John McEnroe is expecting Coco Gauff to make changes to her team after a disappointing summer that saw her surrender the US Open title.

Gauff was aiming to become the first woman to retain her crown at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2014 but succumbed to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 fourth round loss to Olympic team-mate Emma Navarro.

“It’s not the summer that I want,” said Gauff. “I feel like there’s 70 other players in the draw that would love to have the summer that I had even though it’s my least probably done well during this time of the year.

“So many people want to be in the fourth round. So many people want to make the Olympics. So many people want to be the flag bearer. It’s perspective.

“Obviously because I’m wanting to reach a different level, it is disappointing, but I’m not going to beat myself up and be, like, this was so bad.

“Yeah, I expect better, but at the end of the day it happened, and I know I can turn it around.”

Now tennis legend McEnroe has given his verdict on what needs to come next for Gauff, as he predicted there may be changes to a team that includes the high-profile presence of coach Brad Gilbert.

“I don’t know about what is going on in her team, but I suspect there will be changes, that’s my guess,” said McEnroe at a Eurosport event.

“When she made the change last year and brought in Brad, it spurred her on and she had this great run in the hard court season.

“Now it’s a year later and I don’t know what has happened. She is still having issues with her serve, she is still having issues with her forehand.

“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.

“People are just saying ‘oh, go and follow in the footsteps of Serena Williams’. You are like ‘oh really, that will be easy’. Give me a break.”

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Despite her early exit at the US Open, McEnroe believes some of the surprising results this summer have been affected by the addition of the Olympic Games into the middle of the tennis season.

“You can see that all the players who were at the Olympics are struggling physically and mentally,” he reflected.

“It’s tough to go from clay to grass, back to clay for the Olympics and then straight onto the hard courts. That’s not easy.

“You look at all the guys that won the medals at the Olympics and they lost early at the US Open, especially in the men’s draw.

“You look at Jessica Pegula not playing the Olympics and she got on a roll on the hard courts, but players like Iga (Swiatek) struggled after playing in Paris.”

McEnroe went on to suggest Gauff’s high-profile presence in commercial adverts ahead of the US Open could have affected her preparations, as he urged the 20-year-old to ensure she keeps her eye on the court.

“I’ve noticed she has been on a lot of commercials as well, so they’ve got to balance that with giving her time to work on her game and feel super confident again,” he added. “You can tell she’s not feeling that right now.”

Gauff’s high-profile presence as one the most recognisable faces in women’s tennis and an icon of American sport ensures she will always be a talking point whether she is winning or losing matches.

That pressure must weigh heavily on a 20-year-old who has already crammed so much into her young career.