Rennae Stubbs raises ‘question marks’ over Coco Gauff after Madrid

Coco Gauff had a frustrating trip to the Madrid Open, falling short of the latter stages in a tournament that saw several big names exit early.

But she still found positives in her time at the event, even after being knocked out in three sets by Linda Noskova, who won 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(7-5).

That result saw Gauff slip one spot in the WTA rankings to fourth, trading places with Iga Swiatek.

But Rennae Stubbs believes there are bigger issues for Gauff than just her place on the rankings.

Rennae Stubbs raises concerns for Coco Gauff after Madrid Open defeat

The former doubles world number one said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast: “Noskova beating Coco was impressive, because Coco should have won that match.

“She was up four-one in the third, and may I just say on a roll. She won the second set six-one, was up four-one I believe. So basically was winning every game, it felt like for a while there.

“And then at four-one on her serve, kind of dropped the ball a little bit, just making really not great decisions on her shot selection, getting upset with herself.

“She’s showing her opponents this negativity on the court, which comes out, and you can’t do that against a Noskova because Noskova is going to hit the ball through you and that’s the biggest worst opponent for Coco.”

Stubbs added: “And that’s what happened. And even in the third set tie-break, Coco was up in that tie-break and should have put the match away.

“And just some poor decision-making from her. And I feel like the coaches have an opportunity to tell their player something.

“Whether it’s just tactical to get them away from the emotional side of it. And I just felt like there was a lot of ‘Come on you’ve got this come on’.

“Even Hailey Baptiste was told ‘You’ve got this big heart’, you know all this sort of stuff. No! Just tell her to play forehand.

Coco Gauff set for challenging path at Italian Open

Before returning to Roland Garros, where she won her second Grand Slam title last year, the American will look to build momentum in Rome.

The third seed gets a bye into the second round, where she’ll take on either Yulia Putintseva or Tereza Valentova.

If Gauff gets through that, she could find herself up against Emma Raducanu. Further ahead, a potential fourth-round matchup with fellow American Iva Jovic is on the cards.

A potential semifinal clash with top seed Aryna Sabalenka looms later in the draw. Beyond that, Elena Rybakina could be waiting in the final.

Gauff will be aiming for her first title of 2026 and the 12th overall in her career at just 22 years old. Her most recent triumph came at Roland Garros last year when she took down Aryna Sabalenka.

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