Coco Gauff goes three tense sets at U.S. Open to beat Ajla Tomljanovic
Coco Gauff serves to Ajla Tomljanovic during a women’s singles first round match at the U.S. Open on Tuesday night at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Phew!
Coco Gauff, just days away from having made a drastic coaching change, survived a nearly three-hour, first-round thriller Tuesday, outlasting Ajla Tomljanovic, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5, at the U.S. Open Tuesday night.
Though all eyes had been on Gauff’s inconsistent second serve in this match, it was her powerful backhand that finally put the match away as she drilled one down the line to outlast her opponent.
Usually there wouldn’t be this much interest in and scrutiny of a first-round match between a former U.S. Open champion and the 79th-ranked player.
Gauff’s mindset, however, has been the subject of constant speculation since the middle of last week when it was revealed she had replaced coach Matt Daly with Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics expert whom she is hoping can fix her unreliable second serve. Gauff finished the match with 10 double faults.
In her on-court interview, Gauff admitted that it had been a tough five days trying to tweak her serve in such a short time.
“Mentally exhausting,” she said. “I wasn’t the best today. But it’s an improvement from last week.”
Changing coaches was an incredibly bold move for Gauff, who won her first U.S. Open here as a 19-year-old in 2023. Yet, it was one she believed she had to make considering the recent struggles with her serve.
Gauff appeared to be at the top of her game only two months ago when she defeated Aryna Sabalenka at the French Open to win her second Grand Slam title. Since then, she has gone 4-4, including a teary first-round exit at Wimbledon.
Gauff is an incredible athlete, a mentally tough competitor who can serve in the 120-mph range. Gauff also has one of the most unreliable second serves in the game, something which she clearly thinks is keeping her from being the best player she can be. Gauff’s 330 double faults this season are not only the most in the WTA, they exceed the second-closest total by more than 100.
Gauff has had only a few days to work with her new coach, and it’s hard to use this match against a lower ranked player as a measuring stick.
MacMillan was in the Gauff box for the match, sitting in front of her mother. He clearly looked relieved when she pulled out the win. MacMillan has worked some magic before as he is widely credited with fixing Sabalenka’s serving motion. Yet, to pull off the same trick in just a few days working with Gauff is a tall task, which is something MacMillan admitted in an interview with ESPN before the match.
“It’s a privilege to be able to help someone who I think is a generational athlete in their sport,” MacMillan said. “The challenge is the short amount of time we have to impact this as much as possible . . . My only goal is to put this foundation down so this is solved forever for her.”
In other words, give me some time.
Sabalenka, the reigning U.S. Open champion, said Friday it took about two weeks for her to see improvement working under MacMillan, adding that she was so desperate she had even considered stepping away from the game.
“I tried literally everything, and nothing would help me to fix my serve. It was the last step before I would say, ‘OK, bye-bye, tennis,’ ” Sabalenka said. “I was so desperate, so I wasn’t really doubting my decision. The moment we start working, I felt like, OK, there is something. I definitely have a better feeling on my serve. And I just trusted the process, trusted myself.”
Gauff knows the serve is something she had to fix to be the player she wants to be.
Said Gauff after making the change: “I have a clear future where I see myself and I feel like I’m really close.”
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
