John McEnroe called out Coco Gauff over her commercial activities amid her soaring net worth. The two-time Grand Slam is officially the highest earner in the women’s game, having banked around £27.5m this year alone from her activities both on and off the court.
That’s according to US business magazine Forbes, who rank only male stars Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner ahead of her in the 2025 money list. Gauff was also the highest-earning female player last year despite failing to win a Grand Slam in the calendar year, with her wealth boosted by a string of commercial deals with top brands. However, speaking after last year’s US Open, where her defence of the title was ended in the fourth round by Emma Navarro following an error-strewn performance, McEnroe suggested that Gauff needed to cut down on her off-court interests.
He said: “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. You can tell she’s not feeling that right now.”
Since then, Gauff has secured her second Grand Slam title by winning this year’s French Open. However, there are no suggestions that she had heeded McEnroe’s call.
Last week, she skipped the revamped mixed doubles at the US Open, citing “sponsor things” among other reasons for her withdrawal. She said: “For me, it was just because I know the free week of the US Open is already packed for me, for sponsor things, and it was just like a whole other thing. And I’m very competitive; if I were to lose, I would not be happy. So, I didn’t want to waste mental energy on that.
“Then, on top of the sponsor stuff, the pre-week, and then knowing that this finished on Monday and potentially having to play on Tuesday. So I just knew it wasn’t going to work out for me, scheduling-wise.”
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Gauff did end up playing in the build-up to the US Open, joining forces with Andre Agassi to take on McEnroe and Venus Williams in the ‘Stars of the Open’ exhibition event.
Gauff, who plays Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round on Tuesday, hopes a radical change on the eve of the tournament can help her challenge for another Grand Slam title. The world No.3 has been battling a misfiring serve and decided to part company with coach Matt Daly and hire biomechanics coach Gavin MacMillan.
MacMillan guided Gauff’s rival, Aryna Sabalenka, through serious serving issues in 2022, and despite Daly helping her win the French Open only two months ago, Gauff did not want to delay.
Gauff hit 16 double faults in her most recent match, a defeat by Jasmine Paolini in Cincinnati, taking her 2025 tally to 320, more than 100 above anyone else on the WTA Tour. She said: “It was a very sudden decision. Gavin became available. I just felt this was the best decision for my game and I had to go with what I was feeling.
“I think Matt is a great coach and a great person and I 100 per cent love working with him. We obviously had a very successful partnership, but I’m just looking at long term. I know Gavin has had experience with this before so hoping I can just take on his knowledge and see what can happen.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk