“Told Myself…. I Look Good!”: Coco Gauff Leaves Fans in Splits on How She Inflicted a Bagel On Her Australian Open Opponent

Coco Gauff kicked off her Australian Open 2024 campaign with a 6-3, 6-0 win in the Round of 128 at the Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne on Sunday evening (EST). Gauff beat Anna Schmeidlova despite a nervy start in the first set, in which she was locked in a 3-3 battle with her opponent. In the post-match interview, the American youngster made fun of her own errors, which made the arena go buzzing and drew a lot of laughs.

Coco Gauff said that she kept telling herself during that tricky period of play that she was feeling good and she looks good too, so she should enjoy the moment and her game. Gauff candidly admitted that she was indeed nervous in the match as she always has been in the first round of any Grand Slam tournament she has played in so far. Interestingly, in her US Open 2023 title-winning campaign, she had dropped the first set of her first round match before winning the next two. It means that she fared much better on Sunday and was able to overcome a tough start quicker.

✅ Feeling good
✅ Looking good@CocoGauff • #AusOpen • #AO2024 pic.twitter.com/1djfJzdrHx

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 15, 2024

Coco Gauff proceeded to then inflict what is perhaps the best feeling for any tennis player in a match, winning a set 6-0. Gauff proved to be unstoppable after that first set win, taking just 60 minutes in total to complete the demolition job. The fourth seed remains the biggest American hope at the Australian Open 2024. This was her sixth consecutive women’s singles match win in the 2024 season, showing some positive signs ahead of a tournament which could prove to be challenging for Gauff.

Coco Gauff inspired by Andy Roddick ahead of Australian Open 2024

In the off season, Coco Gauff worked on having a simpler motion while serving. According to her coach Brad Gilbert, Gauff emulated Andy Roddick’s style to incorporate in her game and it took her 2-3 days in doing so. Gilbert, who co-incidentally coached Roddick when he won the US Open 2003 at the age of 21, was quoted as saying in an interview with ESPN USA –

“I coached Andy at a young age. He’s got an amazing serve. And I was thinking, ‘what a great person to take a look at Coco’s serve.

“It’s kind of full circle. When I coached Andy, I was his age now. Andy was like Coco’s age. It was a great two days. Really helped things out, simplified Coco’s motion, abbreviated a little bit.”

Coco Gauff herself talked about it in the pre-tournament press conference and was quoted as saying –

“It only took me, like, two days—maybe three—to get really comfortable with it. It was just to make the toss more consistent. Instead of throwing from so low to start up higher to make the toss more consistent.”

The move seemed to work as Coco Gauff had a winning percentage of 71 on her first serve and 59 on her second serve. Gauff had an average of 180 km/hr on her serve overall and her fastest serve was a good 198 km/hr.