Coco Gauff’s has endured an up and down 2024.

And the fact she has done so while battling a very obvious problem has a former World No. 1.

Gauff has had plenty of highs and lows in 2024Getty

The American sensation, 20, has seen plenty of highs and lows in a year that will conclude with a shot at glory at the WTA finals.

Gauff’s qualification to the season-ending competition in Saudi Arabia was officially confirmed earlier this week, after the player herself had let the news slip in an amusing press conference.

Victories at the Auckland Open in January and China Open earlier this month helped the World No. 3 book her place in the season-ending finale, but she found herself struggling on the Grand Slam stage between those two tournaments.

Gauff crashed out in the fourth round at Wimbledon and in the defence of the US Open title she won in 2023. She was a beaten semi-finalist at the Australian and French Open and crashed out before the medals were decided at the Olympics.

A issue with her service game has also dominated discussion around Gauff in recent weeks, after she double faulted 19 times in her US Open defeat to Emma Navarro, before a career-high 21 double faults followed against Aryna Sabalenka in the Wuhan Open semis.

Despite a turbulent 2024, Andy Roddick has backed the American to clean up her mistakes moving forward and praised her efforts to date.

“I want to give credit where credit is due because of the loss at the US Open, the 11 or 12 doubles in that third set, the questions post Brad Gilbert [Gauff’s former coach],” Roddick said on the latest episode of his ‘Served’ podcast.

“Dealing with a lot of things, to create a bit of a momentum set, even with the second serve rearing its ugly head again against Sabalenka, almost winning that match [at the Wuhan Open]. These two things are rarely said.

“There is some work to be done on the forehand, and also she just went back up to number three in the world, having dealt with these things all year. That’s crazy town.”

Roddick, a former World No. 1 himself and the last American man to win the US Open, has already seen improvement in Gauff’s game that makes him excited about the future.

Gauff has struggled with her serve in 2024Getty

“I think the rest of her game has become so much better than it was a year ago, that she will self correct this at some point. I have full faith,” he continued.

“It’s not going to get better overnight, but all of these things we constantly harp on and are negative about – she’s back up to three in the world and she’s 20 years old!

“Can we take a step back and be realists for a second? That’s pretty impressive.”

Guaff will no doubt be focusing on her service game as she prepares for the WTA finals, which kick off in Riyadh on Saturday November 2.

This will be her third trip to the year-end championships and Gauff is still the youngest player in the field.

She will be aiming to go a couple of steps further than last year, when she reached the semifinals.

Sabalenka and Gauff could cross paths at the WTA FinalsGetty

Poland’s Iga Swiatek and Belarus star Sabalenka were the first two players to qualify for the tournament, and were later joined by Gauff, Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina and Jessica Pegula.

Qinwen Zheg, of China, and Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova were the final two names confirmed earlier this week.