John McEnroe’s Emma Raducanu warnings as Coco Gauff becomes latest to cop criticism

John McEnroe’s latest criticism of Coco Gauff echoes comments he’s made about Emma Raducanu in the past. The American tennis legend, 65, recently slated Gauff, 20, for doing too many commercials amid a concerning dip in form. The Atlanta-born starlet won her first major title a year ago at the US Open, and followed it up with semi-final appearances at the Australian and French Opens in 2024. But back-to-back fourth round exits at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows this summer have left her looking like a busted flush.

Seven-time Grand Slam champion McEnroe said he thought the string of endorsement deals that Gauff has signed in the last 12 months or so could be hampering her performances, and urged the youngster to focus more on raising her game rather than raising her public profile. “I’ve noticed she has been on a lot of commercials, [she has] got to balance that with giving her time to work on her game and feel super confident again,” he said. “You can tell she’s not feeling that right now.”

McEnroe added: “She seems to be more outwardly frustrated on the court and venting more than I’ve seen before. I guess that’s just the pressure of expectations.” His comments mirror criticism levelled at Raducanu, 21, following her sole Grand Slam triumph in 2021. The Brit became something of a national sensation after winning the US Open aged just 18. In the months that followed, she signed into commercial partnerships with some of the world’s biggest brands including British Airways, Evian, Sports Direct, Vodafone, Porsche and HSBC.

Speaking ahead of Wimbledon last year, McEnroe said he feared Raducanu will become “a one-hit wonder” if she stays on the path she’s currently on. “Emma Raducanu’s under a lot more pressure from sponsors and just her ranking and how that all works to get back sooner,” he said. “Look, she’s won a Major, which 99 per cent of players or more can’t say, but you don’t want to be that one-hit wonder either. So this is going to be a long road back in a way because she has to start over in a way.”

His verdict on Raducanu little over a year later validated his concerns. “Sometimes I see her and it looks like she is heading back towards the top of the game and then other times I’m a bit befuddled about what’s going on,” McEnroe told Tennis365 in August.

“I’m not close to her team and what is going on, but I hope she is healthy. There were a couple of matches at Wimbledon and she looked really good and then in the last one, she looked really shaky. It’s hard to know what to say about her. I don’t really know. Does she have that absolute belief and commitment to win something big again or be in the top ten? That I can’t say.”

Since her US Open triumph three years ago, Raducanu has won just eight matches at Grand Slam tournaments. She’s also failed to get beyond the second round in all but one of the last eight majors she’s competed in. A strong showing at Wimbledon, where she reached the fourth round in July suggested she was moving in the right direction, but a poor performance in her opening round defeat at the US Open last month dashed hopes of a sudden rejuvenation.

Like Raducanu’s, Gauff’s form has dropped off signiciantly since her first Grand Slam triumph turned her into a household name. Speaking after her US Open elimination earlier this month, the world No.3 spoke of the need to get over a “mental hurdle”, before stressing she was eager to iron out the kinks that had developed in her game in recent months.

“I don’t know what my schedule will look like at the end of this year. I feel like I want to spend a good training block. I hadn’t had that since maybe before the clay season started,” she explained. “I think we’ll see how Asia goes, and we’ll see – obviously if I qualify [for the WTA Finals], I’ll play. I think for me in the long-term I definitely want to get a good training block, and I guess we’ll see how many tournaments I play for the rest of the year.”