‘She’ll definitely win more majors’ – McEnroe tips Gauff for greatness ahead of Sabalenka showdown

John McEnroe is confident Coco Gauff will lift more Grand Slam titles as she bids for Australian Open glory.

The American, who is still a teenager, came from behind to win a thrilling US Open final against Aryna Sabalenka last year and could make it back-to-back slams in Melbourne.

Rather than rest on her laurels following her Flushing Meadows triumph, Gauff sought ways to improve her game and added Andy Roddick to her coaching team with the aim of taking her serve to the next level.

It seems to have paid immediate dividends as she has been hitting it consistently harder without sacrificing accuracy en route to the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Ahead of her last-four showdown with defending champion Sabalenka, McEnroe heaped praise on Gauff and tipped her to win a lot more of the sport’s marquee events.

“You know, I look at Coco a little bit like Alcaraz against some of the bigger hitters,” McEnroe told Eurosport. “It’s similar with her. She’s not as big as the other players and but she’s extremely athletic, the way Alcaraz is. I expect her to win more Majors.

Gauff overcomes Kostyuk in thrilling quarter-final – Australian Open highlights

“She will definitely win more majors. She seems to be in a good place. Mentally, she added some pieces to her team such as Brad Gilbert and is working with Andy Roddick and you can see the improvements on her serve.

“Brad has a history with some of the other top players, so he knows you know what it takes, and it seems to have helped her.

“Obviously she won the US Open already so I expect big things from her. She’s still young. But over the course of the next 10 years, I’d be surprised if she didn’t win a bunch of more majors.

“It will be interesting hopefully to see her develop along with some of these other players and soon there’ll be a new younger player or two that will be added to the mix.”

On the other half of the draw, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska takes on China’s Qinwen Zheng for a place in the final. Neither have made it past the fourth round of a Grand Slam before so are in uncharted territory.

Yastremska had to come through three qualifying matches just to make the main draw and is now into her first major semi-final.

She has already experienced a lot in her short career, from winning her first WTA title at 18 to being suspended at the start of 2021 after testing positive for a banned substance and then being cleared six months later.

And while McEnroe says it’ll be normal for the now 23-year-old to feel overwhelmed on a stage that is new to her, he said she needs to do her best to enjoy the occasion and remember how well she’s playing.

“I qualified and made it to the semis of a major and was completely overwhelmed when I walked on Wimbledon centre court for the first time,” McEnroe added. “Her opponent will be different and just as surprised as she is when she is in the semis.

“I played like the No. 1 or No. 2 guy and I felt like I had already lost before I stepped on the court [in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time]. I feel like she will already think she has lost to whoever wins out of Gauff and Sabalenka. She just has to enjoy it.

“She’s been through a lot of stuff already, off the tour, suspended, came back and won her appeal. Here she is and it’s incredible. Talk about wide open.

“She has a great chance to keep moving forward but she hits a great ball and I don’t see why she can’t get to the final.”

Stream top tennis action, including the 2024 Australian Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.com