Coco Gauff’s U.S. Open began with far more nerves than ease, but the No. 3 seed ultimately found a way through. Wrestling with a revamped service motion and her ongoing battle against double faults, the 21-year-old American fought past Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 in a nearly three-hour opening-round clash Tuesday night inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was Gauff’s first match since bringing biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan onto her team to address her shaky serving. MacMillan, who once helped world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka overhaul her delivery, sat prominently in Gauff’s box, watching the early struggles unfold.
Those struggles surfaced immediately. Gauff double-faulted on the match’s opening point, was broken in the first game, and piled up 10 double faults by night’s end. In total, she dropped serve six times — a familiar frustration for a player who has led the tour in double faults this season with 320 entering the tournament.
Yet despite her faltering serve, Gauff’s trademark athleticism and backhand brilliance carried her through. “It’s a new motion,” she said afterward. “At times I do it well, at times not so well. When I do it well, it’s always a good result. It’s just about reminding myself to do it.”
The match was filled with missed chances and mental hurdles. Gauff twice led by a break in the second set but could not close it out, eventually dropping the tiebreak 7-2. In the deciding set, she surged ahead 5-3 and earned a chance to serve for victory. That opportunity unraveled quickly: two straight double faults and a pair of errant forehands allowed Tomljanovic to level at 5-all.
Many players would have crumbled. Instead, Gauff immediately broke back, then steadied her nerves on a second attempt to serve out the win, punctuating it with a scorching backhand down the line on match point. Arms raised to ignite the Ashe crowd, Gauff sealed a gritty victory that felt as much about resolve as it did about technique.
As the night wore on, so did Gauff’s serve. Starting at a tentative average of 88 mph in the first set, her first-serve speed crept up to 97 mph in the second and 101 mph in the third — capped by a 117 mph bomb and even a rare second-serve ace.
Beyond the serve, her all-court game sparkled. She won 12 of 15 net approaches, highlighted by a remarkable leaping, over-the-shoulder volley winner with her back to the net. From the baseline, her speed and counterpunching nullified Tomljanovic’s heavy forehand, just as it did during Serena Williams’ farewell match in 2022 when the Australian notched her career-defining victory.
This match marked Gauff’s first Slam appearance since a disappointing opening-round loss at Wimbledon, which followed her French Open championship in June. A winner at Flushing Meadows in 2023, she is seeking her third career Grand Slam title — and potentially the world No. 1 ranking.
If she advances deep in New York, she could surpass both Sabalenka and Iga Świątek in the standings. But for now, Gauff knows her serve remains a work in progress.
“It wasn’t pretty,” she admitted with a smile, “but sometimes those are the matches you need to fight through. Hopefully, it gets better from here.”
