Coco Gauff targeting rare ‘Channel Slam' but must figure out a way to conquer the grass

Arab News

5 hours ago

Fresh off of her French Open title run, Coco Gauff has an opportunity to achieve something no woman has in tennis for the past decade – that is pulling off the 'Channel Slam'.
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Winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back in the same season has been a relatively rare occurrence on the women's tour, with Serena Williams being the last to accomplish that feat back in 2015.
The swift transition from clay to grass that comes around every June on the professional circuit can be tricky to navigate.
And as Gauff attempts to follow up her success in Paris with victory in south-west London, the American joked that she perhaps should get some advice from Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz, who clinched the Roland Garros-Wimbledon double last year and is going for a second one this fortnight.
'Oh, that would be really hard,' Gauff said on Saturday when asked about the possibility of completing the Channel Slam – a term used to describe that particular double.
'I understand why it hasn't been done that often. Except I guess Carlos, he makes it look pretty easy. Novak [Djokovic], too. I didn't realize it was 10 years since Serena.
'It is a quick turnaround. I think that's the reason why this kind of double is so hard, it's a quick turnaround. You go from winning such a high tournament and kind of having to be back to work not even a few days later.'
Only three weeks separate Wimbledon from Roland Garros, which for some, can be a challenging stretch.
For Alcaraz, it was enough for him to head to Ibiza for a few days to celebrate his French Open success, then fly to London to compete for and win the title at Queen's Club, before shifting his focus to Wimbledon.
Last year, a stop in Ibiza was also sandwiched between his two major triumphs.
'I saw he was in Ibiza. I went home,' said Gauff, who made several appearances on the biggest American talk shows back home before she flew back to Europe to compete in a grass-court warmup tournament in Berlin.
'Next year, I was like, if I were to do that again, maybe I should stay on this side of the world and have fun instead of going all the way back to the U.S.
'Maybe I'll talk to him about it. I'll need to know exactly what he ate, exactly what he drank, how late he went to bed each night. Yeah, I'll have a conversation with him how those three days went,' Gauff added with a laugh.
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The world No.2 said she would 'love to' back up her Roland Garros win by claiming a maiden Wimbledon crown but 'also, I'm not going to put that much pressure on myself because I've been telling my team and people around me, this is all new territory for me.
'Even with debating on playing Berlin and stuff, I was, like, I'm just going to learn as I go. Maybe if I were to win again, I probably wouldn't do that decision again.
'This is very much new territory. I'm trying to take it as I go. If I were to end up there, it would be great. If not, I'll try to come up with a better way to prepare for this tournament next year.'
Gauff now owns two Grand Slam titles – 2023 US Open and 2025 Roland Garros – and she's only 21 years old.
The Floridian had her first big breakthrough at Wimbledon when she was 15, reaching the fourth round as a qualifier and knocking out her idol Venus Williams en route.
She's come a long way since that breakout moment six years ago and Naomi Osaka, a four-time major champion and former world No.1, says she's 'super proud of her'.
'I remember I hit with her when she was quite young, but she's still young,' said Osaka on Saturday.
'It's really cool, I would say, to see how much she's grown. And it also, I guess, reminds me how much athletes can inspire people. And she inspires me a lot and I hope that one day I can play as well on clay as she does. And I think it's really, really incredible how far she's come from when I first saw her.'
Gauff's game is better suited to clay and hard courts but she's trying to make the necessary adjustments in order to be more dangerous on grass.
She says getting used to moving on the grass and playing with less spin is key, so is serving aggressively.
Gauff has a tricky Wimbledon opener on Tuesday against Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska and she also has Iga Swiatek and 2023 champion Elena Rybakina in her quarter of the draw.
While she made the second week on three occasions at the All England Club, Wimbledon remains the only major where Gauff has yet to reach at least the quarter-finals.
American tennis legend, broadcaster, and coach Pam Shriver sees a few things in Gauff's game that can be hindering her on grass.
'You'd think six years ago, because Coco had her first big splash here getting to the round of 16, beating Venus on Court 1, the way she produced on Center Court for the first time, that given her athleticism, that grass would be a good surface for her, but it's actually not,' Shriver told Arab News on the sidelines of Wimbledon.
'I think it's clearly her third best surface. I think how low it stays is particularly difficult for the forehand, and for the same reason, clay is her best surface, it's the exact opposite.
'And I also think people have an aggressive mindset on second serve returns on grass, because that's another vulnerable area for her. And also, while obviously her quickness helps you on any surface, anywhere, but honestly, even grass, if it's a fast day, the sun's out, it's going to be hot, it's even fast for Coco. I mean, people can feel like they have a chance to get past her with a little less time for her.
'So you put all those things together, and she doesn't have a great history here since she had her breakthrough.'
Shriver, who helped guide Croatia's Donna Vekic to the Wimbledon semi-finalist and the silver medal at the Olympics last season, feels there are a couple of forehand adjustments Gauff can make to have more chances on the turf.
'Obviously, given her competitiveness, her speed, if the forehand, actually I'm anxious to see, I want to see how much she slices it, because I think that's a shot she's had to utilize, given when the regular forehand's not working, she can kind of bunt it around, and kind of just chip it back, use her speed, and then wait for a backhand,' said the American.
'So we'll see how much she does that, and also her drive's tough.'
The good news for Gauff, is that from a mindset perspective, she is ready to fully focus on Wimbledon and not dwell on her Roland Garros success.
She says she is someone who likes to look ahead to what's next and she will wait until the end of the season to think about her run in Paris.
'I still want to do really well here. I feel pretty confident on the court,' said Gauff.
'When November comes, I'll revisit [the French Open].'