Coco Gauff fought back tears during her second-round match at the 2025 U.S. Open, openly crying as she fought with her serve against Donna Vekic.
The tennis star from Delray Beach, Florida, managed to pull out a win in straight sets, but it wasn’t easy. The 21-year-old Gauff has not played well since winning the French Open, dropping her opening match at Wimbledon and struggling to put away her first opponents at the site of her first career Grand Slam victory.
Gauff, the No. 3 player in the WTA rankings, switched coaches just days before the U.S. Open in an effort to fix her serve. That ongoing effort has been on full display early on at the year’s final major, with Gauff recording 10 double faults in her first-round win over Aljla Tomljanovic before adding eight more against Vekic.
Watch Coco Gauff live at the U.S. Open on Fubo
Gauff was seen crying during a difficult first set, then battled tears again in an emotional post-match interview on the court. She thanked the fans in attendance for their support, and the day after, she discussed the importance of reminding fans that athletes are human amid “the worst I’ve ever felt on the court.”
“I think being an athlete, people kind of disregard that side of us, the human side of things,” Gauff said Aug. 29. “People say so many things, like, ‘No. 3 in the world and you’re doing this or you’re playing like this and you should be better.’ … I just showed people what it’s like to be a human, and I have bad days, but I think it’s more about how you get up after those bad moments and how you show up after that.”
What happened to Coco Gauff?
Coco Gauff has been struggling with her serve since winning the French Open in June. Those problems continued into her second-round match Aug. 28 at the U.S. Open against Donna Vekic. The Croatian broke serve during the opening set and won the first two games. Gauff rallied to win the next four but was broken again to tie the set at 4 apiece and again to fall behind 5-6. Gauff was seen crying into her towel and battling tears on the bench.
Vekic was serving for the first set when she needed medical treatment on her arm. Gauff took the opportunity to practice her serves while her new coach Gavin MacMillan, renowned for helping Aryna Sabalenka fix her serve and revitalize her game, tried offering advice.
Gauff managed to bounce back and win the set in a tiebreaker, thanks in part to her opponent’s own struggles with serving. Both players combined for 18 double faults during the match. Gauff had an easier time in the second set and advanced to the third round. She cried again during the post-match interview.
Coco Gauff credits Simone Biles at US Open
After the match, Gauff was again in tears as she thanked the fans in attendance for their support. She also called out one specific fan as an inspiration, gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, whom she met earlier in the day.
“I saw her and honestly … she helped me pull it out,” Gauff said on the court. “I was just thinking like, you know, if she can go on a 6-inch beam and do all that with all the pressures of the world, then I can hit the ball in this. … I saw her getting interviewed on ESPN and it brought me a little bit of calm, just knowing her story with all the things she went through mentally.”
Biles has been an outspoken advocate for mental health. The seven-time gold medalist famously withdrew from first the vault, then the all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after saying she couldn’t keep her head straight and focus on how to spin during her routine. She would recover her abilities and add three gold medals in the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
When is Coco Gauff’s next match?
Coco Gauff faces Magdalena Frech in the third round on Saturday, Aug. 30. The match time will be posted later. Coverage of the U.S. Open will air on ESPN2 from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. with streaming available on Fubo and the ESPN app’s Select or Unlimited plans.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: What happened to Coco Gauff? Florida tennis star cries during US Open match
Reporting by Dan Rorabaugh, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
