Coco Gauff to lead US tennis team at Paris Olympics after missing Tokyo
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Yueke
Wed, Jun 26, 2024
PHOTO: Yueke
Coco Gauff to Lead US Tennis Team at Paris Olympics After Missing Tokyo
Coco Gauff will lead the U.S. tennis team at the Paris Olympics, three years after missing the Tokyo Games due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The 20-year-old Gauff, currently ranked No. 2, will be joined by No. 5 Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Emma Navarro in women’s singles. The men’s singles team will feature Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Chris Eubanks, and Marcos Giron.
Olympic tennis starts on July 27 at Roland Garros, the site of the French Open.
The American team includes six first-time Olympians, according to the U.S. Tennis Association's announcement on Thursday.
Gauff has reached the semifinals at the year’s first two Grand Slams, the Australian and French Opens. She was a finalist on the Roland Garros clay in 2022 and is also a medal contender in doubles.
Gauff and Pegula have won five doubles titles as a pair. Pegula, along with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, won the French Open doubles title this month.
Gauff tested positive for COVID-19 days before the start of the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
Pegula returned to action last week after a neck injury in April forced her to withdraw from several tournaments. She was a singles quarterfinalist at the French Open in 2022.
The 30-year-old Collins, who has indicated this will be her final year on the tour, has won titles in Miami and Charleston. The 2022 Australian Open runner-up also reached the Strasbourg final in May before a second-round exit at the French Open, where her best result was the quarterfinals in 2020.
Doubles player Desirae Krawczyk will team up with Collins at the Paris Games. Collins and Krawczyk won a doubles title last year in Charleston. Krawczyk is a four-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles.
Navarro, at a career-high No. 17, reached the fourth round at Roland Garros.
For the men, Fritz is the highest-ranked American at No. 12, followed by Paul at No. 13. Eubanks is ranked 44th and Giron 53rd.
Paul and Giron competed at the Tokyo Games.
The U.S. is also taking 40-year-old Rajeev Ram to his third Olympics. He’ll be competing in doubles. Fritz and Paul will also join forces in doubles.
Ram, who has four major doubles titles, won the mixed doubles silver medal with Venus Williams at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
The USTA said it will announce one mixed doubles team for Paris at a later date.
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AP Olympics:
Coco Gauff will lead the U.S. tennis team at the Paris Olympics, three years after missing the Tokyo Games due to a positive COVID-19 test.
The 20-year-old Gauff, currently ranked No. 2, will be joined by No. 5 Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, and Emma Navarro in women’s singles. The men’s singles team will feature Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Chris Eubanks, and Marcos Giron.
Olympic tennis starts on July 27 at Roland Garros, the site of the French Open.
The American team includes six first-time Olympians, according to the U.S. Tennis Association's announcement on Thursday.
Gauff has reached the semifinals at the year’s first two Grand Slams, the Australian and French Opens. She was a finalist on the Roland Garros clay in 2022 and is also a medal contender in doubles.
Gauff and Pegula have won five doubles titles as a pair. Pegula, along with Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic, won the French Open doubles title this month.
Gauff tested positive for COVID-19 days before the start of the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.
Pegula returned to action last week after a neck injury in April forced her to withdraw from several tournaments. She was a singles quarterfinalist at the French Open in 2022.
The 30-year-old Collins, who has indicated this will be her final year on the tour, has won titles in Miami and Charleston. The 2022 Australian Open runner-up also reached the Strasbourg final in May before a second-round exit at the French Open, where her best result was the quarterfinals in 2020.
Doubles player Desirae Krawczyk will team up with Collins at the Paris Games. Collins and Krawczyk won a doubles title last year in Charleston. Krawczyk is a four-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles.
Navarro, at a career-high No. 17, reached the fourth round at Roland Garros.
For the men, Fritz is the highest-ranked American at No. 12, followed by Paul at No. 13. Eubanks is ranked 44th and Giron 53rd.
Paul and Giron competed at the Tokyo Games.
The U.S. is also taking 40-year-old Rajeev Ram to his third Olympics. He’ll be competing in doubles. Fritz and Paul will also join forces in doubles.
Ram, who has four major doubles titles, won the mixed doubles silver medal with Venus Williams at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
The USTA said it will announce one mixed doubles team for Paris at a later date.
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AP Olympics:
Brewers Rookie Lefty Robert Gasser to Undergo Tommy John Surgery
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers rookie left-hander Robert Gasser has decided to undergo Tommy John surgery, which will sideline him for approximately 12 months.
The 25-year-old’s decision came after he received multiple opinions on the best way to treat the left flexor strain that sent him to the injured list on June 5.
Gasser is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA in five starts — all wins for the NL Central-leading Brewers — after missing the end of spring training with bone spurs in his throwing elbow. He last pitched on June 1 and reported some tightness and soreness the next day.
“Tough break for him, obviously,” manager Pat Murphy said before the Brewers opened a four-game series against the San Diego Padres. “The reasoning you can understand, right? Get it taken care of now, back in hopefully 12ish, 13ish months and be able to hopefully contribute.
“I think the one thing he got out of the year was he understands, ‘I can pitch in the big leagues. I can be successful.’ He had as good a five starts as anybody could hope for in their first five starts in the big leagues. I think that’s a big win for the organization and a big win for him. He knows he can do it, the organization knows he can do it, so it bodes well.”
Gasser was drafted by the Padres in 2021 and was one of four players sent to Milwaukee for closer Josh Hader on Aug. 1, 2022.
Brandon Woodruff and Wade Miley have already been ruled out for the season.
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AP MLB:
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