Coco Gauff draws inspiration from Nadal after victory at the Italian Open.

Coco Gauff kicks off in Rome Masters with victory marked by familiar errors and turns to iconic phrase from Rafael Nadal to stay calm

The young star of American tennis, Coco Gauff, took a firm step in her journey at the Rome Tournament, defeating Tereza Valentova 6-3, 6-4, thus securing her place in the round of 32. This tournament serves as the final test before her title defense at Roland Garros, and Gauff is determined to embark on a winning streak. However, despite a solid performance, the player could not hide the struggles with her serve, a recurring issue this season that threatens her consistency.

During the post-match press conference, Gauff emphasized the importance of viewing each tournament as a new opportunity, citing the famous phrase from Spanish player Rafael Nadal to explain her philosophy: “Obviously, it would be great to have a good run here, gain momentum for Roland Garros. But every tournament is a new story, and you know Rafa’s saying: ‘What happened in Madrid, stays in Madrid, now we are in Rome, and then we will be in Paris.’ I live by this phrase because you can have a tough season and strange tennis, but it only takes one good week to change everything.” This emblematic quote, used by Nadal in 2019 to deflect the pressure of previous losses, has been a constant mantra for Gauff, who repeated it in Madrid as well, following her defeat in the Miami Open final against Aryna Sabalenka.

In the match against Valentova, Gauff dominated her opponent’s serve, breaking it six times in just over an hour and a half. However, her own serve continued to be a Achilles’ heel: the American committed seven double faults, one of which came at a critical moment when she was leading 5-3 in the first set. Frustrated, Gauff did not hide her indignation, exclaiming loudly, “You always do this,” in a moment captured by the cameras.

Expert Liam Broady, a commentator for Sky Sports, harshly criticized the tennis player’s negative self-assessment: “I don’t like this kind of internal dialogue. ‘You always do this’ is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Yes, you made mistakes, but it’s not always like that. You have to maintain mental strength because giving in to those internal voices is a huge problem.” This kind of mental instability may be affecting the 22-year-old, who leads the WTA rankings with a concerning 183 double faults this season, a significant difference from the second-placed Mirra Andreeva, who has 132.

The magnitude of the problem led Gauff to hire biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan in August of last year, in an attempt to correct her serving mechanics. There have been visible improvements, as seen in Wuhan and Madrid, where she did not commit any double faults and even managed several aces, but consistency has yet to be achieved. The question now is whether the partnership with MacMillan will be enough to overcome these difficulties or if the player should seek other solutions to avoid jeopardizing the rest of the season.

With a record of 20 wins and 8 losses in 2026 and the ambition to reclaim the title at Roland Garros, Coco Gauff is approaching this decisive phase of the calendar with the determination of a champion, but she will need to quickly resolve her serving issues to prevent repeated mistakes from hindering her in crucial moments.

What do you think? Will Gauff be able to overcome her serving flaws and shine in Paris, or is her season threatened by this persistent problem? Share your thoughts in the comments!

This article first appeared on Apito Final.