Beating the skepticism of naysayers, even if you’re the best, is an art only a few can master. But we’re glad to say that Coco Gauff is no less than an artist in her own right. Having lost her first match at the WTA Finals against fellow American Jessica Pegula, the 2x Grand Slam winner bounced back with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 win over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in her second round-robin match. Moving forward, Gauff will now face world number one Aryna Sabalenka. With a victory set to secure her a spot in the semifinals, the 21-year-old has been warned against the same old game plan.

Coco Gauff’s recent struggles with her serve are common knowledge. Granted, the defending WTA Finals champion has made significant improvements recently. However, hitting 17 double faults against Pegula only raises more eyebrows regarding her progress. Even though she was successful against the Italian star, it’s unlikely that luck would favor her against Sabalenka. At least, former British number one Laura Robson says so.

During her appearance on Sky Sports, the 31-year-old shared her brief analysis of whether Coco Gauff should implement the same tactic against Sabalenka. Interestingly, Robson said, “It’s going to be harder to do it,” while vocally expressing her skepticism. “I think that’s where we are going to be on serve watch again. Because if she is going to roll it in for a kick serve, I am sure we are going to see Sabalenka step up to the baseline and hit as many return winners as possible.”

Laura Robson believes that each challenge is different in its own way, and this one against the World No. 1 is no exception. Aside from avoiding what she did against Jasmine Paolini, the former tennis star urged Coco Gauff to rely on the confidence that she earned from Tuesday’s first WTA Finals win and further carry forward the momentum.

Quite understandable yet confusing at the same time. For context, consider her recent game against Paolini, where the American youngster showcased impressive serving stats. She recorded just three double faults while winning 67% of her first-serve points and an even more impressive 75% on her second serve.

It was only once that Paolini broke her serve throughout the match. Of course, this was something that Laura Robson noticed. “It was how she was getting her serves in as well, they were really safe,” she said, praising Gauff for avoiding big serves against Paolini. “Not going for too much. She was rolling the second serve in and making sure she was using the kick as much as possible.”

Sure, that resulted in Gauff’s serve speed being slightly lower than usual, averaging around 85 mph. However, Robson emphasized that she didn’t need to rely on aces. She highlighted that although Gauff reached 400 double faults for the year, committing only three against a top-eight opponent was a strong and encouraging response.

And as if following this advice isn’t enough to increase her chances of securing a potential win over Sabalenka, Coco Gauff still has one more edge.

Coco Gauff has the upper hand over Aryna Sabalenka

Going by head-to-head stats, Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka have faced each other 11 times, out of which it’s the American star who rules the roost with six wins, with the Belarusian toeing behind with five. The last time they crossed paths against each other was during the Roland Garros final, where the 21-year-old defeated the 27-year-old to secure her second major title.

The very match had witnessed the pot stirred quite a bit as Sabalenka was slammed over her comments following Gauff’s win. As for their most recent hard-court meeting, it came at this very tournament last year, where it was again Gauff who triumphed over the Belarusian star in the semifinals. Simply put, history is more brownie points for Coco Gauff, yet Robson throws a valid caution to the wind.

Moving forward, Coco Gauff will need to replicate such results to successfully defend her title, while also keeping the golden advice in mind. What are your thoughts? Who do you predict to be the winner of this match-up? Let us know as a comment.