“He’s done a lot in my game in a very short amount of time that have been really simple fixes, but they’ve just also been kind of mind-blowing at the same time,” she says of Witkorowski.
So far, he hasn’t changed how she hits the ball, as much as where she aims it.
“He draws a little court sometimes, and he’ll put markers on where I should hit or where we think is, like, the best shot selection,’ she says. “[He] has talked to me a lot about the placement of my shots and not necessarily going for winners most of the time.”
Gauff finished with 33 unforced errors, which was the same number of points she won. While Osaka made just 42 percent of first serves, she wouldn’t face a break point.
It was clear from the start of her match with Gauff where Witkorowski had drawn his X. It wasn’t near any line, or close to a corner. It wasn’t a spot where Osaka would hit many clean winners. It wasn’t even designed to force Gauff to run. It was, instead, a place that would make her hit her forehand from a stationary position, behind the baseline.
As basic as that sounds, it worked.
Gauff can hit a strong forehand when she’s moving forward, and the ball is up in her stroke zone. She’s also solid from that side when she’s on the run and defending. But the regulation rally forehand can give her trouble, and it did today. She missed it early and often, and she kept missing it. By the middle of the second set, her backhand had broken down, too.
