When 20-year-old American tennis star Coco Gauff was picked as one of two flag bearers for her country in the Paris 2024 Olympic opening ceremony, she wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
In her week at the Olympics, she seemed most surprised to be treated as a celebrity in a non-tennis environment.
“I didn’t expect for other athletes to ask me for photos or anything. [American male tennis player Taylor Fritz] was like… you won the US Open,” Gauff laughed during her press conference ahead of this week’s National Bank Open in Toronto.
Gauff mentioned her excitement about meeting American gymnasts Simone Biles and Suni Lee and the USA men’s national basketball team. LeBron James, 39, was the United States’ male flag bearer alongside Gauff, with the American men set to play in the quarterfinal tonight against Brazil.
Gauff’s Olympic journey was shorter than she would’ve liked; she was defeated by Donna Vekic of Croatia in straight sets in the third round of singles, bounced in the second round of women’s doubles with Jessica Pegula, and she and Fritz lost in mixed doubles to Canadians Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski.
But just about 10 days after Gauff was in Paris for that opening ceremony, she arrived in Canada as the No.1 seed for the local WTA 1000 event, ready to continue her regular tour schedule.
Gauff, who won the US Open at age 19 last year for her first Grand Slam title, can relate well to a pair of Canadian tennis stars.
Then-19-year-old Leylah Fernandez lost in the US Open final against Emma Raducanu in 2021, while then-19-year-old Bianca Andreescu captured the first Grand Slam singles title in Canadian history at the US Open in 2019.
“I think with Bianca and Leylah doing their thing, I think it will inspire more people to come into this sport,” Gauff said Monday in response to a question by Daily Hive. “Because if you don’t see anyone you know from your country excelling then you’re probably not going to be someone to choose that sport… I love Canada. I love playing here and it’d be nice to see more tournaments here on tour.”
Gauff is now competing in her fourth National Bank Open, having finished in the quarterfinal three years in a row.
“When you’re growing up around a lot of Canadians playing, you don’t realize how small of a sport it is (in comparison to other Canadian sports.) I was just looking around here and they had like a lot of the photos of (Canadian) players and it really isn’t like that that many over the years,” she continued.
“I think it’s just all about exposure. I mean, obviously, tennis is a fun sport, but if you’re never exposed to it, I don’t think it’s typically a sport that you maybe say, ‘Hey, I’m gonna play this’ if it’s not popular in your country. I think that’s kind of the reason why on the American men’s side, that just now we’re experiencing some of the growth on the men, just because, you know, most people, boys and us, want to play basketball or football or whatever. So I think it’s the representation that matters.”
While Gauff was born in Atlanta and raised in Delray Beach, Florida, her fellow American star Pegula grew up a little closer to the city. The daughter of Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, she spent her time between Western New York and Pittsburgh in her formative years.
“I always really liked Canada. I always liked playing in the Northeast… It feels a little bit like home to me. I like that feeling, and I think that can really help – that comfort and confidence – when you’re coming into weeks here and trying to do well at tournaments,” Pegula added.
The defending National Bank Open champion after winning the tournament last year in Montreal, Pegula is hoping that familiarity with the Canadian hardcourts will help her perform this year, coming into the tournament ranked No. 6 in the world.
“I saw that I made the semis of either Toronto or Montreal since 2021, and I was like, ‘damn.’ Sometimes you don’t realize it, but you’re like, ‘God, I was playing really well.’ And, like, in the moment, you’re not really thinking about that, but now that I’ve had a tougher year, and I look back, I’m like, ‘Oh, I was good.’”
Both Gauff and Pegula are set to begin their tournaments on Wednesday, finding out their first-round opponents after today’s matches.
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