"Not good look for Americans": Fans lambast Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, Madison Keys for opting out of Paris Olympics 

Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, and Madison Keys opting out of the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics has left fans irate. Christopher Eubanks, Marcos Giron, and Emma Navarro will take their places on Team USA for the upcoming event in Paris.

The tennis event will begin on July 27 in Paris and will be played at Roland Garros. However, the event will take place between the grass swing and the North American hardcourt swing meaning the players will switch from grass to clay and then to hard. This arduous task has had a lot of players pulling out of the Olympics.

Players like Ons Jabeur, Aryna Sabalenka, Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov, and Emma Raducanu have opted out of the once-in-a-four-year event.

The list of players representing Team USA was recently released and a lot of the top-ranked Americans have also pulled out of the tournament including Madison Keys, Ben Shelton, Sebastian Korda, and Frances Tiafoe. They have been replaced by Marcos Giron, Christopher Eubanks, and Emma Navarro.

This decision has left fans furious who took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their anger at the players with one fan saying how this didn't look good on the Americans.

"Not a great look for the Americans."

Another fan said how they felt sick that top players weren't willing to represent their country and also weren't happy that Eubanks was representing Team USA.

"How watered down are the Olympics that Chris Eubanks is now worthy of representing the United States at the highest level… Makes me sick that top players don't want to represent their country"

Here are some other fan reactions.

"Unpatriotic citizens 🤦🏽‍♂️🤦🏽‍♂️." a fan said

"Eubanks on clay 🙃 hes going there for mental support for others." a fan joked

"Unless they win Wimby and/or the Open they will regret it for the rest of their lives." a fan opined

"This is bad. American tennis is deep and these are the representatives…. I’m sure Eubanks will be a tough out on the red clay at Roland Garros🤦‍♂️." another fan opined

Team USA will be spearheaded by Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff. The members on the men's side are Tommy Paul, Christopher Eubanks, Marcos Giron, Rajeev Ram, and Austin Krajicek. Meanwhile, the women's team will have Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins, Emma Navarro, and Desirae Krawczyk.

The 2024 US Open's role in Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton pulling out of the Paris Olympics

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe

Frances Tiafoe revealed that his goals leading up to the US Open would be derailed massively if he were to play at the Paris Olympics. He said that though he loved his country, he needed to think about himself.

"It's insignificant to what I'm trying to do going through to the US Open. I love my country, but I think I gotta think about myself," Frances Tiafoe said.

Ben Shelton had already hinted at the possibility of him skipping the Olympics during the Indian Wells Masters this year stating that he wanted to give his 100% attention to the US Open after Wimbledon and going back to clay would mess up his schedule.

"Yeah. Definitely thought about it a lot. I'd say now I'm leaning towards not going this year if I were to make it. I think it's tough in the tennis schedule this year," Shelton said.

"I'll be in Europe for two months leading up to Wimbledon and then after, you know, I want to prepare and really get ready for the US Open. So having to go back to Europe to play on clay, a different surface, you know, it kind of messes up a few lead-up tournaments to the US Open that I would play if I wasn't playing the Olympics," Shelton added.

Frances Tiafoe played at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 but lost 6-3, 6-4 in the second round to Stefanos Tsitsipas, whereas, Ben Shelton is yet to make his debut in the prestigious event.