Coco Gauff gives her assessment of how her serve has looked so far this clay season

Coco Gauff is through to the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open and will take on Karolina Muchova later today.

She’s dominated their past meetings, so this is a match she’ll feel confident about, especially with how the draw has opened up on her side.

With a number of big names stacked on the other half of the bracket, this could be a great chance for her to make it back-to-back finals following her recent win in Miami, getting her clay season off to an ideal start.

After easing past Liudmila Samsonova in straight sets, Gauff spoke about how she feels playing on clay right now and gave some thoughts on how her serve is holding up.

Coco Gauff shares thoughts on her clay form this year

It’s no secret that Gauff’s serve has been a talking point for quite some time, with Gavin MacMillan brought in to help address the issue.

The 22-year-old was still finding ways to win, despite it often feeling like she was playing with one hand tied behind her back. Just getting results during that period is impressive in itself.

Speaking to reporters about returning to clay as the defending Roland Garros champion, she said: “Yeah, I mean, I wouldn’t say — obviously the first time defending champion, I feel like I have come into it with being a favourite, one of the favourites before, maybe not ‘the’ favourite.”

“How would I put this tournament? Honestly, I don’t know,” she continued. “For me it’s just trying to find my groove here. I don’t do well here. I’m trying to break that curse. I broke it in Miami so hoping to break it here.”

“I don’t also put a lot of expectations on this tournament because it is a clay that I don’t think suits my game. I think it suits bigger maybe flatter hitters because of the indoors but yeah definitely think happy just to get through today.”

On her serve specifically, she said: “Yeah, made some changes and yeah better… Yeah pretty well today thought. Obviously had some moments where there were doubles but could have been — had five really could have been three should have got out of that 4-0 game a bit quicker.”

“Happy how served today think earned me a lot of free points and especially kick.”

Coco Gauff on how Rafael Nadal shaped her clay-court approach

After defeating Samsonova, Gauff was asked about the player who has influenced her most on clay.

Her response was immediate and predictable, pointing to Rafael Nadal as the obvious choice.

However, she made it clear that while she draws inspiration from him, she doesn’t compare herself to him in terms of playing style or success, joking: “I mean, the greatest clay court player is Rafa, but I don’t quite play like him, but I do try to hit my forehand like he does on clay.

“I don’t run around as much because my forehand isn’t as good as Rafa’s, but I try to hit like him. So I guess it’s just me and him. Like a Walmart version of Rafa. Not trying to get roasted online or anything—just a much lesser version.”

Nadal has recently been working with Iga Swiatek as she prepares for the clay season, alongside her new coach Francisco Roig.

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