1976 French Open champion and former world No. 4, Italian great Adriano Panatta, offered harsh criticism regarding American Coco Gauff`s performance following her defeat in the WTA 1000 Rome final. Gauff lost to Jasmine Paolini with a score of 4-6, 2-6.
Panatta didn`t pull any punches, stating, “Gauff lost without any intelligence. She`s a laboratory-made player who never changes her expression during a match.” He argued that Gauff and her team fail to recognize the need for her to adapt her playing style, suggesting that a player of her caliber should consider changing coaches. Panatta asserted that Gauff, like many top players today, is built for hard courts. He specifically criticized one of her shots, calling a dropped short ball one he hadn`t even seen “from two old ladies at the club.” He lamented the modern approach to coaching, claiming, “Today they only teach you to hit hard, without thinking. 95% of players play like Gauff; the one who makes fewer errors wins – it`s deadly boring.” In contrast, he praised her opponent: “I enjoy watching Paolini because she thinks and forces players who only play one way to play poorly.” Panatta suggested that players primarily suited for hard courts should “stay on hard courts and not come here [to clay].” He stressed that to be a true champion, one must be proficient on all surfaces, noting that in men`s tennis, top players succeed everywhere, implying a “skewed” ranking in the women`s game. He even suggested there should perhaps be “a circuit exclusively on hard courts” for such players. Despite acknowledging their impressive power, Panatta concluded by reminding players, “In tennis there`s a net and there are lines: it`s not enough to hit hard, you need to learn to play tennis.”
Marcus Blakely 
Gilbert Pendleton