NEW YORK (AP) — After serving poorly in a set during a US Open victory, Coco Gauff Wednesday evening to a practice range to work on that stroke some more.

She realized her throws were too far ahead of her and too low. Even if she could beat Tatjana Maria, ranked 99th, 6-4, 6-0 and reach the third round, Gauff wanted to solve the problem.

“I didn’t serve great at all,” Gauff said after extending her winning streak to nine games at the place where she won her first Grand Slam title a year ago. “I was lucky. I think I only got broken once, but I probably could have been broken — or should have been broken — a few more times.”

Gauff, a 20-year-old from Florida, struggled early on under the artificial lights of the hot and humid Arthur Ashe Stadium against Maria, a 37-year-old from Germany who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon two years ago, hitting slices with nearly every forehand and backhand.

“I love Tatjana … (but) she’s a pain in the ass to play with. Tonight was just a pain in the ass. The balls, you could hit winners with them, but because she’s cutting them, you have to generate all the power,” Gauff said. “Sometimes it can be more physically tiring than it looks because you literally have to generate 100 percent of the power, every time, compared to maybe someone you can just redirect.”

Gauff had seven double faults in the first set. She hit less than half of her first serves. She faced five break points and saved four. Problems arose in other aspects of her game, including winning the point on only nine of 17 trips to the net, and totaling twice as many unforced errors, 20, as winners, 10.

Her body language was often negative, as it can be after a few mistakes. Gauff looked at her guest box and raised her palms as if to say, “What’s going on?” She rolled her eyes or put a hand on her hip, even after a wild swinging volley that went several meters long.

Serving for the opening set, third-seeded Gauff double-faulted twice and faced two break points that would have allowed Maria to level the score at 5-5. But Maria missed a forehand on the first, and Gauff hit a cross-court forehand passing shot on the second to seal the match.

The second set was a completely different story.

Gauff scored 15 winning goals while committing only five unforced errors (two of which were double faults) and scored 10 of 11 times.

“She’s a very strong player mentally. She has a lot of power. I knew I had my chances today because I know my style of play is not her preference. I had my chances in the first set, but I didn’t take them,” said Maria, whose two daughters, ages 10 and 3, were in the stands. “These types of players… if you don’t take your chances, it’s gone. That’s what happened today.”

On Friday, Gauff will face 27th-seeded Elina Svitolina, who has three major semifinal appearances and defeated Anhelina Kalinina 6-1, 6-2, to advance to the fourth round.

Gauff arrived in New York after a string of early exits elsewhere, including two straight losses at hardcourt tuneup events this month that followed fourth-round eliminations at Wimbledon and the third round of the Olympic Games in Parisboth in July.

“It’s been a tough few weeks,” Gauff said.

Maybe. But the next few days could be a lot better if she plays more like she did in the second set on Wednesday than in the first.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis