Coco Gauff shared which shot she is working hard to improve after reaching the next round at Roland Garros.
The American is in pursuit of her first French Open title and she began her campaign in emphatic fashion against Russia’s Julia Avdeeva.
The 20-year-old continued the momentum she built in Rome where she reached the semi-finals and was only beaten by the rampant Iga Swiatek.
Some shots are more effective on different surfaces than others and Gauff is working on a shot that can be very handy on a clay court.
Which shot is Coco Gauff working hard to improve?
While the serve has been the World number three’s biggest weakness this year, she is also working hard at her drop shots.
Clay is tennis’ most gruelling surface with the slowness and high bounce proving a challenging task for players to overcome.
Therefore, with rallies likely to be extended, a drop shot can prove very effective and Gauff is trying to incorporate more of them into her game.
“My coach is a French player and that’s his specialty – hitting all the defence shots – so I’ve been trying to do better at that,” she told reporters.
“Today I think I made three drops shots today and missed one. That’s pretty good for me. Sometimes it’s 50-50.”
Coco Gauff storms into the Roland Garros second round
Gauff wasted little time reaching the French Open second round as she conceded just two games against Avdeeva.
The US Open champion needed less than an hour to seal a 6-1, 6-1 victory in which she did not face a break point as her opponent made 23 unforced errors.
“I think I just came out playing well, and I would say I do think she was a little bit nervous with the bigger court, but I played well too,” Gauff said.
“Today was kind of a straightforward match. I didn’t have to do much. I wouldn’t say I, like, played amazing, just had to play solid today. That’s what I did.”
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