Coco Gauff won’t participate in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which is a big blow to both the player and the US Olympic crew.
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Gauff is one of the most intriguing prospects of American and world tennis, and she already became one of the most popular players around the globe.
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Coco Gauff announces she has tested positive for COVID-19 and will not be participating in the Tokyo Olympics pic.twitter.com/gDGQkJOqxc
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) July 18, 2021
She was supposed to be the biggest name in the US tennis unit following several withdrawals, among them the most notable, Serena and Venus Williams and Sofia Kenin. Jennifer Brady, Jessica Pegula, and Alison Riske remain on the team.
Gauff was supposed to play in the doubles, and Nicole Melichar, who now has to find another partner.
After winning the Linz Open in 2019, Gauff became the youngest ever singles title-holder, and many expected to see her meteoric rise on the tennis scene. That would happen, but the wunderkind couldn’t win any of the more significant tournaments.
Her biggest success at any Grand Slam tournament took place in Paris this year, at the French Open, where Gauff reached the quarterfinals, becoming the youngest female player to do so in 16 years. Unfortunately, the American ran onto the future champion, Barbora Krejcikova, who eliminated her from the further competition.
Gauff reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon recently, where she lost to the former champion, Angelique Kerber.
A thread on all the stuff that’s not going very well so far at the Olympics:
1/ Positive cases and contact tracing are taking down athletes. Coco Gauff out of the tennis, two South African footballers also positive as well as the SA sevens rugby coach
— James Longman (@JamesAALongman) July 18, 2021
Even though she wasn’t one of the top favorites for getting a medal in Tokyo, many expected to see her going deep into the tournament. Gauff’s for was on the rise,
The situation with the male part of the US team is even worse. The top four ranked players, John Isner, Reilly Oplka, Taylor Fritz, and Sebastian Korda, won’t play, leaving Frances Tiafoe and Tennys Sandgren as the only sounding names on the roster.
Federer and Novak Dominantly Reach Quarterfinals, Gauff Loses to Kerber
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Men’s competition is apparently more damaged than the ladies, with the likes such as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, or Dominic Thiem missing the tournament. The world no.1 and the 20-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic, decided to play despite thinking of skipping the Olympics and prepare well for the remaining part of the year.