Roddick reveals the key to Gauff's defeat at the US Open

Coco Gauff suffered a tough defeat last night against Elena Rybakina in the semifinals of the US Open 2026, crushing her dream of lifting the title again that she already won in New York in 2023 and her aspirations to approach the number 1 ranking. Andy Roddick has commented on this match and explained the key to the defeat of the young American tennis player.

The former world number 1 has made a career beyond tennis as an analyst, and his podcast 'Served' has become world-famous. It was there that he shared his thoughts on Gauff’s performance, who was the top favorite after lifting the title at WTA Cincinnati, but couldn't maintain her level against the new queen of the WTA circuit. It was a closely matched encounter that was decided in 3 sets, but Roddick believes that Gauff's forehand failed when she needed it the most, and that was too much of a burden.

Normally, Gauff's opponents tend to avoid her backhand as it is her favorite shot, but she herself had acknowledged that it had helped her improve her forehand, and she appeared confident. However, her spin had no response against Rybakina's flat shots, which found her weaknesses, and ultimately, Rybakina came out on top. "In the first set, I commented that this was the best match Coco had played in a tournament. She was in great shape, but her forehand let her down. We must acknowledge Rybakina's merit; she is not known for losing sets and then coming back. She is the complete opposite of Coco: when she loses a set, she rebounds. She has done it on consecutive days, with the number one ranking at stake and the US Open title on the line," Andy stated.

Gauff must change her forehand

No matter how much she has improved it, compared to her backhand, Gauff's forehand is quite inferior, so Roddick believes this needs to be a point of improvement in the future if she doesn't want her opponents to figure out how to play against her to achieve victory. 15 unforced errors on her forehand are too many in a Grand Slam semifinal, which led to a defeat she will remember for a while given how much this tournament meant to her and how well she had been playing.

“Coco's forehand disappointed her. That's it. It will be difficult when opponents can hit hard and generate pace to that side. When they don’t, she has enough time and can manipulate the spins, hit with sliced effect, and do all that. But let’s also think about where she was a year ago. We saw her on the verge of collapsing, with her hands shaking when changing sides because she couldn't serve. Let's analyze the match and also her progress year after year," he concluded. Despite having a good year, Gauff has not won any Grand Slam, so it will be a task she aims to remedy for 2027.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Roddick desvela la clave de la derrota de Gauff en el US Open