"I'm certainly not worried" - Andy Murray's ex-coach Brad Gilbert cites his 'pusher' style to explain why he isn't fazed by Coco Gauff's forehand woes

Brad Gilbert, Andre Agassi's former coach, has stated that while Coco Gauff's forehand has been critiqued, he has no qualms about it. He also cited his experience with Andy Murray as an example.

Before beginning his journey with the American teenager, former World No. 4 Gilbert guided tennis stars, Andre Agassi, Andy Murray, and Andy Roddick to great success.

Coco Gauff, the reigning US Open Champion, began working with him at the beginning of the North American hardcourt swing this year, starting with the Citi Open.

After her partnership with Diego Moyano ended in April 2023, Gauff was coached by her father until she brought in the experienced Brad Gilbert later that month. Spanish veteran Pere Riba joined the team afterward.

Gilbert recently touched upon his protege's forehand woes from earlier this year. When asked whether he believed there was a need to alter her grip, the coach replied the WTA in the negative.

"You can’t just change a grip without changing the arc of the swing, so that’s a big change. My guess is, from what we’ve seen, we don’t need to," he stated.

"I never got so many texts for so many days, saying 'Fix her forehand!' Man, you don’t just fix something like that on the fly," he added.

Gilbert then referred to his coaching experience with three-time Grand Slam winner Andy Murray, saying he is not "worried" about the 19-year-old's forehand.

"When I started with Andy Murray [in 2006], everybody was telling me, ‘He’s just a pusher.’ And yet he wins. Everybody mentions the forehand criticism about Coco, and yet she wins. I’m certainly not worried about it in any way, shape or form," he said.

It's been a matter of living the dream for Coco Gauff. She has won 18 of her last 19 matches since Gilbert joined the team. She also won two big titles (a WTA 500 and a WTA 1000) alongside her first Grand Slam tournament.

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Coco Gauff was worried about working with older coaches before she met Brad Gilbert

Coco Gauff pictured with her US Open trophy

Coco Gauff discussed how she was worried about being coached by an older person during her post-match press conference after her fourth-round US Open victory. She clung to that notion until she met Brad Gilbert.

"I was worried about being with the older person, to be honest, before I met Brad. He's older but he still has the mind of, like, a 20-year-old, maybe even younger, a 10-year-old kid sometimes," Gauff said.

The American then brought up Gilbert's obsession with odd numbers rather than even ones, as well as the coach's music taste.

"He also doesn't like even numbers. He only likes odd numbers. Whenever he says something, you ask him what time it is, he's going to say 1:53 or 1:59. He won't say 12 or something basic. He also has been sending me crazy playlists of '60s and '70s bands, but I haven't kept up with it," Gauff said.

Coco Gauff is the first American teenager since Serena Williams in 1999 to win the country's Major tournament. She is also the first American, male or female, to lift the trophy at Flushing Meadows after Sloane Stephens did it in 2017.