Coach Brad Gilbert reveals Cori Gauff’s agent hit him up after the American’s disappointing early exit at Wimbledon and asked for a meeting. Last week, Gauff returned to action for the first time since Wimbledon and seeing her on the practice court with Gilbert – who famously worked long-time with Andre Agassi – drew lots of attention.
In the end, their debut could not have gone any better as Gauff won her first title of the season at a WTA 500 event in Washington. “I had only interviewed her once or twice but never really met her, so we sat down and had a chat for about an hour at Wimbledon.
So we talked and, man, she’s very bright. I told her some of the things that I saw potentially that I could do. They said, `We’ll get back to you,'” Gilbert revealed, via the WTA website.
Gilbert on the work done with Gauff in Washington
At the start of the week in Washington, Gauff clarified Gilbert wasn’t her coach but rather “a consultant.” After winning Washington, Gauff indicated she was open to continuing working with Gilbert beyond Washington.
Also after winning Washington, Gauff appeared to suggest that her rivals were surprised by how efficient her forehand was. Usually, rivals see Gauff’s forehand as a weakness and try to heavily play on that side. “We haven’t changed anything with the forehand (laughs).
I never even say that word. Everybody wants to win. I’ve got to win this, and I’ve got to win that. It beats you up — especially when everybody asks about the forehand all day long. That starts to consume you. Also, it tears down other shots when all you can do is fixate on one thing.
So I tend to not fixate on it at all,” Gilbert said.It remains to be seen if Gilbert will also be with Gauff during the US Open.
