Coco Gauff’s impressive nine-match winning streak came to a halt in the semifinals of the Wuhan Open, where she lost to Aryna Sabalenka. Despite taking a one-set lead, Gauff ultimately fell short with a final score of 6-1, 4-6, 4-6.

The American struggled with her serve throughout the match, recording a staggering 21 double faults. This performance followed a challenging US Open fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro, where she logged 18 double faults.

In light of these issues, Gauff began working on her serve with new coach Matt Daly. After her loss in Wuhan, she addressed the media, noting that she had only one week to adjust to the small modifications in her serving technique. Surprisingly, she expressed that her performance at the China Open exceeded her expectations given the limited time to adapt to the changes.

“New things. Yeah, working on a new thing,” Coco Gauff said. “It’s expected. I only had really a week to learn it, then I went to Beijing.”

“I knew it wasn’t going to be great. I’m honestly surprised at how well I was able to do with it. We weren’t expecting it. So yeah, I mean, overall it’s growing pains, ups and downs,” she added.