Coco Gauff and Brad Gilbert. Getty Images (2)
Tennis star Coco Gauff and her coach, Brad Gilbert, have parted ways.
Gilbert, 63, announced the news in a statement posted via X on Wednesday, September 18.
“Thanks 🙏 to @CocoGauff and the entire team for an absolutely amazing summer run in 2023 and for 14 months of incredible team effort,” he wrote. “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.”
Social media users offered words of support to the former tennis pro, with one person writing, “Summer of 2023 was legendary. Thank you for helping Coco become a Grand Slam champion.”
Another said, “I just want to say congrats BG on taking Coco to her Grand Slam victory in New York last year. It was never going to be easy to back that up this year for obvious reasons. So, for me, you do not deserve criticism, but utmost praise on that amazing Grand Slam achievement together.”
Gilbert began working with Gauff, 20, in July 2023 as a co-coach alongside Spain’s Pere Riba. Gilbert, who previously coached tennis phenoms Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Andy Roddick, helped the young tennis star reach her all-time top ranking of No. 2 in the summer of last year.
Under his coaching, Gauff also clinched her first Grand Slam title in September 2023 and won three titles that summer in Washington D.C., Cincinnati and at the U.S. Open — where she became the youngest American to win a home major since Serena Williams more than 25 years ago.
Coco Gauff on Day 5 of the US Open on August 30, 2024 in New York City. Jamie Squire/Getty Images
Though she started out the 2024 season strong with her seventh career WTA singles title in Auckland, New Zealand, and making it to the semifinals at the Australian Open, Gauff seemingly lost momentum after she was beaten by fellow American Emma Navarro in the last two Grand Slams in the round of 16.
She also failed to medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics despite competing in three events. Gauff was defeated by Croatia’s Donna Vekić in the third round of the women’s singles, and her argument with officials over a controversial call made headlines amid the competition.
During a crucial moment in the second set of their match, a linesperson called a deep serve return from Vekić out, prompting Gauff to pull up on her shot and send the ball into the net. However, the umpire overturned the point after deeming Vekić’s shot was in, rewarding the point and a break of serve to Vekić.
Brad Gilbert and Coco Gauff. Robert Bell/INSTARimages
“I never argue these calls. But [the line judge] called it out before I hit the ball,” Gauff said to chair umpire Jaume Campistol. “It’s not even a perception; it’s the rules.”
With tears streaming down her face, Gauff told the umpire, “It always happens here at the French Open to me. Every time.” After the controversial call, Gauff went on to lose the match to Vekić in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2.
In her argument, Gauff was referencing a similar incident — on the exact same court, in fact — from her semifinal loss against Iga Świątek at the French Open in June.
The Olympics may be an event that is all about athletics, but that doesn’t mean that the most shocking things happen during the tournaments. Throughout the years, incidents from doping scandals to terrorist attacks have made headlines for the Olympics beyond the Games. Perhaps one of the most famous scandals came out of the 1994 […]
“There’s been multiple times this year where that happened to me, where I feel like I always have to be an advocate for myself on the court,” Gauff told the media in Paris. “I feel like in tennis, we should have a system because these points are big deals. And, yeah, usually afterwards, they apologize, so it’s kind of frustrating when the sorry doesn’t help you once the match is over.”
While speaking exclusively to Us Weekly after the Olympics, Vekić — who went on to win the silver medal — reflected on the tense moment.
Despite an increasingly public profile, tennis superstar Coco Gauff continues to hold serve when it comes to keeping the identity of her boyfriend a mystery. Gauff, the defending U.S. Open champion who won her first Grand Slam doubles’ title in June, has preached the importance of keeping her off-the-court life private. Still, that doesn’t mean […]
“I was just trying to stay calm because obviously in the moment it’s difficult,” she said. “I thought the umpire made the right decision, which we all saw after in the replay and slow motion and things on Twitter. But you know, in the moment, it’s tough because it’s a full stadium. Everyone is booing. It was not easy.”
She added, “When you’re playing in a match in these high pressure moments, it’s not easy, especially when you feel like they made a wrong decision against you. I can understand her in a way. I’m just happy I didn’t let it distract me.”
