[Source: Reuters]

U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff will be the female flag bearer for the United States at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, joining four-time NBA champion LeBron James, the American team said.

The 20-year-old Gauff will be the youngest-ever U.S. flag bearer and first American tennis player to be awarded the honour, three years after she was forced to miss the Tokyo Olympics when she tested positive for COVID.

Gauff and James earned their selections through a vote of their fellow U.S. athletes, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) said.

The tennis world number two Gauff exploded onto the international stage five years ago when she beat her idol, Venus Williams, in a dream run to the Wimbledon fourth round when she was just 15-years-old.

She clinched her maiden major title at the U.S. Open last year.

Gauff is expected to compete in both the singles and doubles on the clay courts at Roland Garros, when the Olympic tennis competition begins on July 27.