- 19-year-old had ‘really good two days’ working with Roddick
- American beats Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-3, 6-0 in first round
Tumaini Carayol at Melbourne Park
Coco Gauff has revealed that she worked with Andy Roddick, the last man from the US to win a singles grand slam title, during the off-season to reconfigure her service motion as she looks to build on last year’s US Open triumph and compete for more major titles.
“It was really cool,” Gauff said. “He’s a really chill guy. I met him before but never to that level. I went to Charlotte for two days. 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 off-season.”
On Monday afternoon, Gauff began her campaign at the Australian Open with a straightforward 6-3, 6-0 win over Anna Karolína Schmiedlová. Gauff’s first serve is one of the biggest in the world and it has long been one of her best weapons but she still has significant room to improve its precision and consistency in addition to her inconsistent second serve.
During her time with Roddick and her coach, Brad Gilbert, who previously coached Roddick, they worked on simplifying her motion and she now serves with a more abbreviated and smoother swing.
Roddick remains an extremely popular figure and an astute pundit since his retirement but he has rarely offered his services to players since his retirement. Roddick’s only grand slam title at the 2003 US Open came exactly 20 years before Gauff’s triumph and six months before Gauff was born.
“He’s probably one of the best servers in history, and especially on the American side,” Gauff said. “So I don’t think I could have chosen anybody — or actually, I didn’t really choose, he offered. I don’t think I could have gotten anybody else better to kind of help me with that.”
Since losing in the first round of Wimbledon last year, Gauff has been on the best run of her young career, compiling a 30-4 record as she won titles in Cincinnati and Washington in addition to the US Open last year. She picked up where she left off at the start of this season, defending her Auckland title in the first week of the season, and she is now 6-0 to start the year. Gauff will face Caroline Dolehide, a fellow American, in the second round.
After her victory, Gauff also joked about her relationships with her younger brothers, Codey and Cameron, and how their ambivalence to her career helps to keep her grounded.
“Codey is 16,” she said. “Sometimes he has a sister; sometimes he doesn’t. It depends on when he wants me to exist because he’s in his ‘cool’ phase right now. The youngest one, he’s 10. He doesn’t want to talk for long. He’s on the game or whatever.
“Those relationships are incredibly important to me, especially traveling a lot, being by yourself a lot. I’m lucky enough that I can have my parents come with me, and my family sometimes, but it just reminds me that I’m a person, reminds me that my value is more than how I do on the court.”
Meanwhile, Marketa Vondrousova, the Wimbledon champion and seventh seed, became the first high profile casualty in Melbourne as she was defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
In the men’s draw, Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, reached the second round with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0 retirement win over Terence Alamane after the French qualifier struggled with cramps in the searing heat. Stefanos Tsitsipas, last year’s finalist, also moved on with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 win over Zizou Bergs, a lucky loser.