New York: Patrick McEnroe and Zina Garrison were named as coaches of the United States men’s and women’s Olympic tennis teams on Wednesday.

McEnroe, the US Davis Cup captain, has no previous experience of Olympic competition, while US Fed Cup captain Garrison won bronze in singles and gold in doubles as a player at the 1988 Seoul Games.

“It is an honour,” Garrison said. “Some of my fondest memories are from the Olympics and the thrill of winning a gold medal. Hopefully, our team can experience that this year.”

McEnroe and Garrison have until June 28 to name their six-player teams for this year’s Games, which begin in Athens on August 13.

Garrison, 40, said she was hopeful of calling on Serena and Venus Williams.

“They have indicated they would like to play, because they love playing for their country,” Garrison said. “But they’re both dealing with health issues at the moment. I will give them all the time they need before I make a decision.”

Venus won gold in singles four years ago in Sydney and teamed up with sister Serena to take gold in the doubles competition. But Martina Navratilova and Lisa Raymond have formed a strong doubles pair in the last few months and have made it clear they want to compete at the Olympics.

“I’m not leaning towards anyone at the moment but I know I will have tougher decisions to make than I first expected,” said Garrison.

McEnroe, 37, said Andy Roddick wanted to play in the Olympic tournament, but that 1996 singles gold-medallist Andre Agassi was ruled out.

“If you have not made yourself available for Davis Cup for the past two years, you are not eligible to play in the Olympics, so Andre has known that,” said McEnroe. “But we have a strong group of players who all want to compete, and the front-runner among them will be Roddick.”