Reigning US Open women’s singles champion Coco Gauff battled through a shaky first set to secure a hard-fought victory over Tatjana Maria at Flushing Meadows, extending her winning streak to nine matches at her home Grand Slam.
Gauff, who claimed her first Grand Slam singles title in New York last year by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final, faced some challenges in her second-round match.
The 20-year-old American struggled to find her rhythm early on, making 20 unforced errors and hitting seven double faults. Despite these difficulties, she managed to close out the scrappy first set.
In the second set, Gauff showed significant improvement.
She approached the net more frequently and found her groove on her first serve, which allowed her to overpower the veteran Maria and seal the victory.
Next, Gauff faces a challenging third-round match against 27th seed Elina Svitolina, who breezed past fellow Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina with a 6-1, 6-2 victory.
