PARIS (AP) — Tennis star Coco Gauff will be a part of LeBron James as a flag bearer for the U.S. Olympic staff at Friday’s opening ceremony.
Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is about to make her Olympic debut on the Paris Video games and would be the first tennis athlete to hold the U.S. flag. She and James have been chosen by Group USA athletes.
The 20-year-old Gauff made the American staff for the Tokyo Video games three years in the past as a young person however needed to sit out these Olympics as a result of she examined optimistic for COVID-19 proper earlier than she was alleged to fly to Japan.
Now Gauff, who is predicated in Florida, is a Grand Slam title winner in singles and doubles. She gained her first main championship in New York in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka within the singles remaining of the U.S. Open, then added her first Grand Slam doubles trophy on the French Open this June alongside Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.
The identical clay courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open can be the place matches are going to be held for the Paris Olympics. The draw to set the brackets is Thursday, and play begins on Saturday.
Gauff is seeded No. 2 in singles, matching her present WTA rating behind No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, and can be among the many medal favorites.
She and her common doubles accomplice, Jessica Pegula, are seeded No. 1 in girls’s doubles. It’s attainable Gauff is also entered in blended doubles, however these pairings haven’t been introduced but.