Coming back from a set down against the world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, to clinch her second major title, Coco Gauff was truly exceptional at Roland Garros this season. Following the retirement of Serena Williams in 2022, when everyone was wondering whether there would be a vacuum left in the sport, Gauff’s 2023 US Open triumph somewhat filled the void created by her exit at that time. Even this year, her French Open triumph was the first time an American woman had won the title since Williams herself in 2015. However, despite such an impressive run at Roland Garros, there were some concerns surrounding the situation of the sport in America. But  American legend Andy Roddick was recently spotted showering praise on Gauff and others for their Roland Garros campaigns.

Talking about numbers, well, initially the stats claimed that the women’s singles final between Coco Gauff and Aryna Sabalenka across TNT Sports and truTV saw a massive jump of around 94%. It reported that this was also the most-watched French Open women’s final since the 2016 edition. However, later on, a different picture emerged. As per those reports, tennis viewership in the U.S. has been so dire that these numbers seem to inflated. According to the reports, although TNT claimed a “94%” increase from the previous edition (2024), in reality, it was only 1.5 million viewers for the women’s final in the U.S.

So, that’s 0.4% of the U.S. population versus 4.7% of the French population with 3.2 million viewers. What’s more staggering is that this year, we saw an American (Coco Gauff) reach the final and win the title. However, instead of concentrating on this worrisome stat, tennis legend Andy Roddick shifted his focus to the brighter side. 

In a recent episode of the TC Live Podcast, he said, “It’s just crazy the level that it’s gotten to and how spoiled are we. We follow up this generation of Serena and Fed and Nadal, and Novak, and you know some of that are still going and then it’s like one pop in Coco (Gauff) wins her second Slam, and these guys are going to win you know handfuls more for sure. It’s just like tennis is great. We should all be full of gratitude for it absolutely.”

With her 6(5)-7, 6-2, 6-4 win against Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff became, at 21-years-old, the youngest champion since her “idol” Serena (in 2002). Following this incredible victory, Gauff admitted, “I didn’t think honestly that I could do it. But I’m gonna quote Tyler the Creator right here. He said, ‘If I ever told you I had a doubt inside me, I must be lying.’ I’d like to leave that with you guys. I think I was lying to myself and I definitely could do it. Shout out to Tyler.” 

Following an impressive clay court season, where she reached the finals in Rome and Madrid before winning the title in Paris, Coco Gauff is all set to kickstart her grass court campaign in Berlin. She’ll face China’s Xinyu Wang in her first match. What are Gauff’s chances of finding success on grass?

Andy Roddick analyzes Coco Gauff’s chances on grass

Coco Gauff has an overall win-loss record of 24-10 on grass, but she has yet to play a match on this surface. Before starting her campaign on the grass courts, she spoke about her strategy and her chances of winning the big one at Wimbledon. During the podcast, Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike, Gauff said, “I think I can give myself the best chance to win Wimbledon by trying to downplay my victory in Paris as much as possible. I’m kind of trying to forget that moment, honestly. It’s just about staying hungry.“

Later on, while talking about her approach on this surface, she added, “I don’t want to approach the rest of the season that way, especially since there are two other Grand Slams I could very well win.” Despite having failed to go beyond the fourth round at Wimbledon, Coco Gauff looks quite optimistic about her chances on this surface. But what does Andy Roddick have to say about this?

Although other tennis legends like Chris Evert claimed that she believes that Gauff can definitely win Wimbledon, Roddick thinks otherwise. He claimed that Coco Gauff might struggle on this surface with her current technique. “She’s [Gauff] confident coming off of Roland Garros. Listen, the book on Coco hasn’t changed because she’s won Roland Garros. She’s so good at what she does, but the entry point to the forehand with pace is still going to be the thing that people try to do against her consistently. The easiest surface to do that on, in my opinion, against her, is on grass.” What are your thoughts on this, though? Do you think Gauff is a favorite to win the grass-court major this year?