Gauff’s struggle continues in second round US Open victory against Vekic

Coco Gauff again struggled on serve during an unconvincing straight-sets victory over Donna Vekic in their US Open second-round clash at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.

Gauff, who struggled over the line in her first-round meeting with Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday, was again far from her best against Vekic on Thursday, breaking down in tears midway through the first set as her serve continued to misfire.

Gauff was broken four times and produced seven double faults in a challenging first set before getting back on track with a much-improved second set, winning 7-6 (5), 6-2 in one hour and 39 minutes.

The 2023 US Open champion swapped former coach Matt Daly for Gavin MacMillan just a week before the tournament in a bid to address her faltering serve but has continued to struggle on serve in the early round of the 2025 competition.

Gauff said afterward that it has been a “tough couple of weeks on and off the court” as she adjusts to her new coach and her new serving technique, describing her first-set service woes as a “challenging moment.”

“It feels human,” Gauff said of her on-court emotions. “I think, being an athlete, people kind of disregard that side of us, the human side of things… I think I just showed people what it’s like to be a human and I have bad days.”

Gauff added that she takes encouragement from her notable improvement in the second set and said she felt the “worst” she ever felt during the opening set.

“It’s more about how you get up after these bad moments and how you show up after that,” Gauff said. “If I can get through these two tough matches, feeling how I’m feeling, I know I can through pretty much anything.”

Both Gauff and Vekic were broken four times apiece in an unusual opening set where holding serve proved more uncommon than breaking serve.

Gauff, who was broken six times in her meeting with Tomljanovic on Tuesday, continued to struggle against Vekic on Tuesday, producing seven double faults in the opening set and winning just 11% of points behind her second serve.

However, the 2023 US Open champion was fortunate that her opponent endured similar struggles on serve, with the Croat double-faulting a staggering nine times in the opening set and failing to hold serve when serving for the set on two separate occasions.

Gauff was broken in the very first game of Tuesday’s clash with Tomljanovic and again lost her serve in the opening game on Thursday, although she did eradicate many of the other unforced errors that plagued her first-round encounter.

Gauff appeared to have put that early break behind her as she moved 4-2 ahead in the set, but she would not hold serve again in the set.

Vekic broke to bring the set back on serve and then broke again to move one game away from taking the set. Gauff, who had double-faulted to hand Vekic the break and the lead in the set, was in tears during the changeover and buried her face in a towel as her service woes continued.

Fortunately for the American, however, Vekic proved equally incapable of holding serve and allowed Gauff to break back straight away.

Gauff could not take advantage of that let-off and was broken in the very next game, double-faulting yet again when facing break point.

Vekic, serving for the set a second time, required a medical timeout during the changeover due to an injury to her right arm. Gauff used the delay to fire down a number of serves.

The Croat struggled even more on her return to the court, double-faulting twice to allow Gauff to break the love and bring an error-ridden set to a tiebreaker.

The breaker was a microcosm of the first set, with both players winning more points on their opponent’s serve than on their own.

Ultimately, it was a moment of quality from Gauff that brought up two set points when the American showed incredible pace to reach a Vekic dropshot before dispatching a winner from the net. She took the set – on her serve – when Vekic went long with a backhand.

Things did improve for Gauff in the second set, with the World Number 3 breaking Vekic early on and holding serve in each of her first three service games.

She also overcame many of the issues that plagued her serve in the first set, producing just a solitary double fault and facing just one break point in the entire set. Her first serve percentage also rose from 63% to 77%, with Gauff winning 70% of the points behind her first serve and 50% of points behind her second.

She moved up a double break when Vekic fired a wild forehand long and then comfortably served out to seal a comfortable set that was in stark contrast with the first.

Gauff again broke down in a post-match interview on-court and praised the Arthur Ashe crowd for helping her pull through a difficult first set.