Serena Williams. Agassi Andre. Venus Williams. Pete Sampras. What connects them all together? The first and most evident fact about them is that they are all American tennis legends. This leads us to our second point. Even though they are icons of the game, they were never selected to lead Team USA in the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Coco Gauff can cross off becoming the first American tennis player to wear the Stars and Stripes at the Olympics, even if she is still in the early stages of her career. twenty years of age. Was the flag’s weight, however, a bit too much to bear?
Coco Gauff expressed her gratitude to her fellow Team USA athletes for nominating her and granting her this accolade after the announcement. However, all eyes were on her the moment she set foot on that boat with basketball great LeBron James, carrying the flag. Even while she was thrilled to be standing next to the 39-year-old, who had some work to do, she had high expectations for tennis success in Paris, especially in light of everything she had accomplished in the previous 12 months. But Monica Puig, a former WTA player, believed the 20-year-old was starting to feel the strain.
In all three of the Games’ initial events—singles (third round), doubles (second round), and mixed doubles (quarterfinals), Coco Gauff was eliminated early. This came after she and Jessica Pegula had expressed their desire to capture the gold medal in the doubles earlier in the year, in addition to their desire to compete in the singles category to the fullest. However, following a heartbreaking end to her Olympic career, Gauff returned to the United States for the Cincinnati Masters.During the Tennis Channel Live podcast on August 15, Steve Weissman asked Puig about her expectations for Gauff’s first-round match against Yulia Putintseva.
“I like the odds in her favor,” Puig retorted. It would be wonderful to watch her gain some traction. I am aware that she had a lot going on during the Olympics, what with carrying the flag and hanging around LeBron. From the beginning, she was the center of attention.Take it from someone who defeated the German player in the Rio Olympics final despite everyone’s expectation that she would win, despite facing an impressive Angelique Kerber. In that particular season, Kerber won two Grand Slams and concluded as the Year-End No. 1 player. However, Monica Puig won in three sets, earning Puerto Rico its first gold medal at the Olympics.
Rewinding to Gauff’s Olympic pursuit. The 20-year-old’s strong desire to excel for her nation was evident, especially after she was forced to skip Tokyo due to COVID-19. Gauff looked to be under pressure to perform, and she gave up in the third round against Donna Vekic, after she had been winning the first set easily. Add to that the tearful altercation she had with the chair umpire after a line call. The World No. 2 sobbed, saying, “On this court, it always happens to me.” I feel as though I’ve been deceived repeatedly.
Though she had hoped for a better outcome in the doubles tournaments, things didn’t work out for her. Gauff and Pegula, the top seeds, lost badly against Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova, who finished in fourth place. They concluded their campaign against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski in the mixed doubles alongside Taylor Fritz. Coco Gauff thus departed Paris without a medal. And according to Monica Puig, that result was largely due to the flag-bearing duties and the attention that went along with them. However, the increasing pressure might not end here.
The 20-year-old faces the challenge of defending the two biggest championships of her career, the US Open and the Cincinnati Masters, following a dismal year. Puig said, “Maybe [Gauff is] feeling a little bit of pressure knowing that she has to defend here in Cincinnati, that US Open title,” in light of the fact that Gauff has been playing below par.Returning to familiar ground, though, might be advantageous for her.
With a 3-0 head-to-head record versus Putintseva, Puig is certain that “a good, solid match [in Cincinnati] will really start getting things rolling for her.”Regarding the Olympics, Gauff herself later acknowledged that, despite the less than perfect outcomes, it was nothing short of amazing.
The “lessons” that Coco Gauff discovered during the Paris Olympics are revealed.
Gauff knew the early eliminations would be bad for her confidence because she intended to do well in every tennis event at the Olympics in Paris. However, she is able to get past it and turn it into an incentive to work harder. She even mentioned in a previous interview that she is able to look above the pressure and expectations placed on her as a player. The 20-year-old accomplishes this by drawing comparisons between her predicament and that of people who face more daily hardship and struggle to find their next meal.
Her message is therefore very clear: learn from your mistakes and don’t allow high expectations depress you. Her remarks regarding the Olympics in Paris demonstrated this similar sentiment.It obviously didn’t turn out the way I had hoped, but it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I will carry with me the individuals I met and the things I learned for the rest of my life. I’m glad that I’m attempting to be more aggressive, but I believe that on the court, I can have a more positive mindset.
