One of the brightest young stars in Women’s Tennis right now, Coco Gauff, will unfortunately not play in this year’s Olympic Games. She unfortunately had tested positive for the virus over the weekend. She announced on twitter that she tested positive and wishes the rest of team USA best of luck in the games.
Gauff is currently ranked 25 in the Women’s ATP Rankings, after losing in the fourth round of the Wimbledon to Angelique Kerber. If she was able to go, she would have been the youngest tennis player to play in the games since Mario Ancic, who was 16 at the time in 2000.
She was actually named Team Captain for Team USA because of the number of players that had withdrawn from the games because of COVID-19, but now that duty will fall to one of the players actually going to Tokyo.
Gauff had qualified for the team back in the spring along with Jennifer Brady, Jessica Pegula, and Alison Riske for singles. The two highest ranked US Women’s players in the ATP right now are Sofia Kenin and Serena Williams who initially qualified for the games but were one of the many who declined to go.
Madison Keys, who is just ranked under Coco Gauff, also declined her invitation to the Olympics, leaving the Women’s team virtually open for anyone. Perhaps the biggest surprise on this roster is the missing Venus Williams. Venus is the most highly decorated Olympic tennis player with four gold medals and five medals in general. She did not qualify for singles, but it was not said publicly if she either did not qualify or declined to play in the doubles.
