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via Imago
Image Credits: Imago
American tennis legend Andy Roddick believed Carlos Alcaraz would be a major threat at the 2024 AO as the surface tournament will be ‘very good for him.’ But it didn’t happen. Alcaraz lost to Alexander Zverev in the quarter-finals. What does Andy Roddick think about his performance and where does Alcaraz need to improve?
Andy Roddick believes Carlos Alcaraz needs to work on his serves. He pointed out several points for the Spaniard to improve his game. Having helped Coco Gauff earlier, will we see Andy Roddick extend the same gesture to the 20-year-old Spaniard?
Andy Roddick says it’s a learning curve but Carlos Alcaraz will learn quickly
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Andy Roddick has been one of the biggest supporters of Carlos Alcaraz. He has called the Spaniard one of the most complete teenage players and also a ‘gift to the game.’ But his recent form has caused some worry among his supporters. How should he improve his game? On the “Served with Andy Roddick” podcast, along with the renowned sports journalist Jon Wertheim, he said, “Also we need to talk about when you play big servers. Can they take the racket out of his hand? Is he a great first-serve returner? I don’t know. We know he’s great on the second serve. He can back up and he can create speed but that’s something to watch.”
Roddick went on to add, “Does he figure out how to chip the ball back and forth and kind of dig in the first ball until he gets in the front foot? I don’t think it’s going to be a super smooth sailing. I think the tournaments that are coming up, obviously the Indian Wells are a great surface form.”
“Because the way ball jumps up and away, that’s going to give him some love for the kick serve. I think his serve leaves a lot to be desired. I don’t think this has really much improved at all in the last 2 years.“
Roddick pointed out Alcaraz was serving at 135 a few years back, but now it has gone down to 127. He believes serve is the most obvious place to improve for the Spaniard. “He needs to create a little bit of motion on the serve. I think it’s a learning curve, I’m not overly concerned on the long term. I think it’s a learning tool and he’ll learn about it.“
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Roddick’s valuable insights might work wonders on Alcaraz; after all, they worked wonders for Coco Gauff.
Andy Roddick helped Coco Gauff fix her serve ahead of the Australian Open
A few weeks ago, Brad Gilbert, Coco Gauff’s coach had revealed of bringing his former student to take a look at Gauff’s serve. Andy Roddick was one of the best servers in the game during his playing days. Recalling that moment Gilbert said, “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.”
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The world number 2 will now look to make a comeback when he steps in next on the court. Should Carlos Alcaraz seek Andy Roddick’s help to improve his serves?
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