"As good of a counterpuncher as Coco Gauff is, Simona Halep has been doing that for a long time and might have more strategic power" - Andy RoddickÂ
Coco Gauff and Simona Halep came through contrasting wins over Aryna Sabalenka and Jil Teichman in their respective third-round encounters to set up an exciting quarterfinal showdown at the 2022 Canadian open.
Previewing their contest for the Tennis Channel, Andy Roddick said Gauff will have to do some things differently from her previous meetings against Halep to post a first career win over the Romanian.
The retired American said the quicker hardcourts in Toronto will help Gauff get more out of her first serve, but stressed on the need for an aggressive approach from the teenager.
"If I'm I found in Coco's corner," Roddick said. "If I'm coach Gauff, I'm saying, listen, you haven't had your best stuff against her yet, you kind of have this blip at the end of Indian. Wells. This is your surface, it's a little bit quicker. You're gonna be able to kind of get a little bit more out of your first serve."
"Coco has to attack second serve returns, she has to pick, choos her spots to get aggressive against Simona Halep, because as good of a counterpuncher as Coco is, Halep has been that for a very, very long time and might have a little bit more strategic power."
Comparing the two players, Roddick said while Gauff was a solid counterpuncher, Halep holds mastery in that aspect and possesses a "strategic" edge over the teenager as she has been doing it for years.
"Coco's got to drive the ball back, inside thr lines," Roddick said. "The only place where she can really hurt Simona Halep consistently. Haelp is going to make Coco, move, right? So she doesn't want her to get a couple of backhanns in the same spot where she can actually set up and kind of force the issue a little bit."
"Gonna have to make a ton of first serves as there's a pretty big divide between Coco's first serve and her second serve," he conitnued. "I watched that match of Madrid. Coco fell apart a little bit at the end of the second set with the double faults, kind of donated a victory to Simona."
Coco Gauff sitting on the cusp of WTA top 10 rankings debut
Coco Gauff came very close to breaking into the top 10 of the WTA world rankings last week, but Daria Kasatkina surpassed the American after her title-winning run at the Silicon Valley Classic.
Gauff, however, will have another shot at making her top 10 debut this week. A win over Halep in the quarterfinals will ensure that the youngster leapfrogs Kasatkina into the top 10. If she accomplishes that, Gauff will also replace Emma Raducanu as the youngest player to be ranked inside the top 10.