Former champion Coco Gauff stumbled into the second round of the US Open on Tuesday, squeezing past Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in an error-strewn three-hour battle.

Third seed Gauff punched her ticket to the second round after overcoming a litany of self-inflicted errors to win 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-5 in a match that lasted 2hr 57min.

“It was a tough match. Ajla was tough, she was getting so many balls back,” 2023 US Open champion Gauff said.

“It wasn’t the best but I’m happy to get through to the next round.”

Gauff, the reigning French Open champion, had prepared for the US Open by shaking up her coaching team on the eve of the tournament in an effort to fix her shaky service game, replacing coach Matt Daly with Gavin MacMillan, a biomechanics specialist.

However on the evidence of Tue

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