Usta Names Tokyo U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Tennis Teams
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE USTA NAMES TOKYO U.S. OLYMPIC & PARALYMPIC TENNIS TEAMS Teams to Feature 12 First-Time Olympians & Paralympians 2016 Mixed Doubles Gold Medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands & 2016 Mixed Doubles Silver Medalist Rajeev Ram to Return for Second Games Paralympic Team to be led by Eight-time Paralympic Medalist David Wagner DOWNLOAD*: TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT VIDEO / PLAYER FOOTAGE WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., July 1, 2021 -- The USTA, the governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States, made a historic announcement today when they jointly announced the 19 players that will represent the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Tennis Teams for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Japan. The Olympic team will consist of 12 players – six women and six men – with four singles players and two doubles teams per gender. First-time Olympians Jennifer Brady, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Alison Riske will compete in the women’s singles competition. In doubles, Nicole Melichar, also a first-time Olympian, will look to make her mark at the Games when she partners with Gauff. They will be joined by 2016 mixed doubles gold medalist Bethanie Mattek-Sands, who will partner with Pegula in the doubles draw. The women’s team will be led by coach Kathy Rinaldi (Orlando, Fla.). The men’s singles competition will see all four Americans making their Olympic debuts, as Tommy Paul,Frances Tiafoe, Tennys Sandgren and Marcos Giron look to climb the podium. Rajeev Ram, the reigning mixed doubles silver medalist, will return to the Olympics for the doubles competition, this time partnering with Tiafoe. Austin Krajicek, a first time Olympian, will be teaming with Sandgren. The men will be led by coach David Nainkin (Los Angeles). The USTA will announce at a later date the team(s) in mixed doubles – which will be contested at the Olympics for the third time since tennis returned to the Games in 1988 – composed from among the 12 players and named in Tokyo. The 2020 Olympic Games will be held July 23-August 8 in Tokyo, with the tennis competition being staged July 24-August 1 at the Ariake Colosseum. The U.S. has won 24 Olympic medals (14 gold) in men’s and women’s tennis since it returned as a full medal sport in 1988 – more than any other nation. The Paralympic team will consist of seven players that will look to bring home medals in the women’s, men’s and Quad events. Four-time Paralympian and eight-time Paralympic medalist David Wagner will lead the U.S. Paralympic Team into Tokyo. Wagner will look to claim a Quad medal for the fifth consecutive Games, with his current medal count including: Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, doubles (silver), singles (bronze); London 2012 Paralympic Games, doubles (gold), singles (silver); Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, doubles (gold), singles (bronze); and Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, doubles (gold), singles (silver). Wagner will be joined again at the Paralympic Games by Paralympians Dana Mathewson, Emmy Kaiser and Shelby Baron in the women’s field and Bryan Barten in the Quad field. Casey Ratzlaff and Conner Stroud will be making their Paralympic debuts in the men’s field. The Paralympic team will be led by coach Jason Harnett (Orlando, Fla.). The 2020 Paralympic Games will be held August 24-September 5 in Tokyo, with the tennis competition being staged August 27- September 4, also at the Ariake Colosseum. The U.S. will be one of 31 countries, represented by the 104 wheelchair tennis competitors from around the world. This year’s Paralympic Games mark the eighth time wheelchair tennis will be part of the competition, and the fifth time the Quad division will be included. “The USTA is excited to make history by announcing the 19 athletes, including 12 first-time Olympians and Paralympians, to make up the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Tennis Team,” said Mike McNulty, USTA Chairman of the Board and President. “These athletes have worked extremely hard over the last five years to earn their spot to represent Team USA. We look forward to watching and rooting for them as they go for gold medals on the courts in Tokyo.” All team nominations are subject to U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee approval. Olympic Team Jennifer Brady, 26, (Harrisburg, Pa./Orlando, Fla.), has been ranked as high as No. 13 in the world and is ranked No. 15 at the time of team nominations. Part of an NCAA title-winning team at UCLA, Brady has produced a number of breakthrough results on tour over the past year, including her first WTA singles title, in Lexington, Ky.; her first Grand Slam semifinal appearance, at the 2020 US Open; and her first appearance in a Grand Slam final, at the 2021 Australian Open. Coco Gauff, 17, (Delray Beach, Fla.), is ranked a career-high No. 23 at the time of team nominations and is the only teenager in the WTA’s Top 25. Gauff has no shortage of achievements since she reached the Round of 16 in her Wimbledon debut as a 15- year old, becoming the youngest player to advance that far in 28 years. Since then she’s won two WTA singles titles, three WTA doubles titles and reached her first Grand Slam singles quarterfinal, at the 2021 French Open. Marcos Giron, 27, (Thousand Oaks, Calif.), is ranked No. 66 at the time of team nominations, one spot off his career-high No. 65. Giron won the 2014 NCAA singles title while at UCLA and has since climbed his way up the rankings, winning two Challenger-level titles in 2019, earning his first career Top-10 win over Italian Matteo Berrettini in 2020 and reaching the third round at a major for the first time at Roland Garros this year. Giron has fought his way back to this point after undergoing two surgeries in December 2015 (right hip) and February 2016 (left hip) to fix two hip labral tears. Austin Krajicek, 31, (Tampa, Fla./Plano, Texas), has been ranked as high as No. 35 in the world in doubles and is ranked No. 51 at the time of team nominations. He’s won four career ATP doubles titles, reached five additional finals, and was a four-year star at Texas A&M. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 36, (Rochester, Minn./Phoenix), is a former world doubles No. 1 and 2016 Rio Olympic gold medal winner in mixed doubles (with Jack Sock). Competing in her second consecutive Olympics, Mattek-Sands has won five Grand Slam doubles titles, four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles and 27 WTA doubles titles overall. Nicole Melichar, 27, (Stuart, Fla.), is ranked a career-high No. 9 in the world in doubles and is the top-ranked American women’s doubles player. She’s won 10 career WTA doubles titles — two in 2021, at the time of team nominations — and reached 11 additional finals, including final appearances at the 2020 US Open and 2019 Wimbledon. Tommy Paul, 24, (Voorhees, N.J./Delray Beach, Fla.), has been ranked as high as No. 50 in the world and is ranked No. 52 at the time of team nominations. Paul is a former junior star — he was just the sixth American to win the French Open boys’ singles title, in 2015 — and broke into the ATP’s Top 50 this spring after reaching his second career ATP singles semifinal, in Parma, Italy. Jessica Pegula, 27, (Buffalo, N.Y.), has been ranked as high as No. 25 and is ranked No. 26 at the time of team nominations. Pegula is having a breakout year in 2021, having reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the Australian Open and risen nearly 40 places in the rankings since January. She’s won one WTA singles title, reached two additional finals, and is the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula. Rajeev Ram, 37, (Denver/Carmel, Ind.), is a former world doubles No. 5 and 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalist in mixed doubles (with Venus Williams). Ranked No. 12 at the time of team nominations, Ram is competing in his second consecutive Olympics. He has won 20 career doubles titles, including the 2020 Australian Open and two additional ATP Masters 1000s, along with two mixed doubles titles at the 2019 and 2021 Australian Opens. Alison Riske, 30, (Pittsburgh), is ranked No. 29 at the time of team nominations and has been ranked as high as No. 18. Riske has won two WTA singles titles, reached seven additional finals and has finished four different seasons ranked in the Top 50. She’s reached the Round of 16 or better at three of the four Grand Slams, including a career-best quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon in 2019. Tennys Sandgren, 29, (Gallatin, Tenn.), has been ranked as high as No. 41 in the world and is ranked No. 68 at the time of team nominations. An All-American at the University of Tennessee (and named after his great-grandfather, who was not a tennis player), Sandgren is a two-time Australian Open quarterfinalist (2018, 2020) and won his first ATP singles title in 2019 in Auckland, New Zealand. Frances Tiafoe, 23, (Hyattsville, Md./Boynton Beach, Fla.), has been ranked as high as No. 29 and is ranked No. 57 at the time of team nominations. Long considered one of the game’s rising stars, Tiafoe won his first ATP singles title at age 20 in Delray Beach and reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2019 Australian Open, becoming the youngest American to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal since Andy Roddick in 2003 (Wimbledon).