What tennis fans must not do to Coco Gauff now following her loss to Jessica Pegula.

Coco Gauff’s serving struggles returned to haunt the American during her opening loss at the WTA Finals to Jessica Pegula.

Gauff, a champion in Riyadh 12 months ago, struggled mightily against Pegula, hitting 17 double-faults and 45 unforced errors off her forehand wing.

Gauff’s poor serving has been a matter of contention for much of the 2025 season, and ahead of the US Open, she hired biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan to help solve the issue.

Yes, Gauff’s serving performance against Pegula was extremely poor. She faced 18 break points and was broken nine times.

However, it would be unfair to judge Coco Gauff harshly so early into her partnership with MacMillan.

Tennis fans must not be overly critical of Coco Gauff’s serve
After Sunday’s contest, some fans vocalised their criticism of Gauff’s performance.

On X [Twitter], one tennis fan said: “Coco hired a serve coach, but she still hasn’t fixed her serve. 17 double faults, that’s four games in the match she gave to Pegula.

“I don’t understand Coco sometimes. If she can fix the serve, she probably would have won the match. The serve is holding Coco back. Jessica only hit one double fault.”

Another fan said: “That’s pretty much helping your opponent beat you……when Coco is playing like that, it normally ends with a loss. You just can’t allow all those types of unforced errors and expect to win against any top players on tour.”

“17 double faults is bonkers. I thought they worked on her serve,” another fan commented.

Tennis fans must have patience when it comes to the development of Gauff’s serve, as legendary tennis coach Rick Macci does.

Simply put, Gauff’s serving performance against Pegula was an anomaly when considering her recent form.

Before MacMillan joined Gauff’s team, she had served double-digit double faults in three of her six singles matches across the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open.

Before yesterday’s performance, Gauff had served double-digit double faults in just one of her previous 16 matches – a period that included Gauff’s triumph at the Wuhan Open.

While Gauff’s serve is certainly not fixed – as demonstrated by recent double-fault totals advancing past five – there has certainly been an improvement.

Gauff, like every tennis player, is not perfect, and she must be allowed to grow and improve at her own pace.

The American, despite achieving so much in her career, is still only 21 years old. That must be remembered in the grand scheme of things – her career is still in its early stages.

Improvement – particularly biomechanical improvement – will take time, and Gauff will have a full off-season to address her serve, away from the hustle and bustle of the WTA Tour.

Fans should not pile pressure on Gauff and be overly critical of the youngster’s serve. Gauff’s serve will become a force, but it will take time.

Frankly, Gauff has already shown improvement on her serve under the tutelage of MacMillan, and it is highly likely that she will continue to do so.

Continuing, it must be acknowledged that some fans remained positive about Gauff, despite her performance against Pegula.

One fan noticed an improvement in Gauff’s serve, saying: “If she gets that serve together, it’s over for the rest of them… in that second set, I saw some flashes… you could tell she is working on it!

“I am encouraged! Now let’s keep encouraging her! She got this!”

Another fan said: “Hopefully, now that the season is over, she and her new coach can concentrate on revamping her serve.

“There’s no way he [MacMillan] could truly do any more than tinker with it while she was in the middle of the season.”

Another added: “Just imagine how hard she’ll be to beat if she figures out a reliable serve rhythm and cleans up the fh errors. “To some extent, her serve was effectively wild today… there were periods when Pegula could barely return it.”