There are moments in sport that make you hold your breath—not because something spectacular is about to happen, but because the margin for error is suddenly razor-thin. For America’s Coco Gauff, those moments used to come with a familiar enemy: the unforced error! It’s a small phrase for a big problem—the stray forehand that drifts long, the return that barely clips the net, the double-fault at a key moment—and for a while they threatened to undermine Gauff’s otherwise electric game. This week in Beijing, however, the story shifted!

Once, Craig O’Shannessy, the respected longtime tennis strategy coach behind ‘Brain Game Tennis’ who has worked with Novak Djokovic and the Italian federation, stated, “There’s no such thing as an unforced error.” But this one thing has, time and again, deprived Gauff from winning multiple crucial battles. She’s often seen making mistakes despite having enough time, balance, and opportunity to make a correct shot. If we take a look at the numbers, especially when it comes to the double faults, no woman served more double faults than Gauff on the WTA Tour last year, and the American looks set to top that unfortunate list once again in 2025.

If we start from the 2024 US Open, we saw her commit a total of 60 unforced errors in her R16 match against Emma Navarro. She lost that match in three sets. Seeing her commit 19 double faults in that match, tennis legend Chris Evert said, “Coco was clearly off. I have never seen her serve as badly as in this match.” From then on, there were more matches, in which she had committed the most unforced errors.

1. 2025 Canadian Open R64: 74 (against Danielle Collins)
2. 2025 Indian Wells R64: 70 (against Moyuka Uchijima)
3. 2025 Cincinnati QF: 62 (against Jasmine Paolini)

She, in fact, tagged one of her matches marred by unforced errors as a “frustrating match” and also claimed, “maybe if I cut [the errors and double faults] in half, it would be a quicker match for me.” Talking about cutting the errors, well, finally, the American managed to put up a neat performance after a long time. She recently took down Kamilla Rakhimova by 6-4,6-0 in the R64 of the China Open.

But the most interesting part of this win was the way she performed in this match. In her first meeting with Rakhimova, Gauff struggled early, committing two double faults and facing four break points in her opening service game. But she held firm, then broke Rakhimova on her third opportunity later in the set with a blistering backhand down the line. She won the final seven games of the match, and what’s interesting was that she restricted her double fault count to just 5 in this match. This is her seventh consecutive win in Beijing. In her first match since the US Open, her serve & groundstrokes looked pretty steady. She saved all 10 breakpoints in this match. 

Seeing her constant troubles with serving woes, several tennis bigwigs have time and again come up with multiple suggestions. For example, after seeing her errors against Danielle Collins at the Canadian Open, Rennae Stubbs suggested Gauff to not get on her front foot early on and make improvements to her serve. “I really wish Coco would just think about getting under the ball more on her 2nd serve. She has to accelerate up, not down...so think 7pm on the ball, not noon...it's hard to explain, but if u think of the ball as a clock, it helps,” she said.

Serena Williams’ other ex-coach, Rick Macci, had also suggested Gauff should bring a biomechanics specialist to her team to work on her serve. So, in order to solve her constant woes, just weeks before the US Open, we saw her parting ways with her former coach, Matt Daly, and hiring biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan with the aim of solving her serving issues.

At the US Open, there was a moment when we even saw Coco Gauff in tears as she struggled to restrict her unforced errors despite all the efforts in her match against Donna Vekic in the second round. Although she managed to win that match and also the third round match (against Magdalena Frech), her journey came to an end in the fourth round at the hands of Naomi Osaka. Gauff committed 33 unforced errors in that match. The numbers still look big and she still leads an unwanted chart, but when we take a look at a broader picture, Gauff has definitely improved a lot under MacMillan.

After that match against Danielle Collins, when Coco Gauff was asked if double faults are something that worries her or if it’s something she likes not to focus on much, she said, “I don’t want to live that stat and I want to do better. I know probably I won’t be ever like double fault free, but I can get that to like 2 per set, 3 per set, it would make a big difference in just making these matches a lot easier. But the fact that I’m winning matches and finding ways to win with that is definitely a positive. But I’m a tough critic on myself. I know I can do better, and I know I should do better, and it will get better. It’s just a matter of time.”

Seeing her performance in this match against Rakhimova at the China Open, it seems that the time has finally arrived.

Coco Gauff is satisfied with her performance in the opening match

This was Coco Gauff’s 39th win of the 2025 season, and with this win, she has now also become the youngest player to register 11 wins in women’s singles at the China Open since the inception of the tournament (in 2004). Her composure in key moments in this match, in particular, was truly praiseworthy.

“I’m happy with how I played. Rakhimova) played well starting off, and I was just getting used to the conditions, but I thought it was a good match overall. I’m super happy to be back here in Beijing. Obviously, I had great memories last year, and I’m hoping to make some more good memories here,” Gauff said after the match. 

She will next face Canada’s Leylah Fernandez in the R32. The American has a 2-0 record against Fernandez, but it won’t be a cakewalk for Gauff, as the Canadian will be entering this match following her 6-2,6-0 win against the former world number 3, Maria Sakkari.

It will be interesting to see if Gauff can keep things tidy even in her next match or not. What are your thoughts about her performance against Kamilla Rakhimova?

Written by

Sayantan Roy

Sayantan Roy is a seasoned tennis journalist at EssentiallySports. He brings a deep tactical understanding to his coverage, breaking down head-to-head records, match dynamics, and on-court strategies with precision. For more than two years, Sayantan has been a key member of the Live Events desk, delivering real-time insights and data-backed predictions for the platform’s Matchday Preview section. His analytical approach has sparked editorial debates and drawn recognition from respected tennis voices, including commentator and analyst Olly_Tennis. Combining his experience in writing with a passion for insightful sports journalism, Sayantan’s work serves as a trusted reference point for tennis fans around the world.

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