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Fritz, Paul, LeBron James & an Olympics reminiscence for a lifetime
Individuals competing within the U.S. for first time since Olympics this week in Cincinnati
August 12, 2024
AFP/Getty Photographs
The American Olympics tennis workforce with NBA legend LeBron James throughout the Opening Ceremony.
By ATP Workers
LeBron James is among the most recognisable folks on the planet. When you seemed carefully on the basketball legend on tv throughout the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics, there have been close by faces acquainted to tennis followers, together with Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul.
With WTA star Coco Gauff a co-flagbearer for the USA alongside James, the remainder of the tennis workforce was invited to the entrance of the American boat, giving them time with James and the remainder of the basketball workforce.
“It was actually cool. It was superior that Coco was a flagbearer, and it was superior for all of us as nicely, due to the truth that we did sort of get to expertise the opening ceremonies a bit of bit in a different way than all the opposite Individuals, as a result of we have been up entrance with the basketball gamers,” Fritz informed ATPTour.com on the Cincinnati Open, the place he’s the eleventh seed. “We have been good within the entrance, on the boat within the opening ceremonies. It was one of many coolest experiences.”
James, who helped lead the USA to a gold medal in males’s basketball, took a photograph with your complete American tennis contingent.
“It was cool. We have been simply driving the Coco Gauff practice. We have been solely up there due to her, so it was cool seeing her have her second,” Paul mentioned. “Clearly unreal to be a flagbearer on the Olympics, in order that was actually cool.”
The ATP tennis gamers who attended the Opening Ceremony — Fritz, Paul, Christopher Eubanks and Marcos Giron — additionally rode to the ceremony on the identical bus as their nation’s basketball workforce, which was a who’s who of the perfect gamers on this planet.
“Being on the on the bus with the U.S. basketball workforce was actually cool, too,” Paul, the tenth seed in Cincinnati, mentioned. “We did not speak an excessive amount of to them. I talked to Jrue Vacation a bit of bit, and Derrick White, however Bron, we sort of simply received an image with. I feel he was speaking to Coco more often than not.”
Fritz reached the third spherical in singles and Paul superior to the quarter-finals, however they didn’t come dwelling empty handed. The Individuals earned bronze in males’s doubles, becoming a member of silver medalists Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram as tennis medalists from the USA.
With reminiscences for a lifetime in hand, they are going to flip their consideration to their first event in the USA for the reason that Olympics, the Cincinnati Open.
Fritz mentioned: “I feel earlier than the occasion even began, earlier than we have been capable of medal, simply that alone made me pleased with my choice to go.”