Eight tennis players will represent the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
American tennis is at one of its most successful points in years thanks to the star power of players like Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, to name a few.
Gauff was chosen as Team USA’s flag bearer alongside LeBron James, which makes her the first American tennis player to earn this honor. She’s doing so at just 20 years old and at her first Olympic appearance.
Team USA has won the most tennis gold medals in Olympic history with 21, along with six silver and 12 bronze medals. The Americans have the second-most Olympic tennis medals in history with 39 behind Great Britain’s 43.
The tennis tournament, which will be played at Roland Garros—home of the French Open—begins on Saturday and runs through Aug. 4.
Here’s a breakdown of the eight American tennis players heading to Paris:
Coco Gauff
Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports
The World No. 2 will be performing in her first Olympics at 20 years old. She first hit the tennis scene in 2018 when she beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon at age 15. Since then, she’s continued to shock tennis fans with her successes at various WTA tournaments. Gauff captured her first major title last year at the U.S. Open.
All eyes will be on Gauff to see if she can win gold to become the first American woman since Serena Williams last did so in 2012. She will also be competing in the mixed doubles draw with Taylor Fritz.
Jessica Pegula
The World No. 6 will be competing in her second Olympics. She didn’t advance past the first round in women’s singles in Tokyo but she did make it to the quarterfinals in women’s doubles. She is the only returning women’s player for Team USA.
She has won five WTA titles in her career, keeping her steadily in the top-10 rankings.
Danielle Collins
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The 2024 season will be Collins’s last on the WTA Tour, she announced after her Australian Open loss in January. The World No. 9 was on fire in the spring, winning back-to-back titles in Miami and Charleston.
Emma Navarro
Navarro is currently ranked No. 15 in the world, which is her career high. She’s coming off her best major finish at Wimbledon as she reached the quarterfinals. She beat fellow Team USA member Gauff on her run to the quarterfinals.
Taylor Fritz
Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports
Fritz is the top-ranked American men’s player in the world at No. 11. He is making his Olympic debut in Paris. He will be competing in men’s singles and will be playing with Gauff in mixed doubles.
He’s won eight ATP titles in his career but has never made it past a quarterfinal round of a major tournament. He most recently defeated reigning gold medal winner Alexander Zverev at Wimbledon.
Tommy Paul
The No. 13 player in the world is arguably having his best tennis season yet. He’s won two of his three ATP titles this year, and he most recently made the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
He played in the Tokyo Olympics but did not advance past the first round.
Marcos Giron
Jan 16, 2024; Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; Marcos Giron of the United States plays a shot against Jack Draper (not pictured) of Great Britain in Round 1 of the Men’s Singles on Day 3 of the Australian Open tennis at Rod Laver Arena. / Mike Frey-USA TODAY Sports
Giron is coming off his first ATP title from last week at the Hall of Fame Open. It’s easy to say he’s entering the Paris Olympics with some momentum.
He made it the furthest out of the American men’s singles players in Tokyo as he reached the second round of play.
Christopher Eubanks
Eubanks’s name became more recognizable after his 2023 Wimbledon run to the quarterfinals. Some fans may know him from his commentary in the booth for Tennis Channel.
Source link : https://www.si.com/olympics/all-eight-american-tennis-players-competing-2024-paris-olympics
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Publish date : 2024-07-26 07:00:07
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