"My dad is the one who said: ‘I can’t do it any more'" - When Coco Gauff's father Corey made the important decision to step away as her coach

Coco Gauff owes her career to her father Corey not just because he coached and helped her burst onto the scene and win titles early on but also because he knew when it was time to let a new coach take the reigns.

Parent-child coaching in tennis is tricky. Sometimes, it works out long-term. Other times, it hits a wall, and moving on is the best thing a player can do. Gauff owes so much to her parents—her dad, Corey, built her game, coached her for years, and helped shape her into one of the best young stars in the sport. However, the smartest thing he ever did may just be knowing exactly when to step back.

During the claycourt season in 2023, Gauff hit a rough patch. She was struggling on a surface where she reached her first Grand Slam final just a year ago. Things only got worse when she crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round. It was the kind of stretch that could shake a young player’s confidence. She needed a change. That’s when Corey made the call.

"My dad is captain," Coco Gauff told ESPN in September 2023. "He’s the one who pushed me to bring Brad and Pere in. He’s the one who said: 'It’s time for a new change, I can’t do it any more. Let’s bring people in.'"

"I didn’t know BG – he’s another generation – but he’s helped me so much. Pere has helped so much. Different generations have pushed me to do well in this one," she added.

Not every tennis parent has the self-awareness to do that, but Corey did. And it paid off big time. With her new team, Gauff turned things around fast. She started winning again, found her groove, and just a few months later, she was a Grand Slam champion winning the 2023 US Open.

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Andy Roddick credits Coco Gauff's father Corey for trusting others to guide his daughter's tennis career

Coco Gauff with the US Open 2023 trophy - Source: Getty

During the 2024 Australian Open, Coco Gauff shared that she participated in a short but valuable training session with Andy Roddick. The American pair focused on improving the teenager's serve at the time. Reflecting on the experience, Gauff described Roddick as an easygoing mentor.

Roddick later spoke about the Gauff camp on his podcast, particularly praising her father, Corey, for stepping back and trusting outside voices such as Brad Gilbert and himself, something he believed was rare in tennis.

"In the history of our sport... there are a lot of cautionary tales and I won’t name them out of respect for the people who are on the bad side... but it has been rampant in our sport," Roddick said.

"[Corey Gauff] has studied and he is dialled in and for him to kind of take a back seat and let Brad [Gilbert] be Brad, which is a weird orbit in itself, and let me - who he doesn’t know - have a say in her serve for a couple of days, like Bravo! It needs to be said over and over again. I hope this creates precedent for other tennis parents, especially of young females," he added.

After almost a year of Brad Gilbert guiding her, Coco Gauff parted ways with the American coach in September 2024. She hired Matt Daly and won the WTA Finals title months later.