Coco Gauff is currently in action at the US Open, taking on Donna Vekic in her second-round match in New York. Amidst a closely fought battle, the American broke down in tears mid-game during the first set.
Gauff’s clash against Vekic got off to a slow start. The former champion double-faulted in the first game and was blitzed by her Croatian opponent in the second. After trailing 0-2, the American notched a resounding comeback to win four straight games.
However, Coco Gauff wasn’t able to hold on to this advantage, and Donna Vekic rallied to win two back-to-back games and break the 21-year-old’s serve at 4-4. At this point, Gauff broke down in tears at her bench, holding a towel to her face as her shoulder shuddered. Watch a video of the moment below.
Trending
Despite this struggle, Gauff eventually went on to close in on the first set 7-5(6) after an impressive forehand winner.
Coco Gauff opens up about her ‘mentally exhausting’ US Open prep after a difficult first-round win
For Coco Gauff, her campaign at the US Open so far has been far from easy. Days prior to the event, the World No.3 made a major change to her team, firing coach Matt Daly and beginning to work with biomechanical expert Gavin MacMillan, who is known for helping World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka fix her serve.
However, Gauff is still struggling with a disappointing serve at the minute. After she survived her opening round scare against Alja Tomljanovic, the American opened up about her mentally taxing preparations for the Grand Slam, saying in an on-court interview,
“Honestly, it's really tough. (It is) honestly mentally exhausting. But I'm trying. I mean, it wasn't the best today, but you know, at 3-0, it came in when it mattered. But you know, it's an improvement from last week.”
Gauff’s first-round match against Tomljanovic saw her eke out a 6-4, 6(2)-7, 7-5 win, and after the match the former champion acknowledged the difficulty of the battle, saying,
“Yeah, it was a tough match. I had chances for it to be straight sets, but Ajla was tough. I felt like she was getting so many balls back and I was trying to push her back and she was standing on top of the baseline. But yeah, it wasn't the best, but I'm happy to get through uh to the next round.”
After disposing of Alja Tomljanovic, Coco Gauff went on to beat Donna Vekic 7-5(6), 6-2. She will now go on to face 28th seed Magdalena Frech up next for her third-round match.
