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Coco Gauff's coach Brad Gilbert shared a glimpse of his pet dogs joining him to watch the World No. 3's quarterfinal clash at the 2024 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Following a bye in the first round, Gauff kicked off her campaign at the WTA 500 event with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over fellow American Sachia Vickery. With that, Gauff set the stage for a blockbuster quarterfinal clash with Marta Kostyuk, following the Ukrainian's 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory against Zheng Qinwen.
Brad Gilbert, who didn't travel with the 20-year-old to Stuttgart, was closely following Gauff's campaign despite his absence from her player box. He took to social media and shared a glimpse of his pet dogs, Walt and Valke, "getting focused" to watch her in action alongside him.
"Walt &Valke getting focused 🧘♂️ for @CocoGauff match next on in stuttgart," he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Gilbert and his pets were treated to a rollercoaster clash, as Coco Gauff and Marta Kostyuk engaged in a closely contested battle. The American got off to a dominant start, clinching the opening set 6-3 and taking a 4-2 lead in the second. However, Kostyuk fought back admirably to take the second set 6-4, forcing a decider.
Gauff rushed away to a 3-1 lead in the third set, but the Ukrainian staged an impressive comeback to tip the scales in her favor. Despite Gauff's valiant efforts, which included saving 11 match points, she couldn't pull off the win.
Kostyuk eventually claimed a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6) victory over the World No. 3 after a two-hour and 48-minute battle to advance to the semifinals.
Coco Gauff clarified her coach Brad Gilbert's absence in Stuttgart: "It's good to take a break sometimes"
Following her second-round win in Stuttgart, Coco Gauff addressed her coach Brad Gilbert's absence from her player box, as he attended the premiere of the tennis-centric movie 'Challengers,' starring Zendaya, amid her campaign at the WTA 500 event.
The 20-year-old clarified that he hadn't prioritized Zendaya over her. Instead, she explained that she had asked him to take a "step back" so that Jean-Christophe Faurel, who she had recently reinstated to her coaching team, could handle one tournament on his own.
"No, he did not choose Zendaya over me (smiling). I think I kind of told him to take a step back, especially with starting with J.C., I wanted him to just be able to work on it on his own and play a tournament by himself," Coco Gauff said in her post-match press conference.
"And also, like, we are going to have two tournaments together. We're going to spend a lot of time together. If you know Brad, it's good to take a break sometimes," she added.
Coco Gauff emphasized that Gilbert was not going to travel with her to every tournament but would be present at the bigger events. She also confirmed his presence at the Madrid Open, which commences on Monday, April 23.
"Yeah, he's supposed to come to Madrid. He's not here. I think when I started with him, he was never going to be coming to every tournament. Just mainly the big ones," she said.
