Former World No. 1 Andy Roddick backs Coco Gauff amid criticism before Indian Wells

World No. 3 Coco Gauff will start her journey at 2025 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells on Wednesday, and she could meet 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in her first round. However, the American star took some time to go to Los Angeles and attend the Oscars, a move which received some criticism from fans on social media. But former World No. 1 Andy Roddick is defending Gauff.

“When Coco, who is a business unto herself, gets a chance to knock something out for a sponsor, she rarely gets a better opportunity,” the 2003 US Open champion said on his podcast Served with Andy Roddick. “She’s not going to find a better path than in LA. It’s the most logical loop. You land in LA, then spend a night or two and get back on the court.”

“I think we should focus on people who are actually struggling with being professional when training. I’m not sure Coco is the target for that, but in reality, when you’re a global superstar, stopping in LA to promote any brand or business and then heading to Indian Wells is about as tight of an operation as you’re going to get,” Roddick explained.

The criticism came after Gauff, who also won the 2024 WTA Finals, is coming from a losing streak. She lost to Paula Badosa in the Australian Open quarterfinal, and then lost two consecutive matches in Doha and Dubai as part of the Middle East swing.

Coco Gauff practices ahead of Indian Wells (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Coco Gauff talks her form: ‘It’s going to happen’

Despite the bad results, Gauff isn’t worried. “Yeah, for me, I don’t know, everybody makes a bigger deal than what it is… I lost two matches. I’ll lose more matches back to back; it’s going to happen,” said Gauff to the press, according to Sports Illustrated.

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“But at the end of the day, like, yeah, I was upset that I lost, but it’s a loss, like, it’s going to happen again. I’m going to lose back-to-back [games] again. Hopefully, it doesn’t happen too many times in my career,” she explained.

“You know the results will come. It’s, you know, just normal, I think. I’m only 20 years old, and I’m going to be 21 next week,” she added. For now, Gauff will wait to know who will be her rival, waiting to play the winner between Raducanu and Moyuka Uchijima in the Round of 64 on Friday, March 7.