Similar to her first-round match, it was clear there are still many things for Coco Gauff to work on in Flushing if she wants to defend her 2023 U.S. Open title.
What started as a rough second-round match for Gauff, eventually turned into an easier night for the American who rolled past Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 6-0 win of the second set certainly wasn’t a reflection of Gauff’s first set performance, yet she managed to clean up, putting up 15 winners and only five unforced errors in the set, and finally achieved some comfortability.
“I think I played well overall. I think I can just serve better. That would have helped in the first set,” Gauff said to ESPN after the match.
“I really have nothing to lose. I already have one [a Grand Slam] under my belt. I have the potential to do more whether it’s this year or in the future,” she added when asked about managing the pressure of defending the U.S. Open crown.
Gauff, 20, kicked off the match by getting up three breakpoints to eventually win the first game and breaking the serve of the veteran German, who has not seen the big U.S. Open stage in six years after taking a break from the circuit to start a family.
Nevertheless, things quickly took a sour turn in a rough first service game for Gauff.
Maria, 37, took advantage of three break points on Gauff, catching her on deep volleys while she tried to play at the net.
Gauff’s final net shot gave Maria the break.
It was the start of a tough set for Gauff, who seemingly didn’t have her strong serve with seven double faults in the first set, along with 20 unforced errors, many of which were in key moments.
The match remained in the balance until the seventh game when Gauff broke Maria’s service game for the second time.
She later did the same in the 10th game over a deuce, winning the set on a big out-of-bounds hit by Maria, which was followed by a set-losing netted ball.
