Reigning US Open champion Coco Gauff will lead the American tennis delegation for the upcoming Paris Olympics, which will be played at Roland Garros, the home of the French Open.
The 20-year old Gauff, who has risen to a career high No. 2 in the world rankings, was slated to represent Team USA in Tokyo three years ago but tested positive for COVID-19 shortly before the Games and withdrew from competition. This time, Gauff will be one of the medal favorites on the same red clay where she has reached the French Open final previously and was a semifinalist in early June.
Gauff will be joined by the fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula, No. 11 Danielle Collins and No. 17 Emma Navarro in the singles draw.
On the men’s side, No. 12 Taylor Fritz and No. 13 Tommy Paul — the top two Americans in the rankings — will be in Paris while Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda and Francis Tiafoe chose to pass on the opportunity and will get ready for the hard court season in North America. Their defections opened the door for No. 44 Chris Eubanks and No. 53 Marcos Giron to qualify for their first Olympic teams.
Team USA will also be able to enter two teams in both the men’s and women’s doubles draw, along with one mixed doubles team that is yet to be chosen. Gauff and Pegula, who lost the French Open final in 2022 as a team, are expected to play together.
Doubles specialists Rajeev Ram, Austin Krajicek and Desirae Krawczyk will figure heavily in the mix for the other events. Ram, age 40, won a silver at the Rio games in 2016 playing mixed doubles with Venus Williams.
The U.S. failed to bring home a tennis medal in Tokyo for the first time since the sport was reinstated as part of the Olympic program in 1988.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Coco Gauff will compete at 2024 Paris Olympics. See USA’s tennis team
