MELBOURNE, Australia — There’s a young woman who looks a lot like Coco Gauff at Melbourne Park for the Australian Open. She has the same fiery, competitive eyes, the same tendency to break out in a giggle in the middle of a sentence and the same number of titles.

Coco Gauff has made improvements to her serving and her forehand. And the strides in both of those areas are among the reasons she's considered one of the few women ready to challenge two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka for the title at the Australian Open.

America's biggest tennis star had a bad summer in 2024. After she double faulted 19 times in an early exit in the U.S. Open, Gauff said she didn't want to lose a match like that again, then brought on a new coach and adopted a new grip to ensure it.