It’s easy to forget Coco Gauff was just 19 years old when she won her first Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open two years ago.

On Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, however, some 23,000 fans in attendance and the masses watching at home got a clear visual of how the ever-mounting expectations and pressure that the young tennis star has always faced can take its toll.

“There’s been a lot on me this tournament, more than usual, which I expected coming in,” said Gauff, who shook off a tear-filled moment in the first set to defeat Donna Vekic 7-6(5), 6-2 and advance to the third round.

“So yeah, basically what you saw out there was what it was, and I was able to reset through it. It was a challenging moment for me on the court. Yeah, it’s been a tough couple of weeks on and off the court, but I’m just happy to get through it today.”

The win booked Gauff a meeting with Poland’s Magdalena Frech on Saturday, but it also meant that the 21-year-old has reached at least the third round in New York five straight years.

It’s always been apparent how much this tournament means to Gauff, who has shared many stories about coming to Flushing with her father and watching the Williams sisters.

This year has been different for Gauff.

The heightened attention surrounding her hiring of a new coach, Gavin MacMillan, just before the start of the Open to help her fix her serve has only turned up the brightness of her spotlight.

“It feels human, I think,” she said of what it was like to be vulnerable in front of so many people. “I think being an athlete, people kind of disregard that side of us, the human side of things. You know, people say so many things, like, you know, No. 3 in the world, and you’re doing this or you’re playing like this, and you should be better and things like that. But at the end of the day, I feel like I’ve already — if I stop and didn’t pick up a racket tomorrow, I have a career that so many people would dream of.

“So I think when I’m out there in that moment, I kind of give into the pressures, but I feel like that’s normal. I feel like every pro athlete who’s been on the pedestal that I’ve been on has felt that pressure at some point in their career where they showed it publicly like I did or privately.

“But I think I just show people what it’s like to be a human, and I have bad days, but I think it’s more about how you get up after those bad moments and how you show up after that. I think today I showed that I can get up after feeling the worst I’ve ever felt on the court.”

Coming off a tough first-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic, Gauff was incredibly stiff in the first set Thursday night.

After falling behind two-games-to-love, Gauff managed to stabilize and power ahead by taking the next four.

An easy seventh game for Vekic, however, led to a trying moment for Gauff.

Double-faulting to concede her service at 4-4, Gauff was overcome with emotion during the changeover.

Tears welled in her eyes as she buried her head in her towel.

She continued to wipe tears away as she took the court again.

A medical timeout for Vekic — after she pulled ahead 6-5 — gave Gauff some time to compose herself, but the 2023 champion was more focused on practicing her serve.

Gauff was ultimately able to shake off a tiebreak-opening double-fault to secure the first set.

The second set saw much cleaner tennis from Gauff, who double-faulted only once after doing so seven times in the first.

She also limited her unforced errors to five, as well, to finish with 18 on the match in comparison to Vekic’s 36.

During her on-court interview after the match, Gauff’s emotions remained high as she attempted to address the crowd.

The tears continued to fall, forcing her to turn away from the mic and, again, collect herself.

Fans only cheered harder as she wiped her face.

“You guys really help me a lot,” Gauff said to the crowd. “I’m doing this for myself, but I’m also doing it for you.”