Coco Gauff kicks off the 2024 tennis season with a major win

Coco Gauff has a four-year tennis career but already secured a Grand Slam victory at the US Open in the fall of 2023. Now that a new season just kicked off, the athlete has prepared herself physically and mentally with the help of Andrew Roddick, a former professional tennis player and winner of the 2003 US Open.

While Coco has a powerful arm — the US Open recorded a 128 mph rocket off her racquet in 2022 — she is working to get stronger and faster.

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“There is nothing physically that stops me from bombing a serve,” Gauff said, as informed by the Women’s Tennis Association. “I feel like now I did a lot better of going bigger and just trusting my serve. In the past, I would just feel like I needed to get the serve in because I could rely on getting balls back and everything.”

During the offseason, Gauff traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina, to spend time with Roddick as he helped her to improve. “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. I don’t think I could have gotten anybody else better to kind of help me with that.”

Gauff has maintained a perfect record of 6-0 in 2024, including successfully defending her title in Auckland two weeks ago. She achieved this feat by making minor technical adjustments and adopting a more aggressive approach while serving.

“I think mentally when I have the aggressive serving mindset, that’s when I play my best tennis,” Gauff said. “It’s not so much why my serve doesn’t come off hard. It’s more so why am I not going for it more. I think I’m trying to go for it more. Hopefully, I can continue to have that aggressive mindset. I think I play my best tennis when I do.”

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Gauff began her Australian Open journey with a convincing 6-3, 6-0 victory over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova from Slovakia in the first round. Despite a sluggish start to her serve, Gauff managed to win the last eight games of the match, wrapping up a tidy victory in just one hour. This is her first major championship since winning a Grand Slam title, as informed by the Women’s Tennis Association.

“I think I did well returning, and then I found my serve towards the end,” Gauff said after her win. “She’s a tough player to play, but I’m happy with how I was able to manage my emotions today.”

Gauff will play Caroline Dolehide in the second round after Dolehide’s 6-2, 6-4 win over Leoelia Jeanjean of France.