Coco Gauff overcomes slow start to cruise into third round at US Open

Similar to her first-round match , it was clear there are still many things for Coco Gauff to work on in Flushing if she wants to defend her 2023 US Open title.

So much so that the 20-year-old went off to the practice court after the match to work on her serve.

What started off as a rough second-round match for Gauff eventually turned into a cruiser for the American, a 6-4, 6-0 win over Germany’s Tatiana Maria on Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium .

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Gauff managed to clean up in the deciding set, putting up 15 winners and only five unforced errors against Maria’s noticeable and consistent slicer.

“I played her before two years ago in Auckland and she definitely was going over at least on the forehand, and in the backhand she would slice more,” Gauff said after the match. “Maybe later on, as she’s getting older, she’s slicing more. So, I expected her to slice a lot, but I honestly thought she could come over a little bit more….even the times she did go over, it threw me off and I didn’t know whether to hit or, I don’t know, it’s just so strange.

“I love Tatiana and her family but she’s very annoying to play. Tonight was an annoying match.”

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Gauff kicked off the night session by getting up three break points to eventually win the first game and break the serve of the veteran German, who has not seen the big US Open stage in six years after taking a break to start a family.

However, things quickly took a sour turn in a less-than-desirable first service game for Gauff.

Maria, 37, took advantage of three break points on Gauff, catching her on deep volleys while she tried to play at the net. Gauff’s final net shot gave Maria the break.

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It was the only break point Maria won over Gauff, but the young American admitted there should have been more. Gauff seemingly didn’t have her strong serve, posting seven double-faults in the first set, along with 20 unforced errors, many of which were in key moments.

“I felt like my toss was too far in front.” Gauff said of her serve. “I think it’s also the mentality. If I don’t have an aggressive mindset, everything kind of goes all over the place. … I think my toss was too out front and too low so I was missing a lot of first and second serves.”

The match remained in balance between the two until the seventh game, where Gauff broke Maria’s service game for the second time and she later did the same in the 10th game over a deuce, winning the set on a big out of bounds hit by Maria which was followed by a set-losing netted ball.

Gauff is set to play her third-round match Friday against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina, whom she beat in the Auckland final earlier this year, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3.

Svitolina made it to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon this year and has yet to win a grand slam.

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