Serena Williams. Andre Agassi. Venus Williams. Pete Sampras. What do they all have in common? The first and most obvious thing is that they’re all legends of American tennis. That brings us to the second thing. Despite being legends of the sport, they never got to be flagbearers for Team USA at the Olympics. Well, she may only be in the early stages of her career, but Coco Gauff can tick that honor off her bucket list, becoming the first American tennis player to carry the Stars and Stripes at the Olympics. At 20 years old. But was the weight of the flag a little too much to handle?

“I’m grateful for my fellow Team USA athletes for nominating me and allowing me to hold this honor,” Coco Gauff said after the announcement. But as soon as she stepped on that boat, carrying the flag alongside basketball legend LeBron James, all eyes turned to her. As excited as she may have been to be standing next to the 39-year-old – who had something to prove himself – expectations for tennis glory in Paris fell on her, especially considering all that she’s achieved in the past 12 months. However, former WTA player Monica Puig felt the pressure got to the 20-year-old.

Coco Gauff’s debut performance at the Games met an early exit in all three events: singles (third round), doubles (second round), and mixed doubles (quarterfinals). This was after she and Jessica Pegula mentioned how much they wanted to win that gold medal in the doubles earlier this year, over and above wanting to go all the way in the singles. But after Gauff’s Olympic campaign met a teary end, she headed back to the US for the Cincinnati Masters. In the August 15 episode of the Tennis Channel Live podcast, Steve Weissman asked Puig how she expects Gauff’s first-round match to go against Yulia Putintseva.

Puig responded, “I like the odds in her favor. I would love to start seeing her get some momentum going. I know the Olympics was a lot for her – from being the flag bearer [to] being around LeBron. All the buzz was pretty much on her from the get-go.” Take it from someone who had to face an in-form Angelique Kerber in the Rio Olympics final, defeating the German when everyone expected her to win. That was the season Kerber finished as the Year-End No. 1, winning two Grand Slams on the way. But Monica Puig emerged victorious in three sets, giving Puerto Rico its first Olympic gold.

Coming back to Gauff’s Olympic campaign. You could see how much the 20-year-old wanted to do well for her country, especially after missing Tokyo due to COVID-19. After she was cruising in the first set against Donna Vekic in the third round, all of a sudden, it seemed like the pressure to perform mounted on her, and Gauff crumbled. Add to that the argument she had with the chair umpire about a line call, which left her in tears. The World No. 2 cried, “It always happens to me on this court. I feel like I’ve been cheated on constantly.”

Hoping for a better run in the doubles events, things didn’t turn out in her favor. Despite being the No. 1 seeds, Gauff and Pegula crashed out against eventual fourth-place finishers Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova. And in the mixed doubles alongside Taylor Fritz, they ended their campaign against Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski. As a result, Coco Gauff left Paris without a medal. And Monica Puig believes the flag-bearing responsibilities and all the attention that came with it played a significant role in that outcome. But the mounting pressure may not stop now.

After a disappointing campaign, the 20-year-old is faced with the prospect of defending the two biggest titles of her career – the Cincinnati Masters and the US Open. Considering how Gauff has been off her game, Puig stated, “Maybe [Gauff is] feeling a little bit of the pressure knowing that she has to defend here in Cincinnati, that US Open title.” But coming back to familiar territory could work in her favor.

As she takes on Putintseva, against whom she has a 3-0 head-to-head statistic, Puig believes “a good, solid match [in Cincinnati] will really start getting things rolling for her.” As for the Olympics, while the results may not have been ideal, for Gauff, it was nothing less than magical, as she herself admitted later on.

Coco Gauff reveals the “lessons” she learned from the Paris Olympics

Gauff, who wanted to excel in all the events of tennis at the Paris Olympics, knew the early eliminations were bound to have a negative impact on her confidence. But she knows how to navigate around it and use it as motivation to perform better. In an old interview, she even talked about how she can see beyond the expectations and pressure she feels as a player. The 20-year-old does that by comparing her situation to those who struggle to find their next meal and have to go through more intense pressure on a daily basis. 

Therefore, her idea is clear: take your lessons from your failures and do not let heavy expectations pull you down. This same sentiment was evident in her statements about the Paris Olympics. “Obviously, it didn’t go how I wanted, but it’s an experience of a lifetime. The people I got to meet, the lessons I got to learn through that, I’ll take for the rest of my life. I’m trying to be more aggressive, which I’m happy about, but I think my mentality can be more positive to myself on the court.”

Now that Gauff has moved on to her next tournament, we are waiting to see her take control on-court like she usually does!