Coco Gauff must have been listening to the audio book of Brad Gilbert’s Winning Ugly in her sleep ever since she hired him.
Because her final versus Sabalenka was one of the ugliest women’s slam final anyone ever did see.
Today, I had to watch the Hingis Vs Graf RG final replay to detox.
Gauff, herself, said in her press interview it wasn’t the way she wants to play, either. The American had to be a backboard as she set about assisting Sabalenka in her implosion, the incumbent no.1 hitting 47 errors over 3 sets.
Some of those errors were down to Gauff’s tracking talents, but many of them were outright fluffs from the Sabalenka racket.
Neither woman played well in the first set, but the Belorussian played the least worse as her attacking game and Gauff’s nerves worked in her favor.
Once Gauff got the break early in the second, the rot set in. Gauff improved, being consistent and athletic, and Sabalenka crumbled in a rubble of shrieks and errors. One eyesore rally after another came our way, and I for one was glad when it was over.
Matters did improve in the final few games. Sabalenka fought back early in the third when Gauff got the break. She even kept the ball in play. Gauff had to be a bit more creative and come forward and force the play herself.
An MTO added some more spice. Sabalenka called it and had a pleasant thigh massage as Gauff had time to think about what she was on the verge of.
Gauff came through, her thoughts clear and confident, winning the final couple of games to take her first slam title and join an elite list of teenage champions.
Ugly or not, a win is a win, and that’s the point of Gilbert’s book – you don’t have to be playing brilliant tennis to get the victory. Gauff has the right game for that because she can run and run and run and she can keep the ball in play, and even add a little spice to it. Sabalenka can play ugly but she can’t really win ugly because her game is so high risk.
Gauff doesn’t have a game that makes you wax lyrical about its power or beauty. It’s a variation of the Wozniacki game. It’s admirable and clever and lures you in. How did she do that, you ask, as her more powerful opponent drops yet another game.
Personally, it’s not for me. I will tune it, though. It’s always interesting to watch such players bring down a Swiatek, a Sabalenka or a Rybakina. Those 3 players have such clear master plans, their patterns of play predictable but devastating. The Gauffs of the world complicate things, put bugs in the code.
It may not be pretty. It may, in fact, be very ugly. It does win slams, all the same.
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