Gauff's Clay Court Love-Hate Affair

Coco Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, is preparing for her return to the tournament with confidence, despite lingering questions about her serve and forehand. Her quickness and energy are seen as significant advantages on clay, a surface that plays to her strengths more than hard courts.

However, Gauff has openly expressed a nuanced view of playing on clay. She humorously described her feelings towards the surface as similar to a relationship where everything is good, but 'it's still, like, just not there.' While acknowledging her success on clay, including her first junior title and Grand Slam final occurring on this surface, she also dislikes the practicalities, like dirty socks.

Reflecting on her season, Gauff noted improvements in her serve since transitioning to clay, a welcome development after earlier inconsistency. She also drew inspiration from tennis legend Rafael Nadal, particularly his forehand technique on clay, stating she tries to hit it like him, even humorously referring to herself as a 'Walmart version' of Nadal.

Interestingly, Iga Swiatek has also recently trained with Nadal, aiming to improve her own clay-court performance.