Two-time Olympic gold medallist Andy Murray’s singles career ends with Olympic withdrawal. According to reports, this is due to a surgery he underwent earlier in the month. What a sad way to call it quits

The 2024 Paris Olympics is only a couple of days away from starting on July 26, with some of the events already underway. The tennis event will see 64 men and women competing with each other to win the prestigious medals in the singles event.

The draw for the singles at the Olympics came out on Thursday, July 25. On the women’s side of the draw Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Elena Rybakina were the top three seeds.Gauff is one of the future stars of women’s tennis and one of the top favorites to claim the gold medal for the USA in Paris. She is a Grand Slam champion and has a 20-5 record at Roland Garros, being the runner-up in 2021. Gauff reached the semi-finals at this year’s French Open as well.

Overall Gauff has a 35-11 record in 2024, winning the ASB Classic at the beginning of the year. The young American made it to back-to-back Major semi-finals at the Australian Open and French Open.Let’s take a look at the projected path for Gauff to reach the Olympic final in Paris.

Coco Gauff will take on Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round of the Paris Olympics. The Aussie has played a limited number of events this year, as she is making a recovery from an injury she sustained last year. Tomljanovic reached a grass-court final in 2024 at the Rothesay Classic, losing to Yulia Putintseva.

However, the former Top 40 player has not made any encouraging progress in any of the clay court tournaments she has played. She only has one clay-court win on the WTA Tour this year, when she defeated Mayar Sherif in the first round of the Palermo Ladies Open.This is going to be the first meeting between Gauff and Tomljanovic on the WTA Tour.

Coco Gauff’s likely 2R opponent- Tatjana Maria

Germany’s Tatjana Maria is the likely opponent for Coco Gauff in the second round of the Olympics. Maria has not had the best of seasons in 2024. The German player has a 17-21 record in 2024 and mostly bowed out of the first or second rounds of the events that she has played.

However, Maria’s one decent performance of the season came on clay, when she reached the quarter-final of the Copa Colsanitas Zurich in Bogota, losing against home favorite Camila Osorio. However overall, Maria has a 4-9 record on the clay in 2024.Gauff and Maria have faced off once against each other. The American had a dominant 6-4, 6-1 win over her German opponent at the ASB Classic last year.

Coco Gauff’s likely 3R opponent- Donna Vekic.

Coco Gauff will likely take on one of the most in-form players on the WTA circuit when she squares off against Donna Vekic in a potential third-round match at the Paris Olympics. Vekic is coming into the Olympics on the back of a very successful grass-court season. The Croatian reached the final of the Bad Homburg Open, losing to Diana Shnaider. She followed it up with a history-making semi-final run at the Wimbledon Championships, losing to Jasmine Paolini.

However, Vekic has struggled to find her form on clay this season. The Croatian has a 3-3 record on clay which indicates her lack of success on the red dirt. She reached the third round of the French Open, losing to Olga Danilovic in a third-set tiebreaker.Gauff and Vekic are yet to play against one another on the Tour.

Coco Gauff’s likely QF opponent- Maria Sakkari

Coco Gauff will take on seventh-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece in a potential quarter-final matchup in her bid for an Olympic gold. Sakkari has had an average season with a 21-15 win/loss tally. The Greek’s best result was at the BNP Paribas Open, where she reached the finals. However, she was blown away in a one-sided contest by Iga Swiatek.

The World No. 8 had a middling clay-court season. Sakkari has a 7-4 record on clay this year, with a semi-final run at the Charleston Open. Even though she was upset by Varvara Gracheva in the first round of this year’s French Open, Sakkari has been successful previously at Roland Garros, reaching the semi-finals in 2021.

Sakarri has a 5-3 lead over Gauff in the head-to-head. The Greek won the last encounter at the semi-final of the BNP Paribas Open this year. However, on clay, the head-to-head is split 1-1.

Coco Gauff’s likely SF opponent- Jessica Pegula/ Jasmine Paolini

Coco Gauff will potentially face off against fourth-seeded Jasmine Paolini of Italy or fifth-seeded compatriot Jessica Pegula in the semi-final of the Paris Olympics. Paolini is having a dream of a season in 2024. The diminutive Italian made it to back-to-back major finals at the French Open and Wimbledon. Paolini has a record of 30-13 in 2024 and has attained the career-high ranking of 5th on the WTA tour.

Jessica Pegula is having a good season in 2024. With a 20-9 record and a title at the EcoTrans Ladies Open in Berlin (beating Anna Kalinskaya in the final), the American has maintained her top-10 position in the world. However, the Charleston Open is the only clay-court event that Pegula has played in 2024. She reached the semi-final, losing to Daria Kasatkina.

Gauff has a 2-0 record against Paolini. The American won the last encounter in the quarter-final of the Cincinnati Open last year. Against Pegula, Gauff trails 1-4 in the head-to-head. Pegula won the last match at the semi-final of the EcoTrans Ladies Open. However, Gauff has yet to play either Pegula or Paolini on clay.

Coco Gauff’s likely Final opponent- Iga Swiatek

Gauff will most likely go up against the World No. 1. Iga Swiatek in the final of the Paris Olympics. Swiatek has been in blistering form in 2024, winning five titles in the season, and is the first player to qualify for the annual WTA Championships. From the perspective of points, Swiatek is miles ahead of anybody.

The Pole has been exceptional on the clay. She has a record of 21-1 on the red dirt, winning titles in Madrid, Rome, and at Roland Garros to clinch her fifth Grand Slam of her career. Overall Swiatek has just lost 5 matches in 2024 so far.Swiatek has the most dominant head-to-head against Gauf as the Pole leads 11-1 in their encounters. Swiatek has a 5-0 lead over Gauff on clay, including her recent victory at the French Open semi-final this year. Gauff has never won a set against Swiatek on clay in five attempts.