June 29th, 2016

Berger, Fernandez, James to Coach U.S. Tennis at Rio Olympics

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U.S. Fed Cup captain Mary Joe Fernandez and USTA Player Development Head of Men’s Tennis Jay Berger have been named, respectively, as the women’s and men’s coaches of the 2016 U.S. Olympic Tennis Team. In addition, Dan James, head U.S. National Wheelchair Team coach, has been named coach of the U.S. Paralympic Wheelchair Tennis Team.

The 2016 Olympic Games will be held Aug. 5-21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with the tennis competition being staged Aug. 6-14 at the Barra Tennis Center. The 2016 Paralympic Games will be held Sept. 7-18 with the tennis competition scheduled for Sept. 9-16 at the same venue.

“To be able to represent the U.S. for a fourth time at the Olympics is a tremendous honor,” said Fernandez, the 1992 and 1996 Olympic doubles gold medalist. “I’m excited and looking forward to helping the top American women as they look to capture medals in Rio.”

The 2016 U.S. Olympic Tennis Team will consist of up to six men and six women, with a maximum of four men and four women competing in the singles competition, and a maximum of two men’s and two women’s teams competing in doubles. The U.S. also will be able to place a maximum of two teams in the mixed doubles competition, which will be contested at the Olympic Games for just the second time.

The Olympic Tennis Team player nominations are made using the ATP World Tour and WTA rankings as of June 6. The U.S. Olympic nominations are under the review of the ITF and will be formally announced in the coming weeks pursuant to the ITF’s Qualifications and Appeals timeline.

The United States has won 21 Olympic medals in men’s and women’s tennis — more than any other nation — since tennis returned as a full medal sport in 1988. U.S. players have won 15 medals at the Paralympic Games, including the gold medal every year in the Quad doubles division since that event’s inception in 2004.

To read more go to www.usta.com/news.

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