An error-prone Coco Gauff was dealt a major scare in her US Open curtain-raiser on Tuesday night before scraping past the experienced Ajla Tomljanovic in three sets.
Less than two weeks after recording 62 unforced errors in a shock Cincinnati Open defeat to Jasmine Paolini, Gauff appeared to pick up where she left off here at Flushing Meadows, where she fell two games behind in the opening set after a series of costly mistakes.
The 21-year-old recently made the wise decision to employ Gavin MacMillan – a biomechanics specialist who was instrumental in solving Aryna Sabalenka’s serving woes before she went on to become world No 1 – to help fix her own problems after she double faulted a staggering 16 times against Paolini.
Despite the appointment of MacMillan, she still put up 10 doubles in a fallible performance on her opening night in New York City, along with a concerning 59 unforced errors.
Yet in the end, after a frantic end to the third and final set, she sneaked through by the skin of her teeth in a nail-biting 6-4, 7-6(7-2), 7-5 victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It took her just four points to register her first double fault against Tomljanovic, the 32-year-old Croatian-born Australian with over 17 years worth of professional experience, and it set the tone in a troubling start littered with errors.
Tomljanovic, who has never made it past the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam, was proving more than game as the pre-match favorite flattered to deceive early on.
Then came the big turning point in the first set for Gauff as she trailed 3-2 while facing serve. The 2023 champion outlasted her veteran opponent in a testing rally to earn break point, before closing the game out to level proceedings and shift momentum in her favor.
From there Coco began to find her groove, minimizing the unforced errors while ramping up the power on her groundstrokes to slowly exert some dominance over Tomljanovic.
The latter still continued to put up an impressive fight, including when she recovered from a looping lob to win a mesmerizing rally at 4-3 down and then draw level at 4-4, but a buoyant Gauff soon stepped on the gas and took the first set 6-4.
She entered the second with a similar swagger, though Tomljanovic refused to wilt in an equally competitive affair.
Just as the reigning French Open champion looked to be on the home stretch to victory after moving 4-2 ahead, her relentless foe ripped up the script by breaking and then holding to hand Gauff a fright at 4-4.
Then disaster struck for Coco. After a double fault, her sixth of the match at this stage, the American hero hit one shot long and another straight at the net to leave Tomljanovic with break point, and she duly closed it out to edge 5-4 ahead and serve for the set.
The unforced errors had suddenly crept back into Gauff’s game. While trailing 30-15, she missed a golden opportunity to bury her opponent from up close, instead sending her attempted volley straight into the net.
Still, the two-time Grand Slam winner tapped into her champion resolve to dig out a pivotal break just as the tide seemed to be turning, before breezing through her own serve to move to within one game of the match.
Yet the brilliant Tomljanovic was not done there, as she held her nerve to set up the tensest of tiebreaks. And it was then when Gauff, again, completely lost control and hit unforced error after unforced error in a stunning 7-2 tiebreak loss.
On what should have been a straightforward opening night for her, we were heading to a decisive third set.
Fatigue quickly set in for both women early in the final stanza. Gauff immediately earned a break after sending a terrific backhand past Tomljanovic down the line, only to be broken straight back following another game littered with blunders.
Neither player was seemingly able to hold their serve as the home favorite broke once more, before she bucked the trend to give herself some much-needed breathe space at 3-1.
Gauff then took over to storm into a 5-4 lead and serve for the match. Two consecutive double faults later, Tomljanovic was back again at 5-5 in this exhausting rollercoaster of a first-round tie.
And just as the tension inside an anxious Arthur Ashe reached its maximum, the star from Atlanta powered through to clinch the last two games and finally see off the determined Aussie at the very death.
The home crowd were on their feet when she got over the line at last, but Gauff’s errant form will come as a serious concern to her, MacMillan and the rest of her coaching team.
A total of 59 unforced errors is worryingly high for a player of her caliber and stature, and it will need addressing on the practice court before her second-round showdown with Croatia’s Donna Vekic later this week.
