By HOWARD FENDRICH
Coco Gauff kept wiping the tears welling in her eyes between points in her second-round match at the U.S. Open on Thursday night, trying to stay composed, trying to give herself a chance to win.
Gauff’s serving troubles were again an issue, just as they were two nights earlier, just as they’ve been for a while now. The two-time Grand Slam champion teamed up with a new coach recently to try to fix that aspect of her game, and while there clearly is still work to be done, Gauff did figure out how to stay in the tournament, beating Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 6-2 in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“Honestly, today was a tough match for me. But I’m just happy with how I was able to manage. It’s been rough couple weeks,” Gauff said during her on-court interview, before pausing as she began to cry.
In the first set, Gauff, a 21-year-old from Florida, double-faulted seven times and lost four of her six service games — including to trail 5-4 and then 6-5. But she broke right back each of those times — Vekic took a medical timeout to have her right shoulder looked at — and then was superior in the tiebreaker.
After that set, Gauff headed to the locker room to splash some water on her face and regain focus.
