Retired WTA player Andrea Petkovic said Pere Riba also deserves his moment in the sun seeing the success Coco Gauff has had in the last 6-7 months. The Spanish coach has been overshadowed by Brad Gilbert, a renowned coach who previously worked with Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi. Both joined Gauff’s team around the same time, but Petkovic believes the latter has run away with the credit.
Gauff rang in the changes to her staff in between the 2023 season. Just before the Wimbledon 2023 Championships, she onboarded Riba. His claim to fame is his work with Qinwen Zheng, the women’s player who broke into the top 20 from outside the top 150 under his tutelage. A couple of months later, Gilbert joined the team. Coco Gauff won her first WTA 1000 title and the US Open with the duo in her box.
The majority of credit for Gauff’s newfound success went to Gilbert. On a recent episode of The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Petkovic took time out to acknowledge Riba’s contribution. She said Gilbert held the limelight because he is undoubtedly a talented coach but Riba should also be noticed.
“One more sentence to Pere Riba because I think Brad Gilbert had his moment. I think ESPN was milking how great of a coach he is and all those interactions it was great. He’s a great coach, I’m not saying he’s not, he’s a great coach. Obviously, he has the results, he has a very good tennis mind also obviously, and he brought a new energy but I know Pere Riba, I saw what he did with Qinwen Zheng.”
Petkovic elaborated upon what the Spaniard had done with Zheng and how those techniques had also worked well for Coco Gauff. The German believed Riba was forgotten and needed to be given due credit for training the American.
“I know that his way of working on the forehand worked for Qinwen and I know it has worked on Coco Gauff’s as well. I think a lot of credit goes to him and he was forgotten for my taste, he was forgotten many times because he’s done the training.”
Pere Riba left Coco Gauff team to rejoin old pupil Qinwen Zheng
Coco Gauff’s season seemed to be going nowhere until she brought in Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert. Her meddling results changed to title wins. She won her first WTA 500 in Washington and followed it up with her first WTA 1000, the Canadian Open. Her talent bloomed under the pair and she lifted the 2023 US Open, her first Majors. With a semifinal run in the WTA Finals, she finished the year with a career-best World No.3 rank that she achieved in September.
Surprisingly, Riba and Gauff went their separate ways in October. The coach cited personal and family health reasons behind the fruitful association ending. A few days ago, Zheng announced she was partnering up with Riba again. The duo first joined hands in 2021 when the young Chinese was ranked No.169. They worked together until June 2023.
With Riba, Zheng had a breakthrough season in 2022, rising 100 places in the WTA rankings. She reached the fourth round of the French Open and the quarter-finals of the Canadian Open. Starting the year at World No. 126, she peaked at No. 25.
Her rise continued in 2023, rising to World No.19 with some good runs in the WTA 1000 tournaments. After Riba left, her growth continued and she finished runner-up in the WTA Elite Trophy, ending 2023 as No. 15. Now, with Riba back in the fold, Zheng will hope to take her game to the next level as Gauff did.
