Coco Gauff was in tears during and after her second-round US Open match but found a way through after seeking inspiration from a famous face in the crowd.
The former champion has been struggling with serving problems and is trying to change her action during the tournament with the help of biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan.
It is clearly putting a real strain on Gauff, who sat with her head in a towel after dropping serve at 4-4 in the first set of her clash with Donna Vekic, the TV cameras picking up the 21-year-old's tear-stained face.
Gauff recovered her composure to win 7-6 (5) 6-2 but broke down again during her post-match interview as the crowd showed their support.
"Today was a tough match for me but I’m just happy with how I was able to manage," she said. "It’s been a rough couple of weeks. That first set was tough for me but you guys stayed cheering for me."
Gauff also gave credit to gymnastics great Simone Biles, who was watching from the stands.
Biles overcame a mental block known as 'twisties’ at the Tokyo Olympics, recovering to win three gold medals in Paris last summer.
"I saw her, she helped me pull it out," said Gauff. "I was thinking, if she can go on a six-inch beam with all the pressures in the word, I can hit the ball in, I don’t even know how big this court is. It brought me a bit of calm knowing all the things she went through mentally."
Iga Swiatek survived a second-round wobble to progress at the US Open.
The second seed arrived in New York as the form player on the women's tour after following up her Wimbledon title by winning the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati.
She had looked full of confidence in her first match but made a host of errors in the second set against Dutchwoman Suzan Lamens before coming through 6-1 4-6 6-4.
From 4-3 up in the second set after a one-sided first, Swiatek tightened up and lost four games in a row as Lamens, ranked 66, forced a deciding set.
Lamens fought back again after going 4-1 down but Swiatek kept her nerve this time to set up what could be another battle against 29th seed Anna Kalinskaya.
Swaitek said: "It wasn’t an easy match and I made some mistakes. I’m happy that at the end I could be more proactive.
"I probably got a little tight in the second set and she used the opportunity and was using her chances. It was not easy, but the third set is a reset."
Venus Williams claimed her first grand slam victory for four years in the opening round of the women's doubles.
Although she lost her first-round singles match against Karolina Muchova on Monday, the 45-year-old rolled back the years with an impressive performance and she agreed to team up with Canadian Leylah Fernandez in doubles.
Facing sixth seeds Lyudmyla Kichenok – who won the title last year with Jelena Ostapenko – and Ellen Perez, Williams and Fernandez fought back from a first-set deficit to claim a 7-6 (4) 6-3 win.
It is Williams’ first win at a major since beating Mihaela Buzarnescu in singles at Wimbledon four years ago, while her last slam doubles victory came with her sister Serena at the French Open back in 2018.
"Thank you to my partner, best partner I’ve ever played with outside of Serena," said a beaming Williams.
The American won 14 grand slam titles alongside Serena, with the most recent coming at Wimbledon nine years ago.
Asked about Fernandez’s approach, Williams said: "I couldn’t believe it, it was 10pm. I was thinking to myself, 'I’m not very good at doubles’.
"I really don’t know what I’m doing, I just try really hard. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be back here."
Fernandez is best known for having lost to Emma Raducanu in the singles final here four years ago and she made a little-and-large combination with Williams that turned out to be very effective.
"I don’t think we came in with a plan," said the Canadian, who is 23 years younger than Williams.
"We tried to figure things out in the beginning. It was a great atmosphere, a lot of fun. I’m just honoured to be sharing a court with Venus.
"It was nerve-racking, exciting. The night before I was shaking. Once we started, everything started flowing so it was good."
