New York (AFP) – A tearful Coco Gauff battled through another shaky performance to defeat Croatia’s Donna Vekic and reach the third round of the US Open on Thursday. Third seed Gauff, the 2023 US Open champion, could be seen sobbing into her towel at times during an error-strewn first set before clinching a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 victory.
Gauff’s preparations for the US Open were thrown into disarray just days before the tournament when she shook up her coaching team and brought in a new biomechanics coach to help improve her serve. But after an erratic first-round win, when she finished with a whopping 59 unforced errors and 10 double faults, Gauff once again found the going tough in Thursday’s assignment on the Arthur Ashe Stadium main court. The 21-year-old American was broken four times in the first set and looked distraught as she struggled to get to grips with her game.
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However, she regrouped after winning a first set tie-break and did not drop her serve in the second set to clinch victory. Afterwards, Gauff choked back tears during her on-court interview as she thanked the home crowd for willing her to victory. “Honestly, today was a tough match for me, but I’m just happy with how I was able to manage it,” she said. “It’s been a rough couple of weeks. You guys really helped me a lot,” she told the crowd. “I’m doing this for myself but I’m also doing this for you. I’ve had some tough moments on this court and that first set was tough for me, but you guys pulled me through it.”
“I was just trying to tell myself to breathe, just put another ball in the court and keep doing the things that I do well. It was kind of amazing I was able to get out of that at the end of the first set,” Gauff continued. She also mentioned the presence of Olympic gymnastics icon Simone Biles in the celebrity-studded crowd as a source of inspiration. “I saw her being interviewed and I was just thinking if she can go on a six-inch wide beam and perform with all the things she’s gone through, I can come out here on court and hit a ball. Her presence helped me today,” she said.
Vekic, meanwhile, also endured a traumatic outing, and was seen burying her face into her towel in despair during a match in which she coughed up 10 double faults and was broken six times. Gauff faces Polish 28th seed Magdalena Frech in the third round on Saturday.
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