Tennis at the Summer Olympics

Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics, but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics due to disputes between the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee over how to define amateur players.[1][2] After two appearances as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984 (with a U-21 age limit),[3] it returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics open for all players regardless of their age and status and has been played at every summer Games since then.[4]

Tennis at the Summer Olympics
IOC Discipline CodeTEN
Governing bodyITF
Events5 (men: 2; women: 2; mixed: 1)
Games
  • 1896
  • 1900
  • 1904
  • 1908
  • 1912
  • 1920
  • 1924
  • 1928
  • 1932
  • 1936
  • 1948
  • 1952
  • 1956
  • 1960
  • 1964
  • 1968
  • 1972
  • 1976
  • 1980
  • 1984
  • 1988
  • 1992
  • 1996
  • 2000
  • 2004
  • 2008
  • 2012
  • 2016
  • 2020
  • 2024
Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics

  • Medalists

In 1896, 1900, 1904, 1988, 1992, semifinal losers shared bronze medals. In all other years, a playoff match for the bronze medal was staged. From the 2004 until the 2012 Summer Olympics, results from the Olympics had ranking points that the ATP and WTA added to their players' annual totals in singles for that calendar year. This was discontinued beginning with the 2016 Summer Olympics. While the number of ranking points did not equate with those given at the majors, the Olympic tournaments have increased in perceived importance since their reintroduction, with some players, critics and sports pundits considering winning gold at the Olympics just as prestigious as winning a major title and some considering it even more prestigious.[5][6]

Serena Williams and Venus Williams have each won a record four gold medals, three each as a doubles pairing, the only players to win the same Olympic event on three occasions. Venus Williams (four gold, one silver) and Kathleen McKane Godfree (one gold, two silvers, and two bronzes) are the all-time record holders for the most Olympic tennis medals, with five each. Andy Murray is the only player to have won two singles gold medals, and the only singles player to have retained the Olympic title. Nicolás Massú, Venus Williams, and Serena Williams are the only players in the Open Era to win both the singles and same-sex doubles tournaments at one Games, doing so in 2004, 2000, and 2012 respectively.

A player who wins an Olympic or Paralympic gold medal and all four majors in the same year is said to have won a Golden Slam. As of 2021, Steffi Graf is the only player to done so through the Olympic gold.[7] In 2021, wheelchair tennis players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott did so through Paralympic gold. [8]

2012 Women's Singles medalists, Serena Williams (center), Maria Sharapova (right) and Victoria Azarenka (left).

Come 2024, in line with all Grand Slam tournaments, the deciding set (fifth for men; third for all others) will have a 10-point tiebreaker game to decide the match at 6-all. Should the tiebreaker game be tied at 9-all, whoever scores two straight points wins it.

Summary

Games Year Events Best Nation
118962 Great Britain
219004 Great Britain
319042 United States
419086 Great Britain
519128 France
6
719205 Great Britain
819245 United States
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Games Year Events Best Nation
17
18
19196810 Mexico
20
21
22
2319842 West Germany
2419884 United States
2519924 United States
2619964 United States
2720004 United States
2820044 Chile
2920084 Russia
3020125 United States
3120165 United States
3220205 ROC

Surface

The playing surface of the court varies between Olympic Games. It has been on hard court for every game since 1984 except for the 1992 Olympics (which was on a clay court) and the 2012 Olympics (which was played on a grass court). The changing playing surface gives certain players different advantages and disadvantages not seen in most other Olympic sports.

Events

(d) = demonstration event, (e) = exhibition event

Event9600040812202428–646872–8084889296000408121620Years
Men's singles (d, e) (d) 16
Men's singles (indoor) 2
Men's doubles (d, e) 16
Men's doubles (indoor) 2
Women's singles (d, e) (d)14
Women's singles (indoor) 2
Women's doubles (d, e) 11
Mixed doubles (d, e) 8
Mixed doubles (indoor) 1
Total 24268550000444444555
Surface9600040812202428–646872–8084889296000408121620Years
Indoor 2
Outdoor 18
Carpet 0
Clay 7
Grass 3
Hard 8
Wood 2

Champions and venues

Year Host city Venue Surface Gold medalist(s)
Men's singles Women's singles Men's doubles Women's doubles Mixed doubles
1896 Athens Athens Lawn Tennis Club Clay John Boland Not held John Boland
Friedrich Traun
Not held Not held
1900 Paris Cercle des Sports, Île de Puteaux Clay Laurence Doherty Charlotte Cooper Laurence Doherty
Reginald Doherty
Charlotte Cooper
Reginald Doherty
1904 St. Louis Francis Field Clay Beals Wright Not held Beals Wright
Edgar Leonard
Not held
1908 London Queen's Club (indoor) Wood Arthur Gore Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith Herbert Roper Barrett
Arthur Gore
All England Club (outdoor) Grass Major Ritchie Dorothea Lambert Chambers Reginald Doherty
George Hillyard
1912 Stockholm Östermalm Tennis Pavilion (indoor) Wood André Gobert Edith Hannam Maurice Germot
André Gobert
Edith Hannam
Charles Dixon
Östermalm Tennis Pavilion (outdoor) Clay Charles Winslow Marguerite Broquedis Harold Kitson
Charles Winslow
Dorothea Köring
Heinrich Schomburgk
1920 Antwerp Beerschot Tennis Club Grass Louis Raymond Suzanne Lenglen Noel Turnbull
Max Woosnam
Kathleen McKane
Winifred McNair
Suzanne Lenglen
Max Decugis
1924 Paris Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir Clay Vincent Richards Helen Wills Francis Hunter
Vincent Richards
Hazel Wightman
Helen Wills
Hazel Wightman
R. Norris Williams
1988 Seoul Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center Hard Miloslav Mečíř Steffi Graf Ken Flach
Robert Seguso
Pam Shriver
Zina Garrison
Not held
1992 Barcelona Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron Clay Marc Rosset Jennifer Capriati Boris Becker
Michael Stich
Gigi Fernández
Mary Joe Fernández
1996 Atlanta Stone Mountain Tennis Center Hard Andre Agassi Lindsay Davenport Todd Woodbridge
Mark Woodforde
Gigi Fernández
Mary Joe Fernández
2000 Sydney Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre Hard Yevgeny Kafelnikov Venus Williams Sébastien Lareau
Daniel Nestor
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
2004 Athens Athens Olympic Tennis Centre Hard Nicolás Massú Justine Henin-Hardenne Fernando González
Nicolás Massú
Li Ting
Sun Tiantian
2008 Beijing National Tennis Center Hard Rafael Nadal Elena Dementieva Roger Federer
Stanislas Wawrinka
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
2012 London All England Club Grass Andy Murray Serena Williams Bob Bryan
Mike Bryan
Serena Williams
Venus Williams
Victoria Azarenka
Max Mirnyi
2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Tennis Centre Hard Andy Murray Monica Puig Marc López
Rafael Nadal
Ekaterina Makarova
Elena Vesnina
Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Jack Sock
2021 Tokyo Ariake Tennis Park Hard Alexander Zverev Belinda Bencic Nikola Mektić
Mate Pavić
Barbora Krejčíková
Kateřina Siniaková
 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (ROC)
 Andrey Rublev (ROC)
2024 Paris Stade Roland Garros Clay
2028 Los Angeles Dignity Health Sports Park Hard
2032 Brisbane Hard

Participating nations

Nation9600040812202428–646872–8084889296000408121620Years
 Algeria 112
 Argentina 5 156889676711
 Armenia 1113
 Australasia 1 1
 Australia 1212 367710786101014
 Austria 33 235131332212
 Bahamas 222225
 Barbados 11
 Belarus 24253237
 Belgium 168 1333253410
 Benin 11
 Bermuda 11
 Bohemia 148 3
 Bolivia 112
 Bosnia and Herzegovina 122
 Brazil 1 134343447711
 Bulgaria 23211227
 Canada 3 275642354411
 Chile 2 12222218
 China 125434845510
 Chinese Taipei 132133558
 Colombia 224345
 Costa Rica 11
 Ivory Coast 122
 Croatia 245512468
 Cyprus 112
 Czech Republic 478118767
 Czechoslovakia 75 554
 Denmark 1035 2 1322111112
 Dominican Republic 112
 Ecuador 4 313
 Egypt 2 1
 El Salvador 11
 Estonia 2213
 Finland 4 11115
 France 114161010 2 4574798791017
 Georgia 2113
 Germany 1157 6354278912
 Great Britain 262211810 356561287616
 Greece 713 2342142211
 Haiti 11114
 Hong Kong 11
 Hungary 1365 2155422212
 India 6 132242474311
 Indonesia 1352226
 Ireland 4 2224
 Israel 14134317
 Italy 48 3 458866877613
 Japan 24 2 2457543361113
 Kazakhstan 3273
 Latvia 21124
 Liechtenstein 112
 Lithuania 11
 Luxembourg 1 112116
 Madagascar 2213
 Mexico 2 6 15432229
 Moldova 11
 Montenegro 11
 Morocco 121125
 Netherlands 215 1155323411
 New Zealand 3111226
 Nigeria 1313
 Norway 734 2116
 Paraguay 2211116
 Peru 32114
 Philippines 11
 Poland 132267768
 Portugal 1 222226
 Puerto Rico 3 1 2 1 1 5
 ROC 8 1
 Romania 3 543225639
 Russia 2 45991087
 Serbia and Montenegro 11
 Serbia 46654
 Slovakia 55744337
 Slovenia 434415
 South Africa 3354 66528
 Soviet Union 4 72
 South Korea 154542118
 Spain 48 3 24677119129813
 Sweden 41684 1 236454531115
 Switzerland 34 224334522212
 Thailand 2232126
 Togo 11
 Tunisia 112215
 Turkey 11
 Ukraine 2242646
 Unified Team 51
 United States 53519 6 777710101012111115
 Uruguay 1113
 Uzbekistan 211115
 Venezuela 34114
 West Germany 4 353
 Yugoslavia 1 233
 Zimbabwe 13223317
Nations64210141427 15 34384855525248445645
Players132636508275124 45 64129177176182170169184199191
Nation960004081220246884889296000408121620Years

Medal tables

All years

Sources:[9]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)2161239
2 Great Britain (GBR)17141243
3 France (FRA)56819
4 Germany (GER)36211
5 Russia (RUS)3328
6 Switzerland (SUI)3306
7 South Africa (RSA)3216
8 Spain (ESP)27413
9 Chile (CHI)2114
10 Czech Republic (CZE)1348
11 Mixed team (ZZX)1236
12 ROC1203
13 Australia (AUS)1146
14 Croatia (CRO)1135
15 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1124
16 Belarus (BLR)1012
 Belgium (BEL)1012
 China (CHN)1012
 West Germany (FRG)1012
20 Canada (CAN)1001
 Puerto Rico (PUR)1001
22 Sweden (SWE)0358
23 Argentina (ARG)0235
24 Greece (GRE)0213
 Japan (JPN)0213
26 Netherlands (NED)0112
27 Austria (AUT)0101
 Denmark (DEN)0101
 Romania (ROM)0101
30 Unified Team (EUN)0022
31 Australasia (ANZ)0011
 Bohemia (BOH)0011
 Brazil (BRA)0011
 Bulgaria (BUL)0011
 Hungary (HUN)0011
 India (IND)0011
 Italy (ITA)0011
 New Zealand (NZL)0011
 Norway (NOR)0011
 Serbia (SRB)0011
 Ukraine (UKR)0011
Totals (41 entries)717186228

Open Era

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)143724
2 Germany (GER)3429
3 Russia (RUS)3328
4 Switzerland (SUI)3306
5 Spain (ESP)27413
6 Great Britain (GBR)2204
7 Chile (CHI)2114
8 Czech Republic (CZE)1348
9 ROC (ROC)1203
10 Australia (AUS)1146
11 Croatia (CRO)1135
12 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1113
13 Belarus (BLR)1012
 Belgium (BEL)1012
 China (CHN)1012
16 Canada (CAN)1001
 Puerto Rico (PUR)1001
18 Argentina (ARG)0235
19 France (FRA)0224
20 Sweden (SWE)0123
21 Netherlands (NED)0101
 Romania (ROM)0101
 South Africa (RSA)0101
24 Unified Team (EUN)0022
25 Brazil (BRA)0011
 Bulgaria (BUL)0011
 India (IND)0011
 Japan (JPN)0011
 New Zealand (NZL)0011
 Serbia (SRB)0011
 Ukraine (UKR)0011
Totals (31 entries)393947125

Amateur Era

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Great Britain (GBR)15121239
2 United States (USA)73515
3 France (FRA)54615
4 South Africa (RSA)3115
5 Mixed team (ZZX)1236
6 Germany (GER)1214
7 Sweden (SWE)0235
8 Greece (GRE)0213
9 Japan (JPN)0202
10 Austria (AUT)0101
 Denmark (DEN)0101
12 Australasia (ANZ)0011
 Bohemia (BOH)0011
 Czechoslovakia (TCH)0011
 Hungary (HUN)0011
 Italy (ITA)0011
 Netherlands (NED)0011
 Norway (NOR)0011
Totals (18 entries)323239103

Multiple medal winners (1896–2020)

RankNameGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Venus Williams4105
2 Serena Williams4004
3 Reginald Doherty3014
4 Vincent Richards2103
Andy Murray2103
6 Laurence Doherty2013
Mary Joe Fernández2013
Suzanne Lenglen2013
Charles Winslow2013
10 Rafael Nadal2002
John Pius Boland2002
Charlotte Cooper2002
Gigi Fernández2002
André Gobert2002
Arthur Gore2002
Edith Hannam2002
Nicolás Massú2002
Hazel Wightman2002
Helen Wills Moody2002
Beals Wright2002
21 Kathleen McKane Godfree1225
22 Charles Dixon1124
23 Max Décugis1113
Fernando González1113
Steffi Graf1113
Major Ritchie1113
27 Herbert Barrett1102
Belinda Bencic1102
Elena Dementieva1102
Roger Federer1102
Harold Kitson1102
Dorothea Köring1102
/ Elena Vesnina1102
Todd Woodbridge1102
Mark Woodforde1102
Max Woosnam1102
37 Mike Bryan1023
38 Victoria Azarenka1012
Marguerite Broquedis1012
Bob Bryan1012
Zina Garrison1012
Edgar Leonard1012
Miloš Mečíř1012
Jack Sock1012
45 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario0224
Gunnar Setterwall0224
47 Harold Mahony0213
Conchita Martínez0213
Jana Novotná0213
50 George Caridia0202
Henri Cochet0202
Dorothy Holman0202
Dionysios Kasdaglis0202
Ichiya Kumagae0202
Robert LeRoy0202
Yvonne Prévost0202
Virginia Ruano Pascual0202
Helena Suková0202
59 Alphonzo Bell0112
Sigrid Fick0112
Juan Martín del Potro0112
Lucie Hradecká0112
63 Albert Canet0022
Stefan Edberg0022
Goran Ivanišević0022
Marion Jones0022
Arthur Norris0022
Hedwiga Rosenbaumová0022

See also

  • List of Olympic venues in tennis
  • Tennis at the Youth Olympic Games
  • Tennis at the Mediterranean Games
  • Tennis at the Pan American Games
  • List of Olympic medalists in tennis
  • Wheelchair tennis at the Summer Paralympics

References

  1. Soltis, Greg (July 27, 2012). "Olympic Events Through History". LiveScience. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  2. Williams, Wythe (July 27, 1928). "SOCCER AND TENNIS BARRED IN OLYMPICS". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  3. "Olympic Tennis Event – History: Overview". International Tennis Federation. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  4. "2 More Olympic Games". The New York Times. October 2, 1981. Retrieved 2012-08-01.
  5. "Olympics or Slams – What's More Important For Tennis Players?". Let, Second Serve. July 12, 2012. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  6. Paul Fein (September 20, 2012). "How Important Is an Olympic Gold Medal in Tennis?". World Tennis Magazine. Retrieved October 29, 2013.
  7. Tignor, Steve (30 July 2015). "1988: Steffi Graf wins the Golden Slam". Tennis.com. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  8. "Dylan Alcott achieves history-making 'golden slam' with US Open final victory". The Guardian. 13 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  9. "Olympic Analytics - Medals by Countries". olympanalyt.com. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
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