© Getty Images Sport – Clive Brunskill
Former world No 9 Andrea Petkovic believes Pere Riba deserved to be given more credit for Coco Gauff’s summer success on hard courts. After a disappointing Wimbledon first-round exit, Gauff added Andre Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert to her team.
At the time, Gauff was also working with Riba – the coach she hired ahead of Wimbledon. Gauff’s Wimbledon run was a major disappointment but her North American hard court swing was a huge success. During the summer on hard courts, Gauff became a Grand Slam champion at the US Open and also won her first WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati.
Also, Gauff won a WTA 500 event in Washington and was a quarterfinalist in Montreal. Gauff went 18-1 during the North American hard court swing. Afterward, coach Gilbert was given most of the credit for Gauff bouncing back in such a way after Wimbledon.
Petkovic: Gilbert is a great coach but Riba also helped Gauff a lot
“One more sentence to Pere Riba because I think Brad Gilbert had his moment. I think ESPN was milking how great of a coach he is and all those interactions it was great.
He’s a great coach, I’m not saying he’s not, he’s a great coach. Obviously he has the results, he has a very good tennis mind also obviously, and he brought a new energy but I know Pere Riba, I saw what he did with Qinwen Zheng.
I know that his way of working on the forehand worked for Qinwen and I know it has worked on Coco Gauff’s as well. I think a lot of credit goes to him and he was forgotten for my taste, he was forgotten many times because he’s done the training,” Petkovic said on the Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.
Surprisingly, Gauff and Riba split after the US Open. When addressing the split, Riba cited “personal reasons.” Just a couple of days ago, Zheng Qinwen announced Riba as her coach for 2024.
