Coco Gauff is 'exceptional' and will 'win plenty' but forehand needs to be 'solved' - Pam Shriver

Coco Gauff gave herself an early birthday present as she advanced to the fourth round of Indian Wells with her victory over Linda Noskova, hours before she turned 19. Gauff is bidding to win the first WTA 1000 title of her career and has been praised by former doubles world No. 1 Pam Shriver. Shriver also spoke about Gauff's forehand and why there are "no guarantees" for her.

Pam Shriver says Coco Gauff is an “exceptional” player who should win “plenty” of big titles over her career – but that her forehand still needs to be “solved”.

Gauff turned 19 on March 13, hours after her straight-sets win over Linda Noskova in the third round of Indian Wells.

It was nearly four years ago that she burst onto the scene at Wimbledon when she came through qualifying and beat Venus Williams on her way to the fourth round.

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Gauff has been making steady strides since, and last year she reached her first Grand Slam final at the French Open, losing to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

While she seems destined for much more success, Gauff's forehand is still a work in progress and is an area that has been targeted by opponents.

“It’s not easy to overcome," former doubles world No. 1 Shriver told the WTA.

“Because everyone you play is trying to break down that side. I have no doubt that they’re doing everything they can to get that solved.

“I just think Coco has to ratchet down the expectations, take it one day at a time and continue to be the professional she is.

“At the same time, while still being a teenager and having some sense of normalcy in a not-normal setting. She’s exceptional, and I feel like she’s finding that balance.

“If you just go on her movement, her serve, all her attributes, she will win plenty.”

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Shriver also warned that there are “no guarantees” that Gauff will win a Grand Slam title in her career.

Like Gauff, Shriver reached her first major final as a teenager, beating top seed Martina Navratilova in the 1978 US Open semi-finals as a 16-year-old.

She lost to Chris Evert in the final and never made it back to another final, losing all of the eight Grand Slam semi-finals she subsequently played.

“I know how it is to burst onto the scene, the expectations it creates,” said Shriver, who won 22 Grand Slam doubles titles.

“There are simply no guarantees of anything - nothing.”

Gauff will play qualifier Rebecca Peterson in the last 16 at Indian Wells.

She is also competing in the doubles alongside regular partner Jessica Pegula, who reached the fourth round with a three-set win.

Pegula has praised Gauff for managing to be “a star” on court while maintaining a healthy personal life.

"I think she has a really good head on her shoulders. It's definitely not life or death with her for tennis," said world No. 3 Pegula.

"I think she has a good balance of everything else with her family off the court. She likes to have fun with everything she does off the court. But I think she's definitely really close with her family, which I think keeps her very grounded and with her siblings and stuff like that.

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“You know, then she's kind of the star on the court. So it's cool to see how she's balanced it a lot at such a young age. I would say probably credit to her parents for helping her with that.

“She's just a fun personality, and she's got such a long, long career ahead of her. Just to see what she's done at such a young age is pretty crazy.”

World No. 6 Gauff and world No. 54 Noskova are two of four teenagers in the top 100, along with world No. 53 Linda Fruhvirtova (17) and world No. 94 Diana Shnaider (18).

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