Coco Gauff And Jennifer Brady To Lead Women’s Tennis At Olympics 2020

Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff

Playing at the Olympics isn’t a priority anymore for some players with all the top men and women in American Tennis deciding to stay away. The women’s team will be led by Coco Gauff and Jennifer Brady. The roster released by The Associated Press also includes Alison Riske and Jessica Pegula.

The men’s singles will have Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Marcos Giron, and Tennys Sandgren. The Williams sisters, who have won a combined 9 Olympic medals and 30 Grand Slams, have opted to stay out. The top 4 US men, according to ATP rankings, Reilly Opleka, Taylor Fritz, John Isner, and Sebastian Korda also have decided to give the Olympic 2020 a miss.

Coco Gauff, the 17-year-old star, will become the youngest American tennis player after 2000. She is also the second youngest ever, next only to Jennifer Capriati, who was just 16 at the summer games in 1992 when she participated and won the women’s singles gold.

The list was announced even as Coco Gauff eased into the 3rd round at Wimbledon Thursday, triumphing over Elena Vesnina 6-4 6-3. Last year she had a surprise win over Venus at the Grand Slam as she made her draw debut.

While Venus did not make the grade for the games, last week her sister Serena also announced her decision to stay away.

French Open Performance Clinches It For Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff and the others qualified based on their rankings after the French Open on June 14. Her deep run in the French Open secured her place. She outlasted fellow American Sloane Stephens and clinched her place in the summer games. The Florida native later said that it had been her goal to play for the Olympics.

For the women’s doubles, Coco Gauff will pair with Nicole Melichar and Pegula with Mattek-Sands. For Men’s doubles, Rajeev Ram will pair with Tiafoe, while Austin Krajicek and Sandgren will complete the team.