline Garcia praises Coco Gauff for huge coaching change
Chatting to The Express, Garcia was asked her thoughts on Coco Gauff, with the former WTA Finals champion naturally effusive in her praise for the 21-year-old.
In fact, the Frenchwoman went as far as to brand her an inspiration, reserving particular adulation for the bravery it took to overhaul her coaching team when she did earlier this year.
“She’s just such an incredible champion,” Garcia began.“It’s hard to believe how young she is.
She has been there forever, it feels like.
“She’s like such an inspiration, I think, for everyone on tour and in tennis, but also outside because of what she achieved with already so much pressure.
“I think she stays a very normal girl, you know, when you see her. Obviously, in her game, she’s really trying hard to improve her serve, her forehand, which maybe this year has been a bit less good, even if she won Roland-Garros.
“But I think it’s very interesting to see how she’s building her team around and how she decided to fix that serve pre-US Open, which is probably for her the most important tournament of the year. And she didn’t know the serve was not going to improve in two days.
“So I found it very interesting to see that she’s able to make those big decisions and take risks and understand that sometimes it will pay off in the long term. But yeah, I’m a big fan of Coco and I think she’s doing a lot of good for tennis, but also sports and women in general.”
Coco Gauff will be an exciting unknown heading into 2026
It might seem ridiculous to suggest that the player who finished the year ranked third in the world will head into the new year as an unknown commodity, but Gauff is unlike anybody else on the WTA Tour right now.
After all, despite her youth, the American is a two-time Grand Slam champion, and her home nation has great expectations for her.
Many look to her to spearhead US hopes at every event she enters, and despite adding the Roland Garros title to her trophy cabinet earlier in 2025, it was not a year of overwhelming success for Gauff.
Instead, it was actually laden with disappointment, marred by her misfiring serve and forehand that saw her suffer many shock defeats.
The hope is that, with MacMillan by her side, Gauff can turn 2026 into one of far greater consistency and success. If she can fix those two outstanding problem areas, the sky really is the limit for her.
It will be intriguing to see how she fares in Australia at the first Grand Slam of the season, where she could lay down a marker and exhibit great strides made alongside her new coach.
