New York (AFP) – Former champion Coco Gauff stumbled into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday, squeezing past Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in an error-strewn three-hour battle. Third seed Gauff punched her ticket to the second round after overcoming a litany of self-inflicted errors to win 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-5 in a match that lasted 2hr 57min.
“It was a tough match. Ajla was tough, she was getting so many balls back,” 2023 US Open champion Gauff said. “It wasn’t the best but I’m happy to get through to the next round.”
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Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, had prepared for the US Open by shaking up her coaching team on the eve of the tournament in an effort to fix her shaky service game. However, on the evidence of Tuesday night, the 21-year-old American still has plenty to work on if she is to have any realistic chance of mounting a deep run in New York.
Gauff finished with a whopping 59 unforced errors and 10 double faults, was broken six times, and heads to the second round knowing that a more ruthless opponent than Tomljanovic might have punished those mistakes. As it was, Tomljanovic had her own problems, suffering eight breaks of serve and making 56 unforced errors before bowing out.
Gauff admitted that her unsettled build-up to the tournament had been draining. “Honestly it’s been really tough, mentally exhausting,” Gauff said. “But I’m trying. It wasn’t the best today, but it was an improvement on last week (in Cincinnati); I’m just trying to improve with each match.”
Gauff will face Croatia’s Donna Vekic in the next round.
© 2024 AFP
