Coco Gauff walked out at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, his eyes still wet and his fists clenched. The third-place world experienced another misery, this time against Donna Vekić, but she made her into the third round of the U.S. Open with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory.
This game is not a straight line victory, but a public revelation and recovery, a window to reshape her most important lenses in real time. Gauff’s seven double shortcomings in the first set recall the lows of her title battle last year, when she was 19, doomed her campaign. At 5-4, the two missed dishes were broken, she fell on the chair and swayed, burying her face in a towel and cried.
“I think it feels human,” she said later. “As an athlete, people ignore that side of us. People say, ‘You’re 3 in the world, you should be better.’ But, at the end of the day, if I don’t pick up the racket tomorrow, my career is basically what you see.
Reset her did. When Vekić called the medical timeout on his right shoulder late in the first set, Gauff stayed in court, practicing the same position as music, and shouting in a nearly complete house inside the world’s largest tennis court. This scene is similar to an open-air lesson in biomechanics, rather than a major champion. “It’s hard to change everything before such a huge game,” Goff said. “But I know that in the future it’s the right step, and it’s the biggest test for all of that. It’s just easier from here.”
The man in charge of the transformation, biomechanics coach Gavin Macmillan has been by her side Not long before the game. He had previously worked with Aryna Sabalenka to rebuild her delivery and now finds himself at the U.S. Open in Gauff. “He’s not a media person,” Goff said with a smile. “For me, I just don’t want to let him down. He knows 100% what he is doing”.
Despite her crisis, Goff entered the tiebreak, and the superior athletic ability at baseline finally balanced the balance. As Vekić waved his forehand and longed to surrender the occasion, Goff’s mother jumped out of the seat behind Macmillan and shouted, “Come on! Let’s go!”
The release was brought into the locker room between the two sets, and Goff said water splashed on her face and stabilized her breathing. She looked back. The second set tells the story of a young player who is able to divide the line even if her service betrays her. She hit only one double fault, holding it comfortably, breaking Vekić twice. The Croatian defeated Gauff at last year’s Olympics and gradually disappeared in the troubles of her arm and her own appearance on her way to the silver medal. Gauff ended the match with a clear backhand title at her second match point, this time celebrating the barbaric yawp sky.
If there is a turning point, it may come from the stands. Among those in the Ashe crowd Simone bilejust made his mark from his golden redemption at the Paris Olympics. Goff found her between points and drew strength from her sight. “She was on Rushmore, an athlete in Serena,” Gough said. “Everything she went through mentally is something I paid close attention to.
The two-time main champion didn’t hide the feeling of this week. Three-panel struggle Join Ajla Tomljanović in the first round Her nerves have been tested. “It’s one of the most intense games for me and most importantly, it’s a lot,” she said. “I’ve had a lot of things this time than usual. But I think today I can get up after I feel like the worst I feel on the court.”
Even if he acknowledges pressure, Goff relies on humor to survive. When an ESPN interviewer tried to articulate her comment, she “at least my clothes looked good.” “Sometimes you have to be able to laugh at yourself,” she said with a smile. “Even after I got lost at Wimbledon, I thought, it was a bad loss, but at least my clothes looked good, so it gave people some other things to talk about. I’m not a fake positive person. If I’m positive, I mean, I mean.”
There are still many issues to be solved – most serves, a project that could extend beyond New York – but Goff thinks the ordeal is putting her into something more difficult. “The whole game will stick with it for the rest of my career,” she said. “If I could feel what I felt through two tough games, I knew I could go through almost anything.”
Next, she will face Magdalena Frech, the 28th seed from Poland. Whether her restoration campaign can withstand another round of review will be a central question. But, for the moment, Goff is still standing: shaken, bursting with tears, but still in the fight.
Health & Wellness Contributor
A wellness enthusiast and certified nutrition advisor, Meera covers everything from healthy living tips to medical breakthroughs. Her articles aim to inform and inspire readers to live better every day.
