Coco Gauff admitted trying to fix her serve while playing in the US Open is “mentally exhausting” after battling to a three-set win over Alja Tomljanovic in the opening round.
Gauff has struggled with double faults this season and hired biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, who previously worked with World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka, in a bid to improve her serve.
The 21-year-old still made 10 double faults in her opening match on Arthur Ashe Stadium but prevailed to defeat Tomljanovic 6-4 6-7 (2) 7-5 after almost three hours under the lights.
"Mentally it's exhausting, but I'm trying," Gauff said afterwards. "It wasn't the best today, but at 30-30 (in the last game) it came in when it mattered. It's an improvement.
"It was a tough match. I had chances for it to be straight sets. Ajla was tough, I felt like she was getting so many balls back. I'm happy to get through to the next round. I had so many chances. I was like, 'eventually they're going to come'."
Gauff later explained that she slipped into “old habits” during the match but felt she was moving in the “right direction” with MacMillan after a “tough” week of work together before the US Open began.
“I was referring more to the practice week, not the match.,” Gauff said. “The match was, 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. It's just tough.
“I feel like it's in the right direction, and I think for me it's trying not to go back to old habits in those tighter moments, and I think I did that today, especially in the third set.
Gauff's serving struggles and her inconsistent results since winning the French Open triumph in June, including an early exit at Wimbledon, coupled with the availability of MacMillan prompted her coaching shake-up.
“I know when I did this, I was not going to maybe serve the best, but I don't know. I just felt like I don't want to waste any more time,” Gauff said. “If could have worked with Gavin earlier, I would have, but obviously he was on the team of another player. So I was just, like, I have no chance.
“Then he magically became available. I knew I had to make a quick decision because I knew he would be pretty sought out after. This was what it was. I think hopefully this time next year I'll be serving much better.”
