2023 US Open Women’s singles champion and current World No. 3 Coco Gauff endured a laboring contest from Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic before coming out on top in a three-set thriller. The American beat the World No. 84 6-4, 6-7, 7-5 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 57 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the US Open first round.
The International Tennis Writers Association voted Gauff as their ambassador of the year for always answering questions, speaking at news conferences, and always giving time to the reporters after a win or a loss. The revelation was made in the post match press conference after her first round US Open win.
“I always try to be honest and be positive and give you guys my thoughts. So, I'm glad that you guys acknowledge that,” Gauff addressed the reporters present in the stadium.
Gauff brought in biomechanics expert Gavin Macmillan into her coaching staff before the US Open to help her with her serving techniques. Gauff only had 10 double faults in the match against 19 in her fourth-round loss to Emma Navarro in the 2024 US Open.
“When I said that [mentally exhausting], I was referring more to the practice week, not the match. Regarding the match, it is what it was. I'm so used to these long battles. The practice week was tough because I was spending a lot of time on court literally serving until my shoulder was hurting. I feel like it's in the right direction and for me, it is all about trying not to go back to old habits in those tighter moments and I think I did that today, especially in the third set. But, I knew when I did this, I was not going to maybe serve the best. I wanted to work with Gavin earlier but he was on the team with another player. So, I was like, ‘I have no chance.’ And then he magically became available. I knew I had to make a quick decision because I knew he would be pretty sought out after. So, hopefully this time next year I'll be serving much better,” Gauff revealed on how she approached Gavin.
Trying out a new serving technique in the final set with the scoreline reading 6-5 in your favor can be a daunting task but Gauff revealed that she stuck to the mechanics part of the serve and when she executes the motion to her plan, the result is always good.
“I think it's all the mechanics. People have told me different things and like now it actually makes sense. Now, it's just really trusting that new motion in those moments. And, I told myself at 6-5, ‘Okay, I have to trust what the work we did on court’ and that's what I did at that game. It's a new motion. At times, I can do it well and at times not so well. But when I do it well, it's always a good result. It's just reminding myself how to do it. But, there's so many things going on in my head at those tough moments. I'm not just thinking about the serve. I'm thinking about how to play out the point, where to serve, what she's [Ajla Tomljanovic] going to do. So, it’s tough,” Gauff explained.
“It's like learning a new language, honestly. Even like looking at tagged posts of me and Gavin and me sending things to each other back, “Oh! This picture looks good, this one doesn't look as good. I'm trying to not become as obsessed with it, but it is a bit [obsessing] because I know that this is the part of my game that needs to improve if I want to get the results that I want to achieve. I'm not making any excuses. It's not a mental thing. It's a biomechanical thing that I had wrong and I'm just trying my best to get it right,” Gauff elaborated.
Donna Vekic is Coco Gauff's opponent for the second round in the 2025 US Open. The Croatian World No. 55 also overcame her opponent in the first round in three sets: 3-6, 7-5, 6-3.
