"He’s probably one of the best servers in history": Coco Gauff lauds Andy Roddick after help with serve pays dividends
WTA
Coco Gauff dropped just three games in her opening match at the 2024 Australian Open as it took just over an hour to see off Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0. It is a sixth win in a row for the American after winning the title in Auckland to start the month.
Gauff who has flown under the radar despite winning the last Grand Slam has perhaps no right to be doing so given her form under Brad Gilbert as a coach and she has added the help of one of his protege's in aiding her serve in former World No.1, Andy Roddick.
"I felt good. I was a little bit nervous coming in today,” said Gauff. “You probably could tell. I was able to just calm down and then play my good, not my best, but good tennis from that point.”
On her union with Roddick, she won 71% of her first service points and hit a fastest serve of 198 km/h. Despite work still being needed in the case of Gauff, it is seemingly already paying dividends with the manner of her win.
“He’s a really chill guy,” she said on four-time Australian Open semi-finalist Roddick. “I went to Charlotte for two days (to work with Roddick) and it was a really good two days. I think that my serve has improved. I just need to continue to trust it and trust all the work that I did in the offseason.’
“He’s probably one of the best servers in history, and especially on the American side. I don’t think I could have gotten anybody else better to kind of help me with that. In the past, I would just feel like I needed to get the serve in because I could rely on getting balls back and everything. But I want to become a more aggressive server, and I feel like when my serve is on, I’m playing well. I think it was more of a mental switch.”
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