John McEnroe has analysed what has impacted Coco Gauff and her form ahead of the US Open.
The 20-year-old was the darling of New York when she lifted the title 12 months ago and has been America’s number one ever since.
While Coco Gauff is still beloved by her nation and many others around the world, things have been mir challenging this season, particularly in recent weeks.
She has failed to go beyond the fourth round in any of her last four tournaments, which is one of the worst periods of form in her young career so far.
What does John McEnroe think has affected Coco Gauff ahead of the US Open?
Gauff’s last five defeats have come against players ranked inside the world’s top 50. US compatriot and doubles partner Jessica Pegula beat her at the Berlin Open, while Emma Navarro defeated Gauff at Wimbledon.
Donna Vekic ended Gauff’s Olympic singles run, the World number two flew back to North America to play in the Canadian Open, but claimed just one win before Dania Shnaider beat her for the loss of just five games.
Yulia Putintseva claimed a shock win over Gauff in Cincinnati, which has left her with plenty to think about before stepping back onto Arthur Ashe Stadium next week.
That being said, John McEnroe thinks Gauff is relishing the challenge to try and defend the US Open title, but she is feeling the pressure.
“She’s excited to be defending her title. She’s also sort of bewildered about some of the results. I think the pressure of expectation hits all the top players,” she said.
“She won the US Open. It gets more difficult in a lot of ways ’cause you got people coming after you, you’re a bigger win. Everyone in their camp expects more. She expects more. She’s still the second or third favourite to win this.
“You might even put her in level tournaments in terms of Swiatek. It is a lot wider open, and something unexpected could happen, particularly with all the emotions and fatigue that are happening. Having said all of that, she’s still the second or third favourite.”
Coco Gauff needs to make some big improvements at the US Open
Gauff is usually a consistent shotmaker, but that has been missing from her game since July. Gauff is adept at finding solutions against tricky opponents, but she has been unable to do so in recent tournaments.
The player’s double fault issue has reared its head again. Gauff has served a combined 15 doubles faults in her losses to Shnaider and Putintseva in Canada and Cincinnati respectively.
Though Gauff’s forehand has improved somewhat, but it still deserts her at times which results in a catalogue of unforced errors. This was the case against Navarro at Wimbledon where the majority of her 25 unforced errors came via her forehand.
These issues will need to be ironed out if Gauff wants to win a second US Open title in front of her home fans.
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