What does it take to win a game when your service is still in progress and the crowd expects perfection? for Coco Gofu On Tuesday night, at Arthur Ashe Stadium, it took grit, patience and refusal to surrender.
The 21-year-old American survived the first round against Ajla Tomljanovic and beat Australia 6-4, 6-7 (2) in three hours of scrap to test her determination. Serena Williams, who was shocked three years ago on the way to the quarterfinals, looked very ready to spoil another story under Ashe Lights. She broke Gauff six times, forcing a group of decisions to almost silence the crowd when the third seed beat 5-4 in the game.
But Goff reorganized. She stabilized herself, leaning on Ashe’s loyalty and closing the door on her second inquiry. Four aces, ten double shortcomings and a hard-working victory-not a masterpiece, but a survival story.
“The game is – that’s it. I’m used to these long battles,” Goff said later, admitting that her serve was still in progress. “Practice week was tough because I spent a lot of time serving in court until I had a shoulder injury. Yes, it was hard.”
The numbers poured it out, but the American insisted she was heading in the right direction with new coach Gavin Macmillan, a biomechanical expert who helped Aryna Sabalenka successfully rework. “For me, it’s not going back to old habits in those closer moments, and I think I did it today, especially in the third group,” she said. “Hopefully I’ll do better this time next year.”
Currently, there is almost no time to live. The next test is vaguely visible: Croatia’s Donna Vekic is in the second round.
