After the insane highs of 2023 — that saw her win her first Grand Slam title at the US Open — Coco Gauff has had a disappointing 2024 by her lofty standards.

For many players, reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open and French Open, and the fourth round of both Wimbledon and the US Open, would be a career-year.

Not former world no. 2 Gauff, who had big expectations of winning her second major championship in 2024 but frustratingly came up short when it mattered most – including her first ever Olympics.

Her latest disappointment came on the familiar hard courts of Flushing Meadows, New York.

The 20-year-old was aiming to become the first woman to retain her US Open crown since idol Serena Williams in 2014, but ultimately fell to compatriot Emma Navarro 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 at the fourth round stage.

Tennis legend John McEnroe knows a thing or two about winning Grand Slams.

While speaking at a recent Eurosport event, the seven-time major winner said three things have cost Gauff of late, chiefly, the Olympics, off-court distractions, and coaching.

“I’ve noticed she has been on a lot of commercials, so they’ve 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.”

Gauff featured in a string of commercials in the lead up to the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year – understandable given her position as defending champion.

The Florida native’s on-court success and social media popularity has seen her become a marketing phenomenon. As a result, the New Balance, Rolex, American Eagle, Bose, and Head athlete has built an impressive personal brand away from the sport.

She was the highest paid female athlete in world last year after capturing the 2023 US Open on home soil. More recently, Gauff was bestowed the honor of being Team USA’s flagbearer — with NBA legend LeBron James — during the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony.

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‘Johnny Mac’ thinks the 2024 Olympics came at a bad time for many stars.

The American says that going from the clay courts at the French Open to grass at Wimbledon and back to clay at Roland Garros for the Olympics took its toll on certain individuals, including Gauff, who lost in the third round to Donna Vekić in straight sets.

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

“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.

The 65-year-old also highlighted issues with Gauff’s team. He predicted big changes for her in 2025 that includes 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,” McEnroe said.

“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.

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“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.”

However, it hasn’t been a complete disaster of a year for Gauff, who slipped to No. 6 in the world rankings, and is also sixth in the year long race to the WTA Finals – the top eight reach the prestigious season-ending tournament.

Earlier this year she surpassed Caroline Wozniacki for the most WTA 1000 wins before turning 21.

She also won the French Open doubles championship alongside Katerina Siniakova.