Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick has sparked discussion by describing the playing styles of recent Wimbledon champions Barbora Krejčíková and Markéta Vondroušová as the “anti-Coco Gauff” during a June 24, 2025, episode of his *Served with Andy Roddick* podcast. Analyzing the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, set for June 30 to July 13, Roddick praised the Czech duo’s crafty, versatile approaches, contrasting them with Gauff’s athletic, power-driven game, and suggested their styles pose significant challenges to top players like Gauff on grass.
Krejčíková, the 2024 Wimbledon champion, defeated Jasmine Paolini in a three-set final (6-2, 2-6, 6-4), while Vondroušová won in 2023 against Ons Jabeur (6-4, 6-4). Roddick highlighted Vondroušová’s signature “Rafa hook shot”—a lefty spin that tails away on grass—calling it a trouble-escaping tool akin to Rafael Nadal’s. “It’s like the anti-Coco Gauff,” he said, per *ProFootballNetwork.com*. “She finds a way through matches early in tournaments, but if they find it, they match up well against the top players.” He noted that both players’ ability to mix pace, spin, and angles disrupts power hitters like Gauff, whose forehand entry point with pace remains a vulnerability, especially on grass.
Gauff, the 2025 French Open champion and World No. 2, has struggled at Wimbledon, never advancing past the fourth round despite her 2019 breakout against Venus Williams. Roddick, while a vocal supporter of Gauff, acknowledged her grass-court challenges, stating, “The book on Coco hasn’t changed because she’s won Roland Garros. The easiest surface to exploit her forehand is grass,” per *Yardbarker*. Krejčíková and Vondroušová’s finesse, with Krejčíková’s doubles-honed net play and Vondroušová’s recent Berlin Open title (7-6(10), 4-6, 6-2 over Wang Xinyu), make them formidable against Gauff’s aggressive baseline style.
Roddick’s analysis also questioned Wimbledon betting odds that omitted Krejčíková and Paolini, exclaiming, “What the hell are we doing? We’ve just deleted last year’s final!” He sees Krejčíková and Vondroušová as dark horses who “level up” against top-five players, unlike Gauff’s high-octane game. As Gauff prepares for Wimbledon after a second-round Berlin Open loss to Wang Xinyu, fans on X debate Roddick’s take, with some agreeing her forehand is a liability, while others back her improved aggression to break through at SW19.
