Coco Gauff does not feel that her performance was perfect in her first match of the season at the 2024 ASB Classic in Auckland.
Gauff began 2024 on center court in New Zealand against fellow American Claire Liu, with a large crowd present to watch the US Open champion compete for the first time this season.
Unsurprisingly, the world No. 3 triumphed against her countrywoman. Liu fought admirably and never gave up, but in truth, Gauff never looked in any major danger. She comfortably triumphed over Liu 6-4 6-2.
However, there was a slight dip from Gauff at one stage of the contest. The 19-year-old had been leading 4-0 in the opening set, but a drop in quality allowed Liu to momentarily come back into the set before Gauff recovered.
This did not go unnoticed by Gauff. Although rightly happy with her performance, she acknowledged there are areas that can still improve.
"I definitely needed to be tested and I feel like I played well today for my first match in a while. There's obviously things I can do to improve but I'm happy with the win."
An area that Gauff may be referring to is her serve. She served well throughout most of the match. However, she unexpectedly double-faulted twice to allow Liu to break the first time.
There were also a couple of other lapses with her serve when Liu broke again to narrow the gap to 5-4 in the first set, as well as a couple of uncharacteristic errors with her groundstrokes.
Overall, though, it was still a very strong opening performance of 2024 by Gauff. Some mistakes in a first match back are natural, and the 19-year-old is sure to improve further before the Australian Open.
Gauff has made it clear that she wants to win multiple Grand Slams. Her determination to get better will help in her quest to achieve that goal.
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