Dressed in a white blazer, with the American flag in her hand, and standing beside LeBron James at the front, Coco Gauff was smiling. She couldn’t be happier as she carried the star and stripes proudly across the River Seine. With drizzle marking its presence on the occasion, the fans welcomed the contingents from all over the world to the beautiful city of lights, Paris. However, there was another snippet of Gauff that caught everyone’s attention, the one with her mixed double partner Taylor Fritz. And from the words of Fritz, it seems Gauff has her work cut out with him on the clay courts.

Every picture tells a story. The picture that Fritz shared on Instagram was somewhat telling the prelude to the American mixed doubles story. Gauff has been relatively more successful on the clay court than her mixed double partner. She was the runner-up at the French Open singles in 2022 and won the doubles at Roland Garros this year. Fritz is probably thinking about leveraging Gauff’s clay-court experience and her tennis prowess in the coming week.

Fritz himself, by no means, is a weak player as he had a good run at the Grass slam and would like to carry on the momentum to the clay, but there is no harm in asking for a bit of help from the partner. And so did Fritz, as he posted the picture with Gauff, captioning, “Coco Gauff carrying the flag and me this week.” Whether they can help each other and clinch the medal for their nation would be known in due course of time. But the cheeky statement did help tennis fans know who would be leading the charge on the clay courts of Paris.

Moreover, it’s not just the singles and mixed doubles that Gauff would be playing. She would be stepping into the women’s doubles category, too. Would it be a lot for the 20-year-old?

How would Coco Gauff tread through her campaign to fulfill her dream?

Dreams make people surpass their limits. But how much to surpass is the question, as there is a very thin line between peaking and moving toward exhaustion. Gauff has entered all the available tennis events in the Paris Olympics to maximize her chances at the top of the podium. But this also means she would be playing more matches than her counterparts, having less time to rest and recover. On top of that, she has to carry Fritz through the week too, by the latter’s own admission.

After losing out on the Tokyo Olympics, the US Open champion seems to be pulling up her socks to compensate in Paris and take home the ultimate prize: Gold. The 20-year-old might fly with 3 medals and might clinch gold. Or there could be another possibility: she might also buckle under the pressure of expectations. We will find out soon. What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.