{"id":81362,"date":"2025-05-07T08:22:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/81362\/"},"modified":"2025-05-07T08:22:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-07T08:22:10","slug":"andy-roddick-thinks-coco-gauff-has-made-a-very-similar-change-to-andy-murray-recently-and-its-made-her-so-much-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/81362\/","title":{"rendered":"Andy Roddick thinks Coco Gauff has made a very similar change to Andy Murray recently and it’s made her so much better"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Coco Gauff made a real step forward in Madrid, having struggled with form recently.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American star had failed to reach a tour-level semi-final all year before making the trip to Spain for the Madrid Open<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Finding her best tennis on the clay, Gauff reached the final of the Madrid Open<\/a>, securing several impressive wins over the likes of Mirra Andreeva and Iga Swiatek.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Robert Prange\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

She was unable to pick up her first title of the season, however, as Gauff lost to Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> in the final, 3-6, 6-7.<\/p>\n

Speaking ahead of her return to action in Rome, one ATP Tour<\/a> legend has spoken about an improvement in Gauff\u2019s game he noticed recently.<\/p>\n

Andy Roddick says Coco Gauff\u2019s recent forehand improvements reminded him of Andy Murray<\/p>\n

Speaking on the Served with Andy Roddick podcast, former world number one Andy Roddick<\/a> shared his thoughts on a change Gauff made to her forehand in Madrid.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe forehand looked great this week,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we talk about the fade away. What I saw as the major adjustment for Coco [Gauff]<\/a> was her not trying to run around and hit flat inside outs. That\u2019s not her shot shape.<\/p>\n

\u201cOr trying to hit flat down the line and force that ball in there, that\u2019s not her shot shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roddick said her forehand adjustment reminded him of a change another former world number one made.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Julian Finney\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cSimilar to the adjustment that [Andy] Murray<\/a> made when he first started working with [Ivan] Lendl, she was opening up the shoulders, and when she was getting aggressive, she was going with her natural shot shape, which is flattening up the ball cross court,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe doesn\u2019t flatten it out that well inside out, and she doesn\u2019t flatten that forehand super well up the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you know she is going to open the shoulders cross-court, it does two things.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne is that the threat is there so you can\u2019t just pin her in the forehand side and two, what that does, is that you have to take two steps to the right so all of a sudden her natural shot shape, which is that looper up the line, becomes way more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roddick believes the change was positive for Gauff and made a big claim about the quality of her forehand in Madrid.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Rick Kern\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was just a matter of being aggressive to the shots to the parts of the court you\u2019re comfortable with and not trying to square peg, round hole against your shot shape,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBig improvement for Coco, I thought that was as well as she had hit her forehand this year so far.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coco Gauff in three-way fight for world number two at the Italian Open<\/p>\n

A win against Sabalenka in the final of the Madrid Open would\u2019ve seen Gauff take Swiatek\u2019s<\/a> place as world number two.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t to be, as she lost to the Belarusian in straight sets, although she\u2019ll have another chance to return to her career-high ranking in Rome.<\/p>\n

With the Pole defending 1,000 points having won the Italian Open<\/a> title in 2024, she currently sits in fourth in the Live WTA rankings, behind Gauff and another American star.<\/p>\n\nLive ranking<\/strong><\/td>\nName<\/strong><\/td>\nPoints<\/strong><\/td>\nPoints defending from 2024 Italian Open<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n2nd<\/td>\nJessica Pegula<\/td>\n6,243 <\/td>\n0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n3rd<\/td>\nCoco Gauff<\/td>\n6,213<\/td>\n390<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n\n4th<\/td>\nIga Swiatek<\/td>\n5,783<\/td>\n1,000<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Live WTA Rankings<\/p>\n

At 31 years of age, Jessica Pegula<\/a> could be just a few matches away from becoming world number two for the first time.<\/p>\n

\"PhotoPhoto by Robert Prange\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

There are, of course, several different scenarios that could see all three players exchange places depending on their performances in the Italian capital.<\/p>\n

World number two permutations in Rome<\/p>\n