Coco Gauff delivered yet another dominant performance at the Australian Open, cruising past Olga Danilovic in the second round to continue her strong start in Melbourne. The American looked firmly in control as she backed up her opening round and moved a step closer to her long-awaited maiden AO title. What did she say about the secret to success in this incredible second-round duel?
After winning her first-round match against Kamilla Rakhimova, Gauff said, “I try not to put so much pressure on myself with the first round. I just want to win the tournament.” She also spoke about Danilovic in her post-match interview. Hailing the Serb as a “great player,” Gauff said it’s going to be a tough match. But the scoreline in this second-round clash tells a different story. Gauff defeated Danilovic by 6-2, 6-2. While sharing thoughts on the secret weapon (drop shot) that helped her secure this win against Danilovic, Gauff said she has been inspired by Carlos Alcaraz. “Honestly, the drop shot is always a bad idea in my head, and then I make it, and I’m like ‘Oh ok, that was good.’ I saw Carlos yesterday, and I was like, ‘I’m trying to drop shot like him.’”
She further added, “In my first match I won like 7 drop shot points, which I don’t think I’ve ever done. Today I won all of them that I did. It’s a good shot until I miss it. My coach said don’t drop shot on pressure points. I think almost every time I drop shotted today was on a pressure and it worked so…” With this win, Coco Gauff has now added yet another feather to her cap.
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Since 2022, Gauff (14-0) is one of the four players, along with Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, and Elina Svitolina, to have an unbeaten record in the second round at women’s singles Grand Slams (minimum 10 appearances).