Team USA: Tokyo 2020 Olympics Preview

Team USA has touched down in Tokyo ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games, with the tennis competition set to begin Saturday in Japan (Friday evening in the U.S.). Eleven Americans, including nine first-time Olympians, make up the traveling contingent, with Coco Gauff unable to compete in Tokyo after testing positive for COVID-19. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a mixed doubles gold medalist at Rio 2016, and Rio mixed silver medalist Rajeev Ram are the lone returners, with both once again strong contenders for podium places.

Team USA Women

The women's team includes singles players Jennifer Brady, Jessica Pegula and Alison Riske, as well as two doubles duos: Mattek-Sands and Pegula, plus Nicole Melichar and Riske, who replaced Gauff alongside the doubles world No. 9. While it's the first Olympic Games for all but Mattek-Sands, the entire women's contingent has previously represented the U.S. in Fed Cup play (now Billie Jean King Cup) under captain Kathy Rinaldi, who will also captain the women's team in Tokyo.

“This is a great group of girls," said Riske. "We’ve been really fortunate in American tennis in general to have an awesome group of girls that are just really good people, a lot of fun to be around. I’m looking forward to a great couple of weeks with this group, and I know there will be a lot of memories made and a lot of good times."

Riske will face Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu on Saturday, while Pegula takes on Belinda Bencic of Switzerland. On Sunday, No. 11 seed Brady will start her campaign against Italy's Camila Giorgi.

“It means the world to me," said Brady, who all but clinched her spot on the U.S. team with her run to the 2021 Australian Open final. "It’s something that every kid dreams of, representing their country at the Olympics. To fulfill that dream of mine is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

“It’s the Olympics. It only happens every four years," the former UCLA Bruin continued. "It’s not just another tournament and it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It’s a different opportunity. Playing for America, there will be nothing like it.”

Both female doubles duos will also play Sunday, with No. 4 seeds Mattek-Sands and Pegula facing Magda Linette and Alicja Rosolska of Poland. Seeded eighth, Melichar and Riske will play Croatia's Donna Vekic and Darija Jurak. 

While Riske and Melichar have never teamed together (they did compete in doubles against each other on three occasions), Mattek-Sands and Pegula partnered for three events in the spring, including a semifinal run at the WTA 1000 in Dubai this March.

“I think our games really match up well," Mattek-Sands previewed. "She’s so solid from the baseline, and you can’t discredit her net play… she’s got great hands, a good sense of the court. I’m really excited to be teamed up with her.”

Team USA Men

The men's roster features Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul, Tennys Sandgren and Marcos Giron for the singles event, alongside the doubles duos of Ram and Tiafoe, plus Austin Krajicek and Sandgren. Tiafoe and Paul have previously competed for Team USA in Davis Cup play, while Sandgren (Tennessee), Giron (UCLA), Ram (Illinois) and Krajicek (Texas A&M) have all experienced team tennis at the college level. Men's captain David Nainkin is also a former UCLA Bruin.

Sandgren (vs. Spanish No. 6 seed Pablo Carreno Busta) and Paul (vs. Russian No. 11 seed Aslan Karatsev) will open singles play on Saturday, along with Tiafoe-Ram vs. Russia's Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev. On Sunday, it'll be Tiafoe vs. Soonwoo Kwon of South Korea and Giron vs. Norbert Gombos of Slovakia in singles, and Krajicek-Sandgren vs. Australia's Max Purcell and John Peers in doubles.

“It’s a big deal," said Tiafoe, the top-ranked American in the singles lineup. "It’s something you always think about and wish you could do as an athlete. It’s the pinnacle of sport, and to have my name be a part of it—it’s one of those things no one can take from you.”

As far as the doubles pairs, Krajicek and Sandgren played four tournaments together since late May, including the French Open and Wimbledon, while Ram and Tiafoe have never teamed up previously. The partners did square off against each other twice in 2018 doubles play, with Ram sweeping those matches. The ATP's No. 10-ranked doubles player, who was sure to remind Tiafoe of that stat with some gentle ribbing, is excited to get on the court with the 23-year-old, 14 years his junior.

“Just because we haven’t actually played together doesn’t mean were not going to be able to hopefully make some magic on the court," Ram said. "Frances brings such an enthusiastic spirit that I’m definitely going to feed off of.”

The Olympics opening ceremony took place on Friday in Tokyo, with the full U.S. team in attendance. Tennis players Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia), Yen-Hsun Lu (Chinse Taipei) and Veronica Cepede Royg (Paraguay) served as flag bearers. TV coverage of the Games will be provided by NBC. For complete schedule, results and more, visit the official Olympic tennis homepage.