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Will Coco Gauff’s weakness at the 2024 US Open be her downfall in tennis? Andy Roddick sets alarm bells ringing
Gauff was dumped out of the competition in the Round of 16.
The iconic Andy Roddick believes he’s spotted the one weakness that will not only stop Coco Gauff from dominating women’s tennis, but could also break her career, after she slumped out of the 2024 US Open.
The American was tipped to win the competition after emerging victorious at the Cincinnati Masters just prior, but found herself watching on from the stands after Emma Navarro beat her 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in the Round of 16 on September 1.
It means that since bursting onto the scene in 2019, the 20-year-old has only claimed one Grand Slam title (2023 US Open) and has only made one other final (2022 French Open) as people begin to ponder whether she can truly inherit Serena Williams’ crown.
And one of them seems to be Roddick, who won the 2003 US Open and made the final of Wimbledon four times, as he suggests there is one glaring flaw in her game preventing her from taking control of the sport.
“The serve is an issue,” Roddick said on his Served podcast. “Like, it’s just… It’s tough she, I think she had 10 or 11 double faults in the third set against Emma.”
Roddick added: “No matter how good you are, and no matter how elite you are at other parts of the game. It’s tough to get around that.”
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In the Round of 16 loss at the Arthur Ashe stadium within the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center complex, Gauff offered 60 unforced errors and 19 double faults with 11 falling in the final set.
The youngster could not rescue her performance and bowed out of the competition in a bit of an upset, as Navarro went on to reach the semifinals where she was defeated by Aryna Sabalenka who won the competition.
When is the next Grand Slam tennis tournament?
With Jannik Sinner claiming the men’s singles title and Sabalenka claiming the women’s singles title, that’s it for Grand Slam tennis in 2024.
Sinner completed a memorable double by winning the US Open and the Australian Open whilst Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz won the French Open and Wimbledon, as the end of the Big Four Era (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Murray) seems to have truly arrived.
Whilst in the women’s games, Sabalenka replicated Sinner with a US and Australian Open double whilst Iga Swiatek took the French Open and Barbora Krejcikova won Wimbledon to earn her second ever singles Slam title.
Grand Slam tennis will return in 2025 with the Australian Open, scheduled to be hosted from January 6-26 at Melbourne Park.