Coco Gauff managed to come through her first round match at the US Open against Ajla Tomljanovic in dramatic fashion.
Gauff was left mentally exhausted after a three hour battle on Arthur Ashe Stadium, beating Tomljanovic 6-4 6(2)-7 7-5.
There has been a lot of talk about the world number three’s serving woes coming into the New York major, with Gauff telling herself something when serving for the match.
This enabled Gauff to hit a gutsy shot in the final game of the match, with some of her improvements being picked up on by former doubles world number one Rennae Stubbs.
Rennae Stubbs notices improvement in Coco Gauff’s serve at the US Open
Gauff’s struggles on serve have been very public, especially recently as she hit 23 double faults in one of her matches at the Canadian Open.
As a result of these issues, Gauff has brought in biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan, who has previously helped Aryna Sabalenka.
Stubbs, who has previously coached Serena Williams, knows the importance of having a good serve as a six-time doubles Grand Slam champion.
Tomljanovic beat Williams in her last match at the US Open, and Stubbs admitted she was wary of the threat her Australian compatriot posed even ahead of the match.
Stubbs wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Let’s not forget, this match for @CocoGauff is not an easy one against @Ajlatom! Ajla at her best can beat anyone. Hasn’t had the year she has wanted to but she’s super capable of playing outstanding tennis. We all remember the match against Serena @usopen on this same court.”
Despite being very aware of Tomljanovic’s talents, Stubbs appeared impressed with Gauff as she pointed out the improvements she has already made to her serve.
“Coco doing a better job of getting the ball toss behind her head for the kick serve,” said Stubbs, “Obviously trying to manage that and get better shape on it to clear the net. Hitting 11am and not 1pm on the ball. When she tosses it too far to the right 1pm/2pm it drags her head down.”
Stubbs added later on in the match, “Coco clearly trying to get a good rhythm on serve, not going big just getting used to a newer motion under pressure so slowing it up and getting the first serve in to get her rhythm and comfort in match.
“Feel as the match goes on and the more comfortable she gets she’ll start going bigger.”
Coco Gauff’s serving statistics vs Ajla Tomljanovic at the US Open
Despite Stubbs noticing some improvements in Gauff’s serve, it was a far from perfect serving performance against Tomljanovic.
Showcased in statistics from Sofascore, Gauff hit 10 potentially costly double faults against Tomljanovic.
It was a very back-and-forth match between Gauff and Tomljanovic, who was able to break the American’s serve four times.
However, compared to Gauff’s Cincinnati defeat to Jasmine Paolini, she managed to hit more aces, and win a greater percentage of points on both first and second serve.
Gauff will be hoping to see continued improvements in her serve throughout the US Open, with her next match against Donna Vekic.
This will be a third meeting between Gauff and Vekic, with their head-to-head currently at one apiece.
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