Being two of the top three ranked players, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff have shared a special rivalry on the women’s tour. However, it was the Polish tennis star, who currently has a dominating 10-1 lead(Gauff sweeping 21 of 23 sets) in her head-to-head record against her American opponent. As she is massively trailing behind in the H2H against the current number 1 player, Gauff recently received a bit of advice from the former tennis ace, Navratilova.

Despite having an array of skills at her disposal, the reigning US Open champion’s forehands are considered one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in the racquet game, as they have resulted in several errors. In light of Gauff’s forehand issues, Navratilova said, “You can get away with beating a lot of people with it, but it’s just not as solid as it needs to be at the top of the game for her to really start dominating.” 

Despite conceding an early break, Iga Swiatek dominated the later stages of the match, winning eight of the last eleven games to secure a straight-sets victory (6-4, 6-3) over Coco Gauff in the Rome Open semifinals last week. In a Tennis Channel conference call, the Hall of Famer also opened up about how the American tennis prodigy ‘can dominate’ against top players like Iga if she improves her forehand.

“And she can dominate, but the forehand needs to get better,” the former tennis player said. While offering a bit of advice to the tennis prodigy, the WTA veteran also asserted that Gauff can have a bigger hitting zone on her forehands if she manages to ‘tweak’ her grip. Apart from the forehands, the tennis legend shed light on another issue in Gauff’s game on the court.

More than any other player in the top 100 on the circuit, the young American tennis star has conceded 213 double faults so far this season. Notably, during the same conversation, the Martina opened up about how Gauff should improve her first serves to cut down on the double faults. “You don’t want to keep harping on it, but also make her serve into a bigger weapon, a lot more solid,” she advised.

The tennis legend also asserted that Gauff should use her serves as a ‘weapon’ if she wants to test her Polish opponent, Swiatek. The former WTA player said, “I think she just needs to make that serve a little bit more of a weapon, get some free points.” Not only Martina, tennis legend and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick pointed towards the “mental issue” concerning Gauff’s serve.

Andy Roddick claims to have seen Gauff’s “headache” under spotlight

On his podcast “Served,” tennis legend Andy Roddick analyzed Coco Gauff’s recent performance. While acknowledging her strong showing in the Rome semi-final, Roddick pointed towards her serve as a point of concern. “Coco had a great semi in Rome. You are kinda searching for serve a little bit. Hit the forehand as well as I have seen her headache,” Roddick observed.

While Andy pointed how World No. 3’s first serve seems fine at the moment, her second serve remains a challenge. “Serve is still a bit, her first service actually a lot better in Rome. Second serve is still, you know, she is battling,” he elaborated. Roddick’s comments suggest that she’s battling a bit of a mental block with the serve, especially under the spotlight. “I think she is battling a bit of a mental issue on the serve and you know you can do it in practice. But doing it in under the lights is a different deal.”

Gauff certainly needs to find the rhythm on the court if she wants to pose a serious challenge to the ‘Queen of the Clay,’ who also recently defeated her in the semis of the Italian Open. Do you think that the American tennis prodigy can level up her game on the court if she improves her forehand and first serves? Let us know in the comments section.