Coco Gauff said her first-round win at the U.S. Open on Tuesday was shaped by a mental battle to trust her revamped serve, as the American third seed worked to overcome old habits during tense moments of her hard-fought victory over Ajla Tomljanovic.

Gauff, the 2023 U.S. Open champion, arrived in New York after splitting with coach Matt Daly and enlisting biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan to address lingering issues with her serve.

She made a shaky start under the spotlight of Arthur Ashe Stadium, dropping the opening game on her delivery and producing a flurry of errors before regrouping to clinch a 6-4 6-7(2) 7-5 win over the unseeded Australian.

"The practice week was tough because I was spending a lot of time on court literally serving until, like, my shoulder was hurting," Ga

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