Coco Gauff will become the first female tennis player in history to carry the flag for Team USA. She will join LeBron James at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Gauff, 20, is the world No. 2 and the reigning U.S. Open champion. She also becomes the youngest U.S. flag bearer in Olympic history, surpassing Cindy Nelson, who served in that role at the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Games in Austria.
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Gauff represents Team USA in women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles. He will be paired with world No. 6 Jessica Pegula in women’s doubles and world No. 11 Taylor Fritz in men’s mixed doubles.
She was initially selected to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, but a diagnosis of COVID-19 forced her to withdraw in 2021.
I want to thank my US Olympian/athlete teammates for voting and choosing me for this incredible honor to be the flag bearer for the opening ceremony ❤️. Thank you so much. I feel incredibly honored. 🥹🇺🇸
— Coco Gauff (@CocoGauff) July 24, 2024
The favorite to win the singles title is world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who has won the last three French Open titles at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, the site of the Olympic tennis tournaments. Swiatek has an 11-1 head-to-head record against Gauff, including a recent victory in the semifinals of this year’s French Open in June.
Gauff, who won the doubles title at that tournament with partner Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, hopes to beat her at the Games, where Siniakova will face Wimbledon champion and 10-time Grand Slam doubles winner Barbora Krejcikova.
The draw for the tennis tournaments will take place on Thursday at 11 a.m. in Paris/5 a.m. ET.
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(Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
