Coco Gauff has certainly not done things the easy way as she aims for a deep run at Flushing Meadows.
On the eve of the tournament she parted ways with coach Matt Daly and brought in biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan – the man who helped rescue Aryna Sabalenka’s serve – in the hope of ending her own double-fault woes.
But after a three-hour epic first-round victory over Ajla Tomljanović, it was clear that despite her excellent all-round game, the serving woes lingered, like a perpetual sword of Damocles hovering over the baseline.
Along with 10 double faults, her first-serve percentage fell from 70% in the opening set to just 58% across the next two. She racked up 59 unforced errors – many in the latter stages as she was forced into longer rallies behind a weaker second serve – and may count herself fortunate that Tomljanović was just as generous with her errors.
That fortune may not hold as firmly against her second-round opponent Donna Vekić. The Croatian came through her opener over Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro in three sets, recording a decent 37 unforced errors to 24 winners.
It is a bold move for Gauff to make such a drastic change on the eve of her home Slam, but the need is undeniable. A serve that should be the launchpad for her explosive groundstrokes has all too often proved her undoing, with a scarcely believable 320 double faults already etched against her name this year before the US Open began.
In the early stages of her match against Tomljanović, you could see the chrysalis of MacMillan’s early influence. Her service motion was slower, prioritising accuracy over raw pace, and despite three double faults, her first-serve numbers held up well.
But when a break up in the second set, a double fault crept in, and with it her serve seemed to snap back to it’s factory settings. From there, Tomljanović needed no invitation to pocket the flow of gifts coming her way.
Given that she possesses a stronger A and B game than most players on tour, Gauff can often survive these spells of erratic serving. The main issue, though, is how it affects her mentally, having to factor in the possibility of a poor serving day before every match.
She will know Vekic’s game well. The Croatian is aggressive from the baseline, moves brilliantly on hard courts, and can dictate points with her solid forehand. If Gauff falters again on her serve, Vekic has the tools to seize control, provided she is fully switched on.
Gauff’s decision to immediately address her serving must be applauded. No matter what time she decided to do this, it is necessary that something changes. Now she can only hope that what she works on in training translates to Arthur Ashe later today, or she may find herself with more idle hours to work on her serve than she would wish for.
