Richard Pagliaro | Friday, August 22, 2025
Image source: Al Bello/Getty
The service box was once reduced to the size of the email address Aryna Sabalenka.
She just couldn’t get the delivery to fit.
World No. 1 Sabalenka worked with biomechanics coach G a few years ago to solve her service troublesAvin Macmillan.
Wednesday, Coco Goff, He led the WTA Tour with a double fault and began working with Macmillan to fix her willful serve. Gauff played 43 doubles in three games in Montreal, including a career-high 23 double-handed mistakes, in a three-set win over Danielle Collins.
Dominant U.S. Open champion Sabalenka met the media today at Flushing Meadows and recognized Macmillan’s coach and his skills to rebuild her serve. It is important to note that each player responds differently, Sabalenka said.
“I’m really grateful for his help during the tough times. For me, he really provided me with the serve.” “I’m so grateful for everything about him.”
“You know, everyone is different. I’m really eager to change, I’m ready to change everything, change my serve, get better, and finally, you know, get back on track with my service.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1mpmzklxo0
During this week’s U.S. Open Practice Class, Macmillan has been pairing her serve and forehand with Gauff’s swing, hitting with extreme western grip, sometimes shorting on the court.
Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka said the repair process had been “a few weeks” with Macmillan.
“So for me, it’s basically a few weeks, and I’m kind of fixed,” Sabalenka said. “But everyone is different, I hope they are both the best and hope everything will be done for them.”
The US Open Seed says there are two key factors to solve the serve:
1. Trust the work on the driving range and transfer it to match the game and
2. Repeat the repetition to make streamlined exercises a muscle memory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vv5prdqgc0
Sabalenka said she improved her serve almost immediately after working with Macmillan.
“It’s not very difficult for me because I actually tried everything and nothing can help me get the serve up,” Sabalenka said. “This is the last step I said, well, goodbye, tennis. I’m so desperate, so I’m not really doubting my decision.
“The moment we started working, I felt like, well, something. I definitely had a better feeling. I just believed in the process, believed in myself. Like the first competition I went to, I already felt different, I felt, I felt good, I got there. So I got there. For me, it was just about the repetition of things, a little commitment to him, and everything he said.”
