The 19-year-old, Coco Gauff, is doing wonders under Andre Agassi’s former coach’s guidance. She has triumphed in several competitions and has been showcasing her exceptional tennis talent. But the biggest mystery is how Brad Gilbert decided that Gauff would be the next tennis player he was going to mentor. The 62-year-old tennis coach was preoccupied with attending to a completely different responsibility before joining the coaching staff of the 19-year-old tennis star.
Earlier this year, he contributed to the film “Challengers,” a tennis love story and looked like he would collaborate in more such projects. The largest query, though, is what prompted the ESPN tennis analyst to return to coaching a professional tennis player.
What made Brad Gilbert join Coco Gauff’s coaching team?
Before joining Gauff, the Punisher’s ex-coach got this amazing opportunity to coach Zendaya for her movie “Challengers,” as she had never played tennis before. According to The New York Times, Gilbert is the one who taught tennis to the Spider-Man actress and her co-stars, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.
The 62-year-old American coach worked with the movie stars for around seven months: for three months he trained the players, and the remaining time he helped them with the shoot. When everything was done, Agassi’s former coach got a reality check on how all of his friends were coaching top professional tennis players.
Tennis – Australian Open – Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia – January 17, 2022 Coco Gauff of the U.S. in action during her first round match against China’s Wang Qiang REUTERS/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake
He highlighted, “Darren Cahill was working with Jannik Sinner, the Italian ranked sixth in the world. Shriver was working with Donna Vekic, the talented veteran from Croatia.”
Looking into that, he put the word out regarding getting back with one of the top American tennis players as a coach. But this time he wanted it to be the right player—someone who shared the same hunger but at the same time needed help. Eventually, he joined the coaching camp of the 19-year-old American starlet, and the rest is history.
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Under his experienced eyes, Gauff has won the 2023 Citi Open and has shown amazing improvements on the tennis circuit. However, Gauff showcased her anxiousness before starting her quest to reach the pinnacle of the sport with the legendary coach.
When Gauff shared a worried admission about working with Gilbert
During the Citi Open, in a press conference, the teenage tennis sensation talked about her experience working with Andre Agassi’s ex-coach. She revealed how working with him was quite great, and she would possibly want to work with him more in the future.
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But at the same time, she also talked about how she really didn’t know him other than through his work in commentating. Considering her successful campaign at the Citi Open, she has continued working with Gilbert and has now made her way to the fourth round of the US Open.
It will be exciting to watch what this will achieve in the ongoing Grand Slam event in New York. What are your thoughts on the same? Let us know in the comments below.
The post From Zendaya to Coco Gauff, What Prompted Andre Agassi’s Former Coach to Switch From a Reel Star to a Real One? appeared first on EssentiallySports.
