Coco Gauff has emerged as one of the leading players on the WTA Tour in recent months, bouncing back from a mid-season slump in 2024.
After her US Open title defence ended in the fourth round last September, Gauff split with former coach Brad Gilbert and went on to hire Matt Daly, who works alongside JC Farrell.
Under Daly’s guidance, the US star surged to the China Open and WTA Finals titles in 2024, and has moved back up to her career-high of world No 2 in the WTA Rankings.
The 2025 season has not been smooth sailing at all times for the 21-year-old, but she has reached the last eight of the Australian Open, before finals in Madrid and Rome.
Gauff has also gone on to reach her second French Open final, and her partnership with Daly has undoubtedly been a successful one to date.
Here is all you need to know about her renowned coach.
College and playing career
The highlight of Daly’s playing was his time playing college tennis while studying for a finance degree at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.
Daly was the college’s No 1 player and was nationally ranked during his collegiate days, though his success did not translate into a long ATP career.
The 45-year-old reached a career-high of 941st on the ATP Tour in 2003, though his career was ultimately cut short due to a persistent shoulder problem.
Coaching career
Since his playing career came to an end, Daly has embarked on a long and hugely varied coaching career.
He is currently the Director of High Performance and Talent ID at the Westchester Tennis Centre in Port Chester, New York – one of the leading tennis centres in the state.
Among the high-profile players he has previously worked with are former world No 4 James Blake and current ATP Tour star Denis Shapovalov.
Daly and Canadian star Shapovalov worked together for seven months in 2023, though they called time on their partnership amid the former world No 10’s struggle with form and injury.
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Grip MD
Daly is known to have a specialist focus on both footwork and grip technique, and the latter interest led to the launch of Grip MD.
Created alongside former ATP doubles star Mark Merklein, Grip MD is a training device that players, both amateur and professional, can slide onto the handle of their racket to help improve their grip.
It allows players to adjust and improve their continental grip, which is key for slicing, serving, and volleying.
“Having worked with players of all levels from beginners to pros, I have found that teaching the correct grip is the most important part of any player’s technical development,” said Daly, when the product launched.
“It is also extremely hard to teach and commonly misunderstood. This device greatly simplifies the process, allowing players to find the perfect grip in a short period of time.”
What have he and Gauff worked on?
The focus on grip technique was likely the main reason why Gauff hired Daly, with her serve, in particular her second serve, and her forehand proving key issues during a difficult summer.
She hit 19 double faults during her US Open loss to Emma Navarro last September, so it comes as no surprise that the world No 2 was keen to address this.
“Obviously right now I’m very young, so I’m looking just for someone to help me develop in the long-term process, try to help make my game as complete as I can be,” she said in Beijing last Autumn.
“We’re working on a lot of developmental things. He’s great. Obviously, I still have JC on the team. For me, it was trying to find a mix of two people that work together well. So far, I mean, it’s obviously working result-wise.”
Double faults and issues with her forehand have still affected Gauff at points in 2025.
However, there can be no doubt that her work with Daly has slowly been paying off, with the American having reached the final of the three biggest clay events on tour in 2025.
Gauff has a comfortable cushion as the world No 2 heading into the grass-court summer and seems well-placed to contend for further Grand Slam success under Daly’s guidance.
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