Tennis players who are set to be flag-bearers for their countries at Paris Olympics opening ceremony ft. Coco Gauff
The 2024 Paris Olympics are already underway, with the opening ceremony scheduled for July 26. The Parade of Nations is the centerpiece of the ceremony, and several tennis stars, including Coco Gauff, have been given the honor of being flagbearers for their nations.
The Parade of Nations features all the teams showcasing their athletes alongside name placards and flags. At the Paris Olympics, the teams will march into the Jardins du Trocadéro. Many contingents have chosen and announced their flagbearers for the Parade of Nations and few tennis players have been selected to fulfill the prestigious role.
With that said let's take a look at four tennis players who will flagbearers during the opening ceremony of 2024 Paris Olympics:
#4 Danka Kovinic
Danka Kovinic was granted entry into the 2024 Paris Olympics via a spot reserved for 'Universality Places' quota. This will be her second Olympics appearance after Rio 2016 and she will be Montenegro's sole representative in tennis at Paris. The former World No. 46 will also have a central role to play for her nation during the opening ceremony as the female flag bearer.
Danka Kovinic will be joined by sailor Milivoj Dukic, who has representated Montenegro men's Laser class format at three Olympic Games - London 2012, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020. Kovinic will compete in the women's singles category in Paris and face seventh seed from Greece, Maria Sakkari.
#3 Nicholas Jarry
Nicholas Jarry will make his Olympic debut in Paris this year and is joined by fellow tennis players, Alejandro Tabilo and Tomas Barrios Vera, in Chile's contingent. The 28-year-old is also selected to raise the Chilean flag during the opening ceremony at the Paris Olympics alongside rower Antonia Abraham by the Chilean Olympic Committee.
Jarry is seeded 16 in the men's singles draw and will face Australian's Alexei Popyrin. He has paired up Tabilo to play men's doubles and the duo will be up against Italy's Luciano Darderi and Lorenzo Musetti.
#2 Elina Svitolina
Ukrainian tennis icon Elina Svitolina will lead her country's delegation at the 2024 Paris Olympics and has been confered the honor of being the sole flagbearer during the Parade of Nations. She is the first tennis player to earn the right to raise Ukraine's flag at the Olympics. The former World No. 3 will be joined by Marta Kostyuk, Dayana Yastremska, Anhelina Kalinina, Nadiia Kichenok, and Lyudmyla Kichenok in Ukraine's tennis roster in Paris.
This will be Elina Svitolina's third appearance at the Summer Games and took home the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In Paris, she will face Japan's Moyuka Uchijima in the first round in singles format in Paris.
#1 Coco Gauff
Coco Gauff will make her Olympic debut at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris and will create records for her nation even before stepping on the court. One of them will be being the first tennis player to become American flagearer during an Olympic opening cermony. Gauff was voted by her fellow American Olympians in Paris to be the female flagbearer during the Parade of Nations alongside LeBron James, the male flagbearer.
Gauff is competing in all three format at the Paris Olympics. In singles, she is seeded second and will face Australia's Ajla Tomjlanovic in the opening round. In women's doubles, she and Jessica Pegula are the top seed. They will be up against Australia's Ellen Perez and Daria Saville. In the mxied dobles, Coco Gauff and Taylor Frtiz have paired up. They are seeded third and face Argentina's Nadia Podoroska and Maxime Gonzalez.