Coco Gauff recently talked about her experience of meeting Andy Roddick on the practice courts while preparing for the new season.
The 19-year-old told reporters following her clinical opening win at the 2024 Australian Open, beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in straight sets, she had traveled to Charlotte, where Roddick is based after the 41-year-old personally offered to help shape her serve.
One of the most conspicuous improvements in Gauff's game in the early weeks of the new season has been the truncated service motion, brought about by the wisdom imparted to her by Roddick, one of the greatest servers in tennis history.
The retired former US Open champion has been one of the staunchest supporters of Gauff and has been taking a keen interest in the youngster's rise to stardom. Roddick has boldly predicted that his compatriot will not stop at one Grand Slam title after lifting a maiden US Open last September.
And in an effort to help Gauff take her game to the next level, Roddick aided the 19-year-old with her pre-season preparations by focusing on improving the consistency of her serve. For two days, Gauff benefitted from valuable training from the former World No. 1.
"Yeah, it was really cool. He's a really chill guy. I met him before but never, like, obviously to that level. Yeah, I went to Charlotte for two days. Yeah, it was a really good two days. I think that my serve has improved. I think I just need to continue to trust it and trust all the work that I did in the offseason."
"He's probably, you know, one of the best servers in history, and especially on the American side. So, yeah, 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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