Coco Gauff is the favorite for 2024 Wimbledon title claims Martina Navratilova

Coco Gauff won her first Grand Slam at the 2023 US Open.

Coco Gauff is the favorite for 2024 Wimbledon title claims Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova (L), Coco Gauff (R) (Sources: ABP Live, Wikipedia)

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova recently picked Coco Gauff as her favorite to win the 2024 Wimbledon. The Czech-American former tennis player has rated the youngster very highly since the 2023 US Open, where Gauff won the first Grand Slam of her career.

Navratilova says the 19-year-old has made massive improvements in her game and it can help her win more Grand Slam titles in the future, especially the Wimbledon. Martina Navratilova opined that Coco Gauff is better at the net than any other player in the women’s division currently and moreover, she has improved her drop shot a lot.

She said due to Carlos Alcaraz’s influence, the drop shot has grown to be a very important tool in any tennis player’s arsenal nowadays and fans might expect to see it a lot next year. These improvements might help Gauff on grass and thus Navratilova thinks that Coco Gauff will excel at Wimbledon. Moreover, her biggest competitor, Iga Swiatek, has admitted that grass is the most challenging surface for her. 

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I would be surprised if she doesn’t win another major this year, and Wimbledon makes the most sense. I think it’s on grass because she’s better at the net than any of them and moves forward so well. That and her improved drop shot. I think you’ll see that across the board next year, the [Carlos] Alcaraz influence on the sport. For me, Coco should be the favorite on grass. Particularly since by her own admission, it’s Iga’s most challenging surface.
Martina Navratilova (H/T: WTA)

Gauff’s performance in the 2023 Wimbledon was not that great, though. In fact, her worst performance of the season came in that very tournament. The youngster lost to Sofia Kenin in the very first round and got eliminated. Thankfully, she made a wonderful comeback after that and won a number of titles, the most important of them obviously being the US Open. 

Martina Navratilova says Iga Swiatek is better than anybody at her best 

Navratilova on her part also praised Iga Swiatek for making a brilliant comeback at the end of the season and becoming the year-end World No.1 She admitted that she did not expect the Polish to do so and she surely earned Navratilova’s respect. 

Iga Swiatek
Iga Swiatek (Source: Sky Sports)
That was Iga showing that, at her best, she is better than anybody. I mean, in difficult conditions, she just blew right through everybody. She gets into the points better and knows how to close the deal. I’ll be honest. 

The 18-time singles Grand Slam winner also said Coco Gauff will probably overtake Aryna Sabalenka to become World No. 2 by the end of the 2024 season. However, it will be difficult for either of them to overtake Iga Swiatek as the Pole has found her form back. 

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