NEW YORK – Coco Gough’s first match got off to a rocky start at the US Open Tuesday night, with someone joining her to help her with her volatile serving. She double-faulted in her first game – and a total of 10 times. She broke even that game – and totally six times.
Of course, the only number that was really counted in the end was from the Arthur Ash Stadium scoreboard, showing that third seeded Gouf had a 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5 victory over Azilla Tomlujanovic to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows.
“It wasn’t the best,” Gouf said. “But I’m happy to go through.”
Nothing came easily. Gauff led twice in a break in the second set, but couldn’t finish things. She rose 5-3 in the third time, earning a 5-4 victory, but double-faulted for the second straight time and missed five forehands.
“Staying nearby puts her pressure on providing it,” Tom Janovic said. “In the first round, even if you’re here, it’s never easy.”
That slip-up might have been too much to take for Gouf. Instead, she was able to stabilize herself, break it quickly, and offer it for her second chance to do it almost three hours after the contest began.
“I had so many opportunities. …I just said, ‘In the end, one of these is going to go my way.”
Gauff, who won the first title of two grand slam titles at the 2023 US Open as a teenager, added Gavin Macmillan to his coaching team just before the start of this tournament. MacMillan was a biomechanics expert who helped her services in the world’s No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka Retool a few years ago, and he was in the first line of Gauff’s guest box, sitting right in front of his mother.
After beating Tom Janovic, Gouf called the practice with Macmillan “really tough” and “mentally exhausted.”
“Practice week was tough because I spent a lot of time on the court literally serving until my shoulder hurts,” Gough said. “Yeah, it’s just hard. I feel it’s in the right direction, and for me I think I’m trying to avoid going back to old habits at those tougher moments, and I think I did it today, especially with the third set.”
The recent Gauff problem has, in a nutshell, been the trend of accumulating double faults. Her 320 Entering The Us Open was the most on the women’s tour this season, with over 100 more than anyone else. This included 23 games per game earlier this month, followed by 14 games.
On Tuesday, when she dealt with the ongoing work of fine-tuned service movements, Gauff started with a product that was much slower than she could hit. As the game progressed and tensions rose, the 21-year-old from Florida returned to his conventional pace, averaging 88 mph on the first serve of the first set to 97 mph for the second and 101 mph at the third, closing Ash’s retractable roof. She cranked one at 117 mph and produced one second serve ace.
“It’s a new move,” she said. “Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. When I do it well, or when I do it, it’s always a good outcome. It just reminds me of how to do it. But obviously, there’s so much in my head in those tough moments, not only thinking about serve, but also thinking about how to play the points, what she’ll do.
“Yeah, that’s difficult, but for me, I think I’m just trying to remember how I felt in today’s moment and try to use it in the next match.”
Winning Tuesday night’s match was Tom Janovic, the Australian best known for beating Serena Williams at the 2022 US Open in the final match of her career as the 23-time major champion, Goff’s model court reporting and a great backhand. Appropriately, the downline backhand transformed the match point and Gauff shaking his arm overhead to smash the crowd.
Even if Tomljanovic left with her big forehand, it was Gauff who scored the best of their long interactions from the baseline.
She also worked well when she moved forward, winning 12 of the 15 points she ended up netting.
This was Goff’s first match in the slam since he came across the first round exit at Wimbledon in July.
As Gauff moves forward with Flushing Meadows, she will surpass Sabalenka and the second Iga Swiatek in the rankings, potentially rising to No. 1 for the first time.
D’Arcy Maine from ESPN contributed to this story.