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Coco Gauff has new mindset after coaching change and it's working
Coco Gauff's 2024 season went from bad to worse when she suffered a fourth-round loss at the U.S. Open, following her early ousters from the 2024 Paris Olympics, Wimbledon and Cincinnati Open.
It seemed like the young American had reached her breaking point as she fired her coach, Brad Gilbert, and hinted at taking an extended break to recuperate physically and mentally.
That's precisely why everyone was shocked when Gauff declared her last-minute entry into the China Open, and even more so when she steamrolled her way to the WTA 1000 title with a win over Karolina Muchova on Sunday. Gauff's impressive run in Beijing included wins over Paula Badosa, Yuliia Starodubtseva and Naomi Osaka and re-established her as one of the top stars on the WTA circuit.
After Sunday's win, Gauff revealed why she made the last-minute call to play in Beijing even though her team advised her against it.
"I kind of told my team I wanted to play Beijing," Gauff said, via Tennis 365. "We were planning on just coming to Wuhan. I just felt like I needed to play and have fun. I enjoy Beijing."
The 20-year-old has a new mindset of wanting to play as much as possible, a year after she admittedly took the season-ending tournaments lightly after winning her first major at Flushing Meadows.
"I think last year, I won the U.S Open and I was like, the rest of the season, 'I want to do well, but whatever – just play and see what happens.' And then this time it was like, 'Well, I haven't done so well.' The tournaments that I really wanted to do well in, the Slams, that was over. So it was kind of, let's just see what happens here. I always think that this part of the season will always just be more relaxed for me."
Following her win over Badosa in the semifinal, Gauff credited the change in her mindset to her new coaches, Jean-Christophe Faurel and Matt Daly, revealing that the new team is more focused on her development than results. She said they have "already made significant process" and will only make further strides in the coming months.
Gauff, who turns 21 in March, is still very much in the early stages of her development — a fact she acknowledged after the China Open win. Gauff said her team will continue to preach patience with her as they look forward to the upcoming Wuhan Open and potentially a trip to the WTA Finals in Saudi Arabia.
More must-reads:
- Coco Gauff coasts to China Open championship
- Tennis umpire's crucial scoring error goes unnoticed, helps 22-year-old upset three-time Grand Slam winner
- The 'NFL stadium names' quiz
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Grigor Dimitrov to Miss US Open, Ending Record Grand Slam Streak
Bulgarian tennis icon Grigor Dimitrov will not compete at the upcoming US Open, bringing an end to his remarkable run of 58 consecutive Grand Slam appearances, the longest active streak in men’s tennis. The news was confirmed by Dimitrov’s manager, Georgi Stoimenov, who told Bulgarian tennis site TennisKafe that the Bulgarian star is still recovering from a pectoral muscle injury he sustained at Wimbledon. During his match against world No. 1 Jannik Sinner on July 7, Dimitrov was ahead by two sets in the third set when he suffered a partial tear of his right pectoralis major during a service game. The injury forced him to retire at 2–2 in the third set, ending a promising lead and conceding the match to the Italian, who went on to win the title. Dimitrov now hopes to make his comeback during the Asian swing of the ATP Tour, specifically targeting the tournaments in China later this year. Dimitrov’s Grand Slam streak began at the 2011 Australian Open and continued unbroken through Wimbledon 2025. Over that span, he became one of the sport’s most consistent mainstays, earning a reputation for longevity, versatility, and professionalism, although the past year has seen a troubling pattern: he retired at all five of his most recent Majors (starting from Wimbledon 2024 through to Wimbledon 2025) due to various injuries, including hip, thigh, groin, and the current pectoral issue. The 34-year-old, who reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3 and made the semifinals at three of the four Majors, enjoyed a resurgence in 2024 and early 2025 but is yet to win a Grand Slam in his illustrious career. While his absence from Flushing Meadows will be keenly felt, Dimitrov is now focusing on a full recovery in hopes of returning to competitive action in Asia, as it could provide a platform for a strong finish to the season.
Yankees’ planned fire sale after Aaron Judge injury epitomizes roster weakness
Would the New York Yankees still be a heavyweight contender without Aaron Judge? Most fans would doubt it. What comes as a shock is that Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, appears to agree. According to MLB insider Andy Martino of SNY, Cashman had explored the option of selling ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline (6 p.m. EST) if Judge’s flexor strain had turned out to be something worse. Martino wrote this: “[On Saturday], we relayed that the Yankees were floating some of their free-agent-to-be relievers in preliminary trade talks. We have since learned through league sources that last week the Yanks brought up Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt in talks with at least one other club.” It would be strange to see a team with a record well above .500 shop core hitters at the deadline. Both Bellinger and Goldschmidt — hitting .281/.333/.507 with 19 home runs and .283/.341/.419 with eight home runs respectively entering Tuesday — have been valuable producers for the Yankees this year. Goldschmidt signed a one-year deal with the Bronx Bombers over the offseason while Bellinger was acquired via trade with the Cubs. He is signed through 2026 but has a player option at the end of the year. Either player would bring a nice haul back to the Yankees. Of course, the reigning AL MVP’s injury doesn’t seem to be a season-altering, ‘abandon ship’ type of event. Optimistically, Judge should be back soon. But this does serve to illustrate how the team’s success is dependent on one player. Beyond Judge, the Yankees’ batting order doesn’t feature a star-caliber player, or at least a player the lineup can be built around. While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, New York lacks enough solid hitters to be considered a worthy contender without Judge. The Yankees’ three bottom-of-the-order hitters — Austin Wells (.214), Anthony Volpe (.213) and newest acquisition Ryan McMahon (.223) — all own batting averages below .230 entering Tuesday. And this doesn’t include J.C. Escarra (.205), Oswald Peraza (.152) or even Ben Rice (.229). If Judge was lost for the season, selling wouldn’t have been a bad idea. He is insoluble glue holding the battered Yankees’ roster together, especially with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt gone for the year. No one on the trade market could replace him, but with Judge coming back, the Yankees might have enough firepower to at least limp to the finish line.
'He Should Get One': Steelers' Ben Roethlisberger Clamors For A New Contract For Key Piece In Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the more bizarre teams heading into the 2025 NFL season. The team has a ton of new pieces, so it is hard to determine just how well it will perform. On paper, the team should be one of the better groups in the AFC, but it will be interesting to watch how everyone ingratiates themselves into the organization, and whether or not the execution is where it needs to be. Regardless of what happens, there are a ton of reasons for excitement in Pittsburgh. The main reason for excitement in Pittsburgh is the new quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. There are some other important pieces as well, including DK Metcalf and Jalen Ramsey. Jonnu Smith is also a new factor on the offense that could play a key role. Former quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was discussing all of the reasons to be excited about the Steelers on the most recent episode of Footbahlin With Ben Roethlisberger. He mentioned the new additions, but he also spoke about the overshadowed special teams unit, including Chris Boswell. "I'd say the best kicker in the game, [Chris] Boswell," Roethlisberger said. "Special teams, that gets overlooked so much. You know, we talk about offense, defense, talk about Aaron, talk about TJ [Watt], we talk about all this stuff. What about the best kicker in the game? I know he's not up for a new contract, he should get one. They should actually probably make him the highest-paid kicker if he's not already. So, Omar [Khan], the Khan-Man, should get that done." Boswell signed his most recent extension with the Steelers back ahead of the 2022 season. He signed a four-year deal worth $20 million that runs through the 2026 season. He could be extended now, but Pittsburgh usually waits until before the final year of the contract to get a new extension done. He has been one of the best kickers in the league since joining the Steelers back in 2015, and Roethlisberger thinks he has earned a new deal. In terms of average annual value, Boswell is currently the NFL's 11th highest-paid kicker. He is one of the most efficient and reliable players at the position in the league, and Roethlisberger believes he needs to be at the top of that list. A new contract would likely result in the kicker becoming the highest-paid in the NFL, as he deserves it based on nearly every metric. Boswell led the NFL in field goals made during the 2024 season, and he went 13 of 15 from past 50 yards. His accuracy is unmatched, and he is coming off of his first All-Pro season in 2024. He was often overshadowed in the AFC due to Justin Tucker, but Tucker's career has seemed to fall apart after some off the field issues came to light during the 2025 offseason. Tucker also had one of the worst seasons of his career in 2024, which allowed Boswell to take the title of being the best kicker in the league. Steelers' Chris Boswell Is Searching For More Playoff Success When fans talk about the longest-tenured players on the Steelers, the first name that is always mentioned is Cam Heyward. Rightfully so, but Boswell has also been around Pittsburgh for a long time. He joined the team during the 2015 season, and he immediately solidified himself as the organization's kicker. There have been multiple instances where Pittsburgh has won contests with the only scoring coming from the leg of Boswell, but hopefully the offense can take a step forward in 2025 to take some pressure off of the kicker. Boswell has won in the playoffs with Pittsburgh before, and he is trying to get back to that point in 2025. Would you like to see Boswell get a new deal?
Vikings training camp recap, Day 6: J.J. McCarthy struggles, other notes
Coming into training camp, ups and downs were expected for Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy, who is essentially still a rookie. The team has high expectations for the 22-year-old, but also realizes that it's going to take some time for him to learn and grow and develop after he missed so many valuable reps due to his knee injury last season. Through the first handful of practices in camp, there had been a lot more good than bad from McCarthy. Saturday's practice, in particular, saw him put on a show for the fans in attendance with numerous impressive throws. With that said, Tuesday's practice was more bad than good. McCarthy's completion percentage — while I didn't track it down to the throw — was well below 50 percent in team periods. There were some that were narrow misses, some that were blatant misses or miscommunications, and a couple balls that were arguably drops by his targets. But the overall theme was that far too many balls hit the grass instead of being completed. In early route-running period near the goal line, McCarthy found Jordan Addison, but he couldn't secure the ball as Jeff Okudah appeared to punch it out. One play later, McCarthy threw just a touch high for Lucky Jackson, who made a great catch but was ruled to be out of bounds. He also failed to connect with T.J. Hockenson on two targets, one of which was well behind the tight end. McCarthy was better in 11-on-11 action in the middle of the field, highlighted by a pretty strike to Addison for a chunk gain. Then came another goal line period, this one 7 on 7, and the struggles resumed. He missed Addison in the back corner of the end zone. He threw another one back there to Addison, who caught it but landed out of bounds. He rifled one just high for Josh Oliver, with the ball deflecting off of Oliver's hands and then directly into the crossbar. McCarthy did throw a couple touchdowns during that period as well. The Vikings finished up with a situational period where the offense faced a third down and then transitioned into either a field goal, a punt, or a fourth-down attempt. McCarthy's first throw was a nice completion downfield to Aaron Jones, setting up a field goal try. But he then threw one way too high for Jordan Mason on a fourth down, and followed that by missing Jalen Nailor by quite a bit due to an apparent miscommunication. That caused McCarthy to put both of his hands on his helmet. It was that kind of day. To be clear, this isn't concerning or worth putting too much stock in. McCarthy has had a strong start to camp, and off days are going to happen. It wasn't a particularly long or high-intensity practice compared to some of the other ones we've seen. And in training camp, results on one day of practice — good or bad — are never all that meaningful, especially when it's still July. Lastly, the first-team offense remains without its two best players, Justin Jefferson and Christian Darrisaw. McCarthy will look to shake it off and have a better day on Wednesday, which will be the second fully-padded practice of camp. Here are a few other things I saw on Tuesday: There were plenty of vet days off today. On the defensive line, Jonathan Allen and Javon Hargrave sat out, which meant first-team reps for Jalen Redmond and rookie Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins alongside Harrison Phillips. At safety, it was Theo Jackson and Jay Ward in for Harrison Smith and Josh Metellus. Offensively, Michael Jurgens was at center for Ryan Kelly, while Brian O'Neill got some plays off, which meant Blake Brandel sliding out to right tackle. Will Fries pancaked backup defensive tackle Jonathan Harris on a screen pass to T.J. Hockenson, which drew some high fives from teammates. One of the things that shows up on Fries' Colts tape is his tenacity when it comes to finishing blocks. Dwight McGlothern just keeps making plays. After he had an interception on Monday and broke up a pass that created another pick, the second-year cornerback jumped a route and picked off Sam Howell on Tuesday. There are a lot of guys competing for roster spots in the Vikings' CB room, but it feels like "Nudie" (McGlothern's nickname) is going to be on the 53. It was a good day for the Vikings' depth tight ends. Ben Yurosek had one of the highlights of the practice with a leaping touchdown catch from Howell in red zone 7s, but Bryson Nesbit and Giovanni Ricci made some plays as well. With Gavin Bartholomew on the PUP list, those first three guys are competing for the TE3 role, as things stand. Will Reichard hasn't been automatic in the first couple days we've seen him kick. He hit the left upright from 53 yards out in the situational period, then later missed wide right from 46. I believe Reichard was 5 for 7 on the day, including makes from 48 and 50 yards. Rondale Moore and Silas Bolden got the first two punt return reps in the situational drill. More Vikings coverage
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