Coco Gauff survived a scare against Liudmilla Samsonova to book her place in the round of 32 of the Cincinnati Open.

The American lost the first set to the Russian star, before fighting back to claim the next two sets 6-4, 6-1 to get her Cincinnati Open campaign up and running.

The star reached the semi finals of the Canadian Open last week and she will be hoping to go one better in the final Masters event before the US Open.

Gauff will next play Ann Li in Cincinnati and she has been buoyed by the progress she has made on her serve in recent months.

The American did not lose many points on serve in the second and third set, meaning she was able to take control of her second round match.

Speaking to The Tennis Channel after the match, Gauff revealed the main reason why her serve has improved so much during the 2026 season.

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“Overall, I think, you know, I thought I served well. I think that kind of helped me carry me through when I wasn’t feeling so great off the ground, and then eventually things started to click; I started to return better. So yeah.

“I mean, I think I’m just going big, honestly. I feel like I’m really confident on my serve now, so I’m going for it pretty much almost all times, unless, you know, I feel like my percentage is too low, but I think the biggest thing that has made the difference is just mixing up the versatility.

“I feel like I’m mixing it up a lot on my serve, so it’s tough to read, and, yeah, I think I’m doing a good job with that and just trying to keep it improving.”

Gauff’s issues on serve over the past few years have been well noted, which forced the two-time Grand Slam champion to welcome biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan into her team.

It’s clear that MacMillan’s work with Gauff has been working and there has been a marked improvement on her serve, particularly from the grass court swing onwards.

That was truly one of the only things holding Gauff back, so there is every chance she can kick on and really start to dominate the WTA Tour from this point onwards.

She will undoubtedly be one of the favourites to win the US Open, particularly with Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina showing signs of weakness across the North American hardcourt swing.

Gauff will continue her Cincinnati Open campaign against Li on Tuesday, 18th August’s order of play.