Gauff, who was playing her first match since adding biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan to her coaching team in order to help with her shaky serving, navigated a big test against unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 6-7 (2-7) 7-5.
“Mentally it’s exhausting, but I’m trying,” said Gauff of her attempts to improve her serve. “It wasn’t the best today, but at 30-30 [in the last game] it came in when it mattered. It’s an improvement.
“It was a tough match. I had chances for it to be straight sets. Ajla was tough, I felt like she was getting so many balls back. I’m happy to get through to the next round. I had so many chances. I was like, ‘eventually they’re going to come’.”
The 2023 champion dropped the opening game and produced a flurry of errors but soon shook off the cobwebs and grabbed a 5-4 lead with an ace out wide, eventually taking the first set with a decisive break.
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Tomljanovic, who famously battled past Serena Williams in three sets at Flushing Meadows in 2022, was in need of a similar fightback when Gauff built up a 4-2 lead in the second set.
The Australian rallied bravely from there to move ahead 5-4 before squandering two set points, but composed herself quickly and forced a tie-break, where she raised her game again to make it one set apiece.