Andy Roddick has explained what Coco Gauff should do to take her game to the next level and consistently push the likes of World Number One Iga Swiatek.
Gauff claimed her first Grand Slam title by winning the US Open in September 2023 and reached a career-high ranking of three in the world.
The American began 2024 by winning Auckland’s ASB Classic and later reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open on a 10-match win streak.
But since losing to Aryna Sabalenka at Melbourne Park, Gauff has not reached another final and has yet to rediscover the consistency from her magical summer over the 2023 American hard court swing.
Andy Roddick says Coco Gauff must work on specific skill to improve her game
On his ‘Served’ Podcast, Roddick claimed the trio of Swiatek, Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina, who have seven titles between them this season, have created some distance between themselves and Gauff.
The 41-year-old then explained what he thinks the 2023 WTA Finals semi-finalist can do to close that gap.
“I don’t like saying this because my fandom of Coco knows no bounds, I think she is an amazing athlete and amazon person,” Roddick said.
“But Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina have separated themselves from her so far this year. Coco’s a second serve away from reasserting herself into that conversation.
“From where I sit the ball toss looks a little too forward on the second serve. I do think she will find it and she will be a dominant server.
“I also think that we have to give props for what was done last summer because that is largely reflected in her being the Number Two player this week, largely deserved. I just think there are three people that are constantly playing better so far this year.”
Roddick helped Gauff with her serve during the offseason
This is not the first time Roddick has shared his advice on Gauff’s serve. In fact, she revealed she spent two days with him during the offseason working on how to improve what is such an important weapon in a player’s repertoire.
One of the keys to Gauff winning the ASB Classic was her serve, where she won more than 87 percent of her service games.
After winning her opening round at the Australian Open, Gauff explained how she felt working with Roddick, who was once coached by her current coach Brad Gilbert.
“I think I just need to continue to trust it and trust all the work that I did in the offseason,” she told reporters in January. “He’s probably one of the best servers in history, and especially on the American side.
“I don’t think I could have chosen anybody — or actually, I didn’t really choose, he offered. So I don’t think I could have gotten anybody else better to kind of help me with that.”
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