What does Brad Gilbert have planned for Coco Gauff?

Hailing from Delray Beach, Coco Gauff has graced the cover of Florida Tennis magazine multiple times. And she's only 19. Four years ago, she burst onto the scene reaching the fourth round at Wimbledon. Yet many believe she's struggled to reach her full potential. 

Enter Brad Gilbert. The author of Winning Ugly, ESPN analyst, and former world no. 4, Gilbert has coached Andre Agassi to six of his eight Grand Slam singles titles and Andy Roddick to his only major at the US Open. 

With Gilbert in her courtside box seats at the Mubadala Citi DC Open, Gauff just won the biggest title of her career, defeating Maria Sakkari 6-2, 6-3 in Sunday’s final.

It turns out Gilbert has recently joined forces with with Gauff's coach, Pere Riba, and agreed to work with her, on a trial basis, at WTA 1000 events including Toronto and Cincinnati and, possibly, the US Open.

Greg Garber reports (via WTA) that Gilbert's biggest coaching changes have been moving Gauff back about eight feet on return-of-serve and being more aggressive on-serve. Even though Gauff's forehand remains somewhat inconsistent, Gilbert isn't focused on it.

Gilbert explains, "Everybody wants to win. I’ve got to win this, and I’ve got to win that. It beats you up — especially when everybody asks about the forehand all day long. That starts to consume you. Also, it tears down other shots when all you can do is fixate on one thing. So I tend to not fixate on it at all.

"The game is simple: If you can break and you hold [serve] more than your opponent, you win,” Gilbert said. “She made some big changes on the fly last week that I implemented. It’s made a huge difference. She was making a ton of returns.

“I concentrate on the little things. It’s doing things she can control at the moment.

“She’s incredibly hard-working,” Gilbert said, “and probably her best quality is she’s extremely humble. Honestly, she’s a pleasure to be around. She’s got a heart of gold and wants to get better — that’s your goal as a tennis player.”

Meanwhile, looking for the next generation of top talent, Gilbert's been spotted in Florida evaluating players at the IMG Academy in Bradenton. Well, look no further Brad — make the drive from Bradenton to Delray Beach and spend more time with Gauff.

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Source: WTA. Photos: New Balance.