Gauff Battles Through Three-Set Thriller to Move into Second Round
Day Two of the historic US Open Tennis Championships chugged along smoothly in New York City’s Flushing Meadows. Two-time Grand Slam winner and 2023 US Open Champion, American Coco Gauff, and Australian Ajla Tomljanovic were under primetime lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium Court, fighting it out for just shy of three hours. Gauff announced a week before The Open that she parted ways with her coach, Matt Daly, with whom she lifted the French Open trophy earlier this year, right before the tournament. Now, collaborating with Gavin MacMillan, who world number one Aryna Sabalenka worked with briefly when she herself was suffering with service struggles in 2022.
What Factors Contributed to It Being Such a Tussle?
Gauff’s short-notice coaching change certainly showed positively in one way; her service in this match was a far more reliable tool than it’s known to be in past times. However, her groundstrokes were worryingly shaky, with 59 unforced errors compared to Tomljanovic’s 56. The Australians’ error count made sense to an extent, or perhaps it is more forgivable; she played a more aggressive, high-risk game. Gauff, on the other hand, was often on the back foot, uncharacteristically stumbling, dumping simple down the middle returns into the net, or flat out spraying shots for Hail Mary winners she had right or position to. Towards the end of the second set and third, she did settle some, but the balance in her footwork and setup was off in many rallies, and that unsteadiness hurt her plenty.
If there is one thing that has always set Coco Gauff above the rest since her debut, it is her impeccable footwork—seeing it off and late at so many instances, which affected her ball-strike timing. Tomljanovic hit quite solid and through every ball, some flatter than others. Perhaps that had a part to play in what troubled the young American with timing them properly. Gauff’s groundstrokes have far more net coverage and are deeper, more looping, well within the baseline. Still, she had a lot of misses past the baseline, especially when she hit frame because she couldn’t always keep up with the firecracker Australian’s piercing shots.
Tomljanovic is no stranger to an upset; she’s slayed many a giant or a Slam favorite in her career over the years, and she came with the mind to do just that. Though she isn’t seeded, and Gauff is seeded third in the tournament, she was bold and inventive, a risk-taker. Dropshots, coming to the net, passing shots, volleys, volley rallies, and edgy, risky passing shots for when her opponent saw that playing it safe was not going to get her anywhere. Tomljanovic made errors, but she did not let them slow her down from fearlessly attempting bigger shots the very next point still.
How Coco Managed to Pull It Back
There is never just one thing responsible for turning the tide of a match, so it can’t be pinned to one. I believe that Gauff has a relatively reliable serve to depend on and kept her alive to fight. A serve is the bread and butter of tennis, the start of every point. Nothing can be done, or even negotiated, without a serve. She had a 61% first service win rate, which helped. The roof closing at the beginning of the third set certainly could have helped with her balance— the ball would move less with less wind. By the third set, she started to figure out Alja as well; rallies started making more sense, and Gauff saw tactics that allowed her to run ahead convincingly in the set. Going to the net profited her greatly, as the American’s 80% net point win stat shows, and it ruffled her opponent’s feathers. Tiredness played a big part in it all, and likely caused Tomljanovic to make a painful, fatal error at 30-30, 5-5 when she was serving to hold, after climbing up from behind, foiling two opportunities for Gauff to serve out the match. The unseeded Australian fought hard against the former champion— and against a New York crowd rooting for the American, but in the end, Gauff found a way, digging deep within herself to find a 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 victory. Gauff will next face Croatian Donna Vekic in the second round, giving her more time to settle in with her new coach, MacMillan, and hopefully, find more confidence in herself and him. Vekic is currently ranked 49th in the WTA, and unseeded in the tournament, but has done as well as reaching the Quarterfinals in the 2019 US Open.
