Serena Williams’ childhood coach Rick Macci thinks Cori Gauff might be a strong forehand away from dominating tennis. Gauff, who turned 19 in March, has already been to a Grand Slam final and she has been ranked as high as No 4 in the world.

Gauff started making big things at a very young age but it is no secret that the American aims for Grand Slam titles and the world No 1 ranking. Gauff has proved that she is capable of reaching the latter stages of the biggest tournaments but that’s when she is usually stopped by a top player.

Gauff’s forehand is considered a liability in the American’s game and her opponents often target that specific shot.

Macci: Gauff could dominate if her forehand was taken care of “She’s six in the world, Olympic sprinter with a racket, mentally strong, a great backhand and that’s good enough to boom.

But if she had a forehand that was glued together correctly, she might be dominating. Because that affects the mental, that affects your opponent. Right now, they’re looking at that forehand side, when’s it going to break down now? But you can’t just say be more aggressive.

Because she still has the same stroke. She doesn’t really have time to take off the tour now. She wants to concentrate and make little adjustments. But that’s not going to help because you still got the same stroke. You can take it early, you can shorten your backswing, you can hit it on the rise.

Those things might help a little bit, but it still has to be a biomechanical change. She can still win a Slam, but there’s just a little hole that bubbles up under pressure, in women’s tennis especially. You got to have a forehand and a backhand that doesn’t break down.

You got to have both sides. She’s a great young lady with huge potential. In my opinion, I think Coco could dominate if this was taken care of,” Macci told Tennis-Infinity. On Saturday, Gauff suffered a 6-3 6-0 defeat to Paula Badosa in the Madrid third round. After the match, Badosa admitted that her tactic was to target Gauff’s forehand.