'Disappointed' Ajla Tomljanovic speaks after losing to Coco Gauff at the US Open and gives her view on the match

Coco Gauff outlasted Ajla Tomljanovic in the opening round of the US Open.

The WTA’s world number three was given a rapturous reception by her home crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 21-year-old is aiming to win her home Grand Slam for a second time and claim the third major of her career.

But she was made to work hard for her victory against Ajla Tomljanovic, who ended Serena Williams’ career at the 2022 US Open.

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Ajla Tomljanovic expresses her disappointment after losing to Coco Gauff at the US Open

For the second time in their careers, Tomljanovic and Coco Gauff played against each other under the lights at the US Open’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Gauff took control by winning the opening set, and she led the second set 4-2 and looked set to cruise to victory.

But Tomljanovic broke back and proceeded to win the set 7-5, and the third set was a titanic battle for victory. Gauff led 5-3 but was thwarted by her opponent once again, so the set was level at 5-5.

But the American fed off the energy from the home crowd to break back and hold serve as Gauff beat Tomljanovic 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-5.

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After the match, Tomljanovic rued her missed opportunities but was happy to have played another night match inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Pretty disappointed. I mean I lost, so that’s the overall feeling. But it was a great match. I definitely competed well. I think my level was good throughout the match and got better,” Tomljanovic told reporters.

“It would just be really nice if I got the win. But I am going to try and not overthink it and just take all the positives, as I think there were way more positives than negatives. Going into this match, I thought to myself, because nerves are always there.

“I thought I am going to prepare as well as I can and let instinct take over as it happened a couple of years ago and it’s exactly what happened. Any chance I get to play a night match on Ashe, I’m pretty happy.”

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Coco Gauff said serving practice with new coach Gavin MacMillan has been difficult

Gauff parted ways with coach Matt Daly, in the build-up to the US Open.

Reigning French Open champion Gauff now works with biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan in an attempt to fix her inconsistent serve.

After winning her opening US Open match, Gauff explained how hard she had been working on her serve in the weeks leading up to the American Grand Slam.

“I was spending a lot of time on court literally serving until my shoulder was hurting,” she said. “It’s like learning a new language … I know this is the part of my game that needs to improve if I want to get the results I want.”

“That game where I served at 5-4 was definitely like an old habit,” she said. “The next game was a lot better. At 6-5 I told myself, trust the work we did on court.”

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