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
  • 1924
  • 1928
  • 1932
  • 1936
  • 1948
  • 1952
  • 1956
  • 1960
  • 1964
  • 1968
  • 1972
  • 1976
Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics

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, while a player that has won all four Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold during their career has a 'career Golden Slam'. As of 2021, Steffi Graf is the only player to have won a single-year Golden Slam, in 1988. Serena Williams has won a career Golden Slam twice over, the only singles player to do so. In men's tennis, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal have each won career Golden Slams. Multiple doubles players have achieved the feat, with Serena Williams the only player to complete the career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles.[7] In 2021, wheelchair tennis players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott achieved the equivalent wheelchair tennis prize with Paralympic gold.[8]

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

Since 2021, in line with all Grand Slam tournaments, the deciding set (third) has a 7-point tiebreaker game to decide the match at 6-all. Should the tiebreaker game be tied at 6-all, whoever scores two straight points wins it.

Summary edit

Games Year Events Best Nation
1 1896 2   Great Britain
2 1900 4   Great Britain
3 1904 2   United States
4 1908 6   Great Britain
5 1912 8   France
6
7 1920 5   Great Britain
8 1924 5   United States
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Games Year Events Best Nation
17
18
19 1968 10   Mexico
20
21
22
23 1984 2   West Germany
24 1988 4   United States
25 1992 4   United States
26 1996 4   United States
27 2000 4   United States
28 2004 4   Chile
29 2008 4   Russia
30 2012 5   United States
31 2016 5   United States
32 2020 5   ROC

Surface edit

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), the 2012 Olympics (which was played on a grass court) and the 2024 Olympics (which will be on a clay court). The changing playing surface gives certain players different advantages and disadvantages not seen in most other Olympic sports.

Events edit

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

Event 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28–64 68 72–80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 Years
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 2 4 2 6 8 5 5 0 0 0 0 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 5
Surface 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28–64 68 72–80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 Years
Indoor 2
Outdoor 18
Carpet 0
Clay 7
Grass 3
Hard 8
Wood 2

Champions and venues edit

Year Host city Venue Surface Gold medalist(s)
Men's singles Women's singles Men's doubles Women's doubles Mixed doubles
Amateur era (1896–1924)
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 (2)
  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
Open era (1988–)
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 (2)
  Mary Joe Fernández (2)
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 (2)
  Venus Williams (2)
2012   London All England Club Grass   Andy Murray   Serena Williams   Bob Bryan

  Mike Bryan

  Serena Williams (3)
  Venus Williams (3)
  Victoria Azarenka
  Max Mirnyi
2016   Rio de Janeiro Olympic Tennis Centre Hard   Andy Murray (2)   Monica Puig   Marc López
  Rafael Nadal
  Ekaterina Makarova
  Elena Vesnina
  Bethanie Mattek-Sands
  Jack Sock
2020   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 Queensland Tennis Centre Hard

Participating nations edit

Nation 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28–64 68 72–80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 Years
  Algeria 1 1 2
  Argentina 5 1 5 6 8 8 9 6 7 6 7 11
  Armenia 1 1 1 3
  Australasia 1 1
  Australia 1 2 1 2 3 6 7 7 10 7 8 6 10 10 14
  Austria 3 3 2 3 5 1 3 1 3 3 2 2 12
  Bahamas 2 2 2 2 2 5
  Barbados 1 1
  Belarus 2 4 2 5 3 2 3 7
  Belgium 16 8 1 3 3 3 2 5 3 4 10
  Benin 1 1
  Bermuda 1 1
  Bohemia 1 4 8 3
  Bolivia 1 1 2
  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 2 2
  Brazil 1 1 3 4 3 4 3 4 4 7 7 11
  Bulgaria 2 3 2 1 1 2 2 7
  Canada 3 2 7 5 6 4 2 3 5 4 4 11
  Chile 2 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 8
  China 1 2 5 4 3 4 8 4 5 5 10
  Chinese Taipei 1 3 2 1 3 3 5 5 8
  Colombia 2 2 4 3 4 5
  Costa Rica 1 1
  Ivory Coast 1 2 2
  Croatia 2 4 5 5 1 2 4 6 8
  Cyprus 1 1 2
  Czech Republic 4 7 8 11 8 7 6 7
  Czechoslovakia 7 5 5 5 4
  Denmark 10 3 5 2 1 3 2 2 1 1 1 1 12
  Dominican Republic 1 1 2
  Ecuador 4 3 1 3
  Egypt 2 1
  El Salvador 1 1
  Estonia 2 2 1 3
  Finland 4 1 1 1 1 5
  France 1 14 1 6 10 10 2 4 5 7 4 7 9 8 7 9 10 17
  Georgia 2 1 1 3
  Germany 1 1 5 7 6 3 5 4 2 7 8 9 12
  Great Britain 2 6 22 11 8 10 3 5 6 5 6 1 2 8 7 6 16
  Greece 7 1 3 2 3 4 2 1 4 2 2 11
  Haiti 1 1 1 1 4
  Hong Kong 1 1
  Hungary 1 3 6 5 2 1 5 5 4 2 2 2 12
  India 6 1 3 2 2 4 2 4 7 4 3 11
  Indonesia 1 3 5 2 2 2 6
  Ireland 4 2 2 2 4
  Israel 1 4 1 3 4 3 1 7
  Italy 4 8 3 4 5 8 8 6 6 8 7 7 6 13
  Japan 2 4 2 2 4 5 7 5 4 3 3 6 11 13
  Kazakhstan 3 2 7 3
  Latvia 2 1 1 2 4
  Liechtenstein 1 1 2
  Lithuania 1 1
  Luxembourg 1 1 1 2 1 1 6
  Madagascar 2 2 1 3
  Mexico 2 6 1 5 4 3 2 2 2 9
  Moldova 1 1
  Montenegro 1 1
  Morocco 1 2 1 1 2 5
  Netherlands 2 1 5 1 1 5 5 3 2 3 4 11
  New Zealand 3 1 1 1 2 2 6
  Nigeria 1 3 1 3
  Norway 7 3 4 2 1 1 6
  Paraguay 2 2 1 1 1 1 6
  Peru 3 2 1 1 4
  Philippines 1 1
  Poland 1 3 2 2 6 7 7 6 8
  Portugal 1 2 2 2 2 2 6
  Puerto Rico 3 1 2 1 1 5
  ROC 8 1
  Romania 3 5 4 3 2 2 5 6 3 9
  Russia 2 4 5 9 9 10 8 7
  Serbia and Montenegro 1 1
  Serbia 4 6 6 5 4
  Slovakia 5 5 7 4 4 3 3 7
  Slovenia 4 3 4 4 1 5
  South Africa 3 3 5 4 6 6 5 2 8
  Soviet Union 4 7 2
  South Korea 1 5 4 5 4 2 1 1 8
  Spain 4 8 3 2 4 6 7 7 11 9 12 9 8 13
  Sweden 4 16 8 4 1 2 3 6 4 5 4 5 3 1 1 15
  Switzerland 3 4 2 2 4 3 3 4 5 2 2 2 12
  Thailand 2 2 3 2 1 2 6
  Togo 1 1
  Tunisia 1 1 2 2 1 5
  Turkey 1 1
  Ukraine 2 2 4 2 6 4 6
  Unified Team 5 1
  United States 5 35 1 9 6 7 7 7 7 10 10 10 12 11 11 15
  Uruguay 1 1 1 3
  Uzbekistan 2 1 1 1 1 5
  Venezuela 3 4 1 1 4
  West Germany 4 3 5 3
  Yugoslavia 1 2 3 3
  Zimbabwe 1 3 2 2 3 3 1 7
Nations 6 4 2 10 14 14 27 15 34 38 48 55 52 52 48 44 56 45
Players 13 26 36 50 82 75 124 45 64 129 177 176 182 170 169 184 199 191
Nation 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 68 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 Years

Medal tables edit

All years edit

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 edit

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 edit

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) edit

Rank Name Gold Silver Bronze Total
1   Venus Williams 4 1 0 5
2   Serena Williams 4 0 0 4
3   Reginald Doherty 3 0 1 4
4   Vincent Richards 2 1 0 3
  Andy Murray 2 1 0 3
6   Laurence Doherty 2 0 1 3
  Mary Joe Fernández 2 0 1 3
  Suzanne Lenglen 2 0 1 3
  Charles Winslow 2 0 1 3
10   Rafael Nadal 2 0 0 2
  John Pius Boland 2 0 0 2
  Charlotte Cooper 2 0 0 2
  Gigi Fernández 2 0 0 2
  André Gobert 2 0 0 2
  Arthur Gore 2 0 0 2
  Edith Hannam 2 0 0 2
  Nicolás Massú 2 0 0 2
  Hazel Wightman 2 0 0 2
  Helen Wills Moody 2 0 0 2
  Beals Wright 2 0 0 2
21   Kathleen McKane Godfree 1 2 2 5
22   Charles Dixon 1 1 2 4
23   Max Décugis 1 1 1 3
  Fernando González 1 1 1 3
  Steffi Graf 1 1 1 3
  Major Ritchie 1 1 1 3
27   Herbert Barrett 1 1 0 2
  Belinda Bencic 1 1 0 2
  Elena Dementieva 1 1 0 2
  Roger Federer 1 1 0 2
  Harold Kitson 1 1 0 2
  Dorothea Köring 1 1 0 2
  /   Elena Vesnina 1 1 0 2
  Todd Woodbridge 1 1 0 2
  Mark Woodforde 1 1 0 2
  Max Woosnam 1 1 0 2
37   Mike Bryan 1 0 2 3
38   Victoria Azarenka 1 0 1 2
  Marguerite Broquedis 1 0 1 2
  Bob Bryan 1 0 1 2
  Zina Garrison 1 0 1 2
  Edgar Leonard 1 0 1 2
  Miloš Mečíř 1 0 1 2
  Jack Sock 1 0 1 2
45   Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 0 2 2 4
  Gunnar Setterwall 0 2 2 4
47   Harold Mahony 0 2 1 3
  Conchita Martínez 0 2 1 3
  Jana Novotná 0 2 1 3
50   George Caridia 0 2 0 2
  Henri Cochet 0 2 0 2
  Dorothy Holman 0 2 0 2
  Dionysios Kasdaglis 0 2 0 2
  Ichiya Kumagae 0 2 0 2
  Robert LeRoy 0 2 0 2
  Yvonne Prévost 0 2 0 2
  Virginia Ruano Pascual 0 2 0 2
  Helena Suková 0 2 0 2
59   Alphonzo Bell 0 1 1 2
  Sigrid Fick 0 1 1 2
  Juan Martín del Potro 0 1 1 2
  Lucie Hradecká 0 1 1 2
63   Albert Canet 0 0 2 2
  Stefan Edberg 0 0 2 2
  Goran Ivanišević 0 0 2 2
  Marion Jones 0 0 2 2
  Arthur Norris 0 0 2 2
  Hedwiga Rosenbaumová 0 0 2 2

See also edit

References edit

  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.

External links edit