Gauff’s flaw forgotten on winning US Open return

Twelve months on, the 22-year-old American has returned to the US Open with a rejuvenated service game - and it was the bedrock of her 6-3 6-4 win over Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez in the New York first round on Tuesday.

But a precise ace out wide and a 115mph unreturned first serve enabled Gauff to cling on in a game which you felt she would have lost a year ago.

The opening game saw Gauff thump a 112mph ace down the middle, followed by an unreturned first serve and another ace, on her way to holding serve in less than 90 seconds.