John McEnroe’s most recent critique of Coco Gauff is coherent with his previous remarks regarding Emma Raducanu. Amid a troubling decline in form, the 65-year-old American tennis legend recently criticized Gauff for participating in too many commercials.
The young player from Atlanta made it to the semifinals of the 2024 Australian and French Opens after winning her maiden major title at the US Open a year earlier. However, her consecutive fourth-round losses at Flushing Meadows and Wimbledon this summer have left her looking like a busted flush.
Seven-time Grand Slam winner McEnroe stated he believed Gauff’s recent spate of endorsement deals might be hurting her performance and pushed the young player to concentrate more on improving her skills than gaining more fame.
McEnroe talked about it recently and said: “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. You can tell she’s not feeling that right now. 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 remarks are in line with criticism aimed at 21-year-old Raducanu after her lone Grand Slam victory in 2021. The British player, who was only eighteen, won the US Open, sparking something of a national sensation. She entered into business agreements with some of the biggest names in the world in the months that followed, including Porsche, HSBC, British Airways, Evian, Sports Direct, and Vodafone.
Similar to Raducanu, Gauff’s form has significantly declined since her first Grand Slam victory made her a household name.
Emma Raducanu in 2024
Now ranked no.72, Raducanu played her last match on the 27th of August when she capitulated to world no.54 Sofia Kenin 6-1 3-6 6-4
in the 1st round of the U.S. Open (draw).This season Emma has achieved an overall 18-12 win-loss record. Emma Raducanu’s most significant accomplishment of the current season was reaching the semifinal in Nottingham.
Emma Raducanu will compete against the world no.56 Viktoriya Tomova in the final. Their actual head to head record is 1-0 for Tomova.
She is also scheduled to play in Beijing (China Open) on the 23rd of September and Hong Kong (Hong Kong Tennis Open) on the 28th of October.
Coco Gauff in 2024
Ranked no.6, Coco played her last match on the 1st of September when she was defeated by world no.8 Emma Navarro 6-3 4-6 6-3 in the 4th round of the U.S. Open (draw).
This year Gauff owns a 41-15 win-loss record. Coco conquered 1 title in Auckland.
Coco Gauff will fight against the world no.224 Sinja Kraus in the . In the past, they have never played each other so far in top events.
The American has won 1 title in 2024 in Auckland.
Coco won 7 titles in her career: 5 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts and 1 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff clashed against each other just once. Their record is 1-0 for Gauff. When they played, Coco Gauff won 6-3 7-6(4) in the 2nd round in Melbourne (Australian Open) in January 2023.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Emma Raducanu and Coco Gauff |
| Embed from Getty Images |