The sporting world’s biggest stage, the Paris Olympics, is nearing with each passing day. Thousands of sporting stars will descend on the French capital to show their talent. However, even before the start of the Olympics, the American tennis team suffered a massive blow. Madison Keys, who was in the running to catch the flight to Paris, pulled out of the event at the eleventh hour. Her loss was Emma Navarro’s gain as she made it to the Coco Gauff-led team.

As per the official WTA rankings, Keys is the fourth-best American star, being in the 12th spot. As a result, she was a natural choice alongside the likes of Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Danielle Collins. However, Keys decided to opt out of the Paris Olympics. The next best-ranked player was Navarro, who replaced Keys in the American team.

It is still unclear why Keys opted out of the Olympics. At 29, this could potentially have been her final chance to play in the Olympic Games. Despite this, she decided to let go of that opportunity and skip the multi-national event. Interestingly, Keys came agonizingly close to winning an Olympic medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics. She went down fighting in the semifinal and also in the third-place playoff match. Scars of the past could be lingering on the American, which might have led her to skip this event.

Despite Keys’ absence, it is a strong American squad in tennis for the Olympics. The best player in the team, Coco Gauff, is determined as ever to bring glory for her country.

Coco Gauff reveals Olympics goals

The American tennis sensation was due to participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. However, the Covid-19 pandemic ended her Olympics dream that year, pulling out of the event. Thus, the upcoming Paris Olympics will be Gauff’s premier appearance on the sporting world’s biggest stage.

An excited Gauff once highlighted her goals in Paris, revealing, “One of the goals I wrote down… was to win a medal in the Olympics. I’ll be completely honest, I don’t really care what event it is in. I feel like a gold, silver or bronze, whatever medal it is, is one of those things it doesn’t matter.”

The reigning US Open champion will potentially participate in all the the formats. Thus, she stands a good chance of brining home at least a medal, if not more. Although form is not on her side, Gauff is known to raise her game in big tournaments and she will be a big favorite to go for gold later this year.