After stealing victory from the jaws of defeat, Coco Gauff became the first American woman to win the French Open title since Serena Williams (in 2015). However, she doesn’t want to stop at just two! Almost a year ago, in an interview, she stated, “Some players’ goal is to win a Grand Slam. Once they reach that, it’s kind of, what’s next? For me, I always knew I wanted to win multiple.” Her dream is to take that number to “double digits“, but can she do that? Time will tell! With the 2025 Wimbledon starting in just a few days’ time, her fans will be hoping for her to get her third here, but the road to the title triumph won’t be easy. Interestingly, recently, the American legend, Andy Roddick, was spotted snubbing Gauff and picking a different name to win the title after almost a nine-year-old drought. 

Well, Serena Williams was the last American woman to win this title. In 2016, she defeated Angelique Kerber by 7-5,6-3 to win the French Open. Following that, her sister, Venus Williams, made it to the finals the next year, but she was defeated by Garbine Muguruza. Although in 2018 and 2019, Serena made it to the finals yet again, she failed to win the title on both occasions.

Having recently won the title at Roland Garros, Coco Gauff seemed to be a clear favorite to end this drought at the grass-court major. But Roddick has a different pick and it’s none other than the 2025 AO champion, Madison Keys!

In a recent interview on Tennis Channel, the 2003 US Open champion (the last American man to win a Slam), Roddick said, “So draws aside, which believe it or not will play a huge part in tournaments, but I like Maddie Keys, I think from the American side. I think she’s my favorite. I think she’s well-versed on the grass. She’s had good results. She was heading towards big results last year before she got hurt against Paolini, I think. She was 4-1 in the thirdish if I’m not work. It’s not by much, but also since then, obviously, she has won a slam right. She’s going to be more comfortable in that scenario.“

Having said that, he also added, “I do still think Jessica Pegula has a big run at Wimbledon. Ahead of her, I know, she kind of let that lead get away from her against Vondrousova in the year that she won. But listen, the US women can play on this stuff for sure.“ Madison Keys’ best record at Wimbledon was reaching the QF twice (2015, 2023). In 2023, even Jessica Pegula made it to the QF, but she was defeated by Marketa Vondrousova by 4-6,6-2,4-6 in that match. However, on the other side, Coco Gauff is yet to go past the fourth round here!

Other than Keys, Roddick had previously also claimed that Aryna Sabalenka is a “clear-cut favorite” at Wimbledon. According to tennis bigwig Jon Wertheim, the top three favorites are Sabalenka, Gauff, and Keys. But who else had picked Madison Keys as the favorite for this tournament?

Just like Andy Roddick, even American tennis legends Tracy Austin and Chanda Rubin shared a similar thought on Madison Keys. In a previous conversation at the TC Live Podcast, Austin said, “I don’t think they’ve given enough credit for Madison Keys. She has got the AO. I mean, Maddie’s serve, I’d hate to have to return that serve on grass. That sliding serve or the big flat serve, and her groundstrokes are so powerful. Now, she has the confidence. I think Maddie would be a good chance.”

Hearing this, Rubin also claimed, “Absolutely, and she knows her way around the net as well, and that’s the part of her game that I like to see her add. Come in maybe a little bit more on the grass, especially behind her big groundstrokes, and just play with a little more glue.” Even Laura Robson was heard wondering what would’ve happened last year if Keys hadn’t had to pull out last year in her fourth-round match against Paolini. Robson also believes that there’s definitely a chance for loads of different people at Wimbledon this year. There have been a lot of doubts surrounding her ahead of Wimbledon, but what did Coco Gauff say before starting her campaign on grass?

Coco Gauff gets stunned by the qualifier Xinyu Wang in Berlin

Coco Gauff has a win-loss record of 24-11 on grass, but she failed to get off to a winning start on this surface in 2025. Before kick-starting her campaign at the grass-court swing, Coco Gauff talked about her approach on the grass court. She said, “I think I’m going to approach it a lot more freer. Because I know when you do well in Paris, it’s such a quick transition to grass. I’m going to feel less pressure, regardless of how I do there. Just because it’s my first time experiencing a win and going to a Grand Slam so soon. Just being free and accepting the result regardless of what it is. But I’m definitely going to try my best to win it.“

Having said that, she also spoke about how she wants to use the Grass Court Championships in Berlin, a tournament, just to see where she’s on grass at the moment. But sadly, for the American, her journey here was cut short by Wang recently. The Chinese recently defeated Coco Gauff by 3-6,3-6 in the R16 of this tournament. What really went wrong for the world number 2 in this match?

Well, Gauff looked out of sorts in this match as she committed 25 unforced errors and registered 7 double faults in the entire match. Reacting to this shocking defeat, just days ahead of Wimbledon, Coco Gauff shared a social media post and admitted, “It was a tough one today, but I’m happy to be back on court. I tried my best to adjust with the quick turnaround, but it wasn’t enough. As always, I’m learning as I go so I hope to do better next time. Thank you, Berlin, for the short but sweet visit. I’ll come back stronger next year.”

However, assessing this loss against the Chinese, former tennis pro, CoCo Vandeweghe claimed that she doesn’t think that this defeat will shake Coco Gauff‘s confidence at all. She believes that the youngster will learn a lot from this defeat and work further to come back stronger on this surface. Do you think Gauff has a good chance of winning Wimbledon this year?