Coco Gauff learned from Andy Roddick, one of the best servers in tennis history, during the offseason.
“It was really cool. He's a really chill guy. I met him before but never, like, obviously to that level,” Gauff said after earning her first-round win at the Australian Open. “I went to Charlotte for two days. Yeah, it was a really good two days. I think that my serve has improved.”
Gauff won more than 87 per cent of her service games to win the ASB Classic in Auckland two weeks ago. The World No. 3 will hope to maintain that success at Melbourne Park, where she will try to secure her second consecutive major trophy.
“I think I just need to continue to trust it and trust all the work that I did in the offseason,” Gauff said. “He's probably 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.”
According to Infosys ATP Stats, Roddick is fourth in career service games won (90.1%) and second-serve points won (55.9%). The former No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings is also sixth in career aces (9,074).
Gauff’s coach, Brad Gilbert, also coached Roddick early in his career. Gilbert was Roddick’s coach when he won the 2003 US Open.
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