Tennis prodigy Gauff battles her way past Vekic in the US Open's second round, wrestling with persisting difficulties.
In a tense second-round match at the 2025 US Open, 18-year-old Coco Gauff battled back from a challenging start to defeat Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 6-2.
The opening set was an error-ridden affair, with both players breaking each other four times apiece. Vekic, requiring a medical timeout due to an injury to her right arm during the changeover before serving for the set, struggled with seven double faults and faced a staggering nine double faults from her opponent.
Gauff described her first-set service woes as a "challenging moment." The young American was broken four times and produced a solitary double fault, but her service struggles continued, leading her to break down in tears during a changeover.
However, Gauff showed incredible resilience, improving her first serve percentage from 63% to 77% in the second set. She won 70% of the points behind her first serve and 50% of points behind her second serve, eradicating many of the unforced errors that plagued her in the first set.
Vekic, who broke Gauff to bring the set back on serve, was unable to hold her own serve again in the first set after moving 4-2 ahead. The Croatian produced just a solitary double fault and faced only one break point in the entire second set.
Gauff's service woes were not entirely unexpected, given her recent change in coaching staff. Just a week before the US Open, Gauff replaced her old coach Matt Daly with Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics specialist known for helping Aryna Sabalenka improve her serve.
Despite the initial struggles, Gauff's new serving technique seemed to pay off in the second set. She showed great pace, reaching a Vekic dropshot and dispatching a winner from the net to win the tiebreaker.
With her victory, Gauff advances to the third round of the US Open, where she will look to continue her improved form and challenge for the title.
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