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Coco Gauff: "I feel good, I just want to have fun"
Photo: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
US Open champion Coco Gauff has confidently moved into the second round at the Australian Open. The 19-year-old defeated Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0 in just one hour and confirmed her impressive early form.
At the start of the year, Gauff had already convincingly defended her title at the WTA tournament in Auckland. Particularly striking in their opening victory in Melbourne: the serve.
She was a little nervous at the beginning of the match, but thanks to some advice from Andy Roddick, she now has more confidence in her serve.
Before the season, Gauff had visited the 2003 US Open winner to improve her serve. "He's a really cool guy," Gauff said of Roddick, calling him "probably one of the best servers in history."
Short, fluid, fast
As the Guardian reported, the two had been working on simplifying Gauff's serve. The movement is now shorter and more fluid. The serve is one of the most complex, but also the most important strokes in tennis.
Roddick held the record for the fastest serve at 249 km/h. He ended his career in 2012, but remained in the tennis world as a TV pundit. He or she has not yet been a full-time coach of a player.
Against Schmiedlova, Gauff hit her fastest serve at almost 200 km/h and gave up only one point on her own serve in the second set.
In the second round, the American will meet her compatriot Caroline Dolehide. "I feel good, I just want to have fun. This is definitely the 'Happy Slam' here in Australia, and that's what I'm trying to be," Gauff said.
mlb/sid/AP/Reuters