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Tennis at the Summer Olympics

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Tennis at the Summer Olympics
IOC CodeTEN
Governing bodyITF
Events5 (men: 2; women: 2; mixed: 1)
Summer Olympics
  • 1924
  • 1928
  • 1932
  • 1936
  • 1948
  • 1952
  • 1956
  • 1960
  • 1964
  • 1968
  • 1972
  • 1976
Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics

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]

Medals

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In 1896, 1900, 1904, 1988, 1992, semifinal losers shared bronze medals. In all other years, a playoff match for the bronze medal was staged. 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]

Gold medal records

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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.

Golden Slams

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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 (in 1988) and Dylan Alcott (in 2021) are the only players to have won a single-year Golden Slam. Gigi Fernandez, Serena Williams and Venus Williams are the only players to complete career Golden Slam in doubles twice. In men's tennis, Andre Agassi, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic each won career Golden Slams. Multiple doubles players have achieved the feat, with Serena Williams the only player to complete the career Golden 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]

Tiebreaker games

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

Since 2021, 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

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Year Events Best Nation
1896 2  Great Britain (1)
1900 4  Great Britain (2)
1904 2  United States (1)
1908 6  Great Britain (3)
1912 8  France (1)
1920 5  Great Britain (4)
1924 5  United States (2)
1968 10  Mexico (1)
1984 2  West Germany (1)
1988 4  United States (3)
1992 4  United States (4)
1996 4  United States (5)
2000 4  United States (6)
2004 4  Chile (1)
2008 4  Russia (1)
2012 5  United States (7)
2016 5  United States (8)
2020 5  ROC (1)
2024 5  China (1)

Surface

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

Events

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

Champions and venues

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 Players who won two events at the same Games.

List of gold medalists and venues where the Games took place listed below.

Amateur Era (1896–1924)

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Open Era (1988–present)

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Participating nations

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Nation 96 00 04 08 12 20 24 28–64 68 72–80 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20 Editions
 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 total 6 4 2 10 14 14 27 - 15 - 34 38 48 55 52 52 48 44 56 45
Players total 13 26 36 50 82 75 124 - 45 - 64 129 177 176 182 170 169 184 199 191

Medal tables

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All-time

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Sources:[9]

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)2171341
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)28515
9 Czech Republic (CZE)2349
10 Australia (AUS)2147
11 Chile (CHI)2114
 China (CHN)2114
13 Croatia (CRO)1236
 Mixed team (ZZX)1236
15 ROC (ROC)1203
16 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1124
17 Italy (ITA)1023
18 Belarus (BLR)1012
 Belgium (BEL)1012
 Canada (CAN)1012
 Serbia (SRB)1012
 West Germany (FRG)1012
23 Puerto Rico (PUR)1001
24 Sweden (SWE)0358
25 Argentina (ARG)0235
26 Greece (GRE)0213
 Japan (JPN)0213
28 Netherlands (NED)0112
29 Austria (AUT)0101
 Denmark (DEN)0101
 Romania (ROU)0101
 Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)0101
32 Unified Team (EUN)0022
33 Australasia (ANZ)0011
 Bohemia (BOH)0011
 Brazil (BRA)0011
 Bulgaria (BUL)0011
 Hungary (HUN)0011
 India (IND)0011
 New Zealand (NZL)0011
 Norway (NOR)0011
 Poland (POL)0011
 Ukraine (UKR)0011
Totals (42 entries)767691243

Open Era

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States (USA)144826
2 Russia (RUS)3328
3 Switzerland (SUI)3306
4 Spain (ESP)28515
5 Germany (GER)2417
6 Czech Republic (CZE)2349
7 Great Britain (GBR)2204
8 Australia (AUS)2147
9 Chile (CHI)2114
 China (CHN)2114
11 Croatia (CRO)1236
12 ROC (ROC)1203
13 Czechoslovakia (TCH)1113
14 Belarus (BLR)1012
 Belgium (BEL)1012
 Canada (CAN)1012
 Italy (ITA)1012
 Serbia (SRB)1012
 West Germany (FRG)1012
20 Puerto Rico (PUR)1001
21 Argentina (ARG)0235
22 France (FRA)0224
23 Sweden (SWE)0123
24 Netherlands (NED)0101
 Romania (ROU)0101
 South Africa (RSA)0101
 Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN)0101
27 Unified Team (EUN)0022
28 Brazil (BRA)0011
 Bulgaria (BUL)0011
 India (IND)0011
 Japan (JPN)0011
 New Zealand (NZL)0011
 Poland (POL)0011
 Ukraine (UKR)0011
Totals (34 entries)444452140

Amateur Era

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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–present)

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Total Name Gold Silver Bronze
5 United States Venus Williams 4 1 0
4 United States Serena Williams 4 0 0
4 United Kingdom Reginald Doherty 3 0 1
3 United States Vincent Richards 2 1 0
3 United Kingdom Andy Murray 2 1 0
3 United Kingdom Laurence Doherty 2 0 1
3 United States Mary Joe Fernández 2 0 1
3 France Suzanne Lenglen 2 0 1
3 South Africa Charles Winslow 2 0 1
2 Czech Republic Kateřina Siniaková 2 0 0
2 Spain Rafael Nadal 2 0 0
2 United Kingdom John Pius Boland 2 0 0
2 United Kingdom Charlotte Cooper 2 0 0
2 United States Gigi Fernández 2 0 0
2 France André Gobert 2 0 0
2 United Kingdom Arthur Gore 2 0 0
2 United Kingdom Edith Hannam 2 0 0
2 Chile Nicolás Massú 2 0 0
2 United States Hazel Wightman 2 0 0
2 United States Helen Wills Moody 2 0 0
2 United States Beals Wright 2 0 0
5 United Kingdom Kathleen McKane Godfree 1 2 2
4 United Kingdom Charles Dixon 1 1 2
3 France Max Décugis 1 1 1
3 Chile Fernando González 1 1 1
3 Germany Steffi Graf 1 1 1
3 United Kingdom Major Ritchie 1 1 1
2 United Kingdom Herbert Barrett 1 1 0
2 Switzerland Belinda Bencic 1 1 0
2 Russia Elena Dementieva 1 1 0
2 Switzerland Roger Federer 1 1 0
2 South Africa Harold Kitson 1 1 0
2 Germany Dorothea Köring 1 1 0
2 Russia / Russia Elena Vesnina 1 1 0
2 Australia Todd Woodbridge 1 1 0
2 Australia Mark Woodforde 1 1 0
2 United Kingdom Max Woosnam 1 1 0
3 United States Mike Bryan 1 0 2
2 Serbia Novak Djokovic 1 0 1
2 Australia John Peers 1 0 1
2 Belarus Victoria Azarenka 1 0 1
2 United States Jack Sock 1 0 1
2 France Marguerite Broquedis 1 0 1
2 United States Bob Bryan 1 0 1
2 United States Zina Garrison 1 0 1
2 United States Edgar Leonard 1 0 1
2 Czechoslovakia Miloš Mečíř 1 0 1
2 United States Jack Sock 1 0 1
4 Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 0 2 2
3 United Kingdom Harold Mahony 0 2 1
3 Spain Conchita Martínez 0 2 1
3 Czech Republic Jana Novotná 0 2 1
2 United States Rajeev Ram 0 2 0
2 United Kingdom George Caridia 0 2 0
2 France Henri Cochet 0 2 0
2 United Kingdom Dorothy Holman 0 2 0
2 Greece Dionysios Kasdaglis 0 2 0
2 Japan Ichiya Kumagae 0 2 0
2 United States Robert LeRoy 0 2 0
2 France Yvonne Prévost 0 2 0
2 Spain Virginia Ruano Pascual 0 2 0
2 Czech Republic Helena Suková 0 2 0
2 United States Alphonzo Bell 0 1 1
2 Sweden Sigrid Fick 0 1 1
2 Argentina Juan Martín del Potro 0 1 1
2 Czech Republic Lucie Hradecká 0 1 1
2 France Albert Canet 0 0 2
2 Sweden Stefan Edberg 0 0 2
2 Croatia Goran Ivanišević 0 0 2
2 United States Marion Jones 0 0 2
2 United Kingdom Arthur Norris 0 0 2
2 Bohemia Hedwiga Rosenbaumová 0 0 2

Double crown

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Players who won two events at the same Games listed below.

Year Men's singles &
men's doubles
1896 United Kingdom John Boland
1900 United Kingdom Laurence Doherty
1904 United States Beals Wright
1908 United Kingdom Arthur Gore
1912 South Africa Charles Winslow
2004 Chile Nicolás Massú
Year Women's singles &
women's doubles
1924 United States Helen Wills
2000 United States Venus Williams
2012 United States Serena Williams
Year Men's doubles &
mixed doubles
1900 United Kingdom Reginald Doherty
Year Women's singles &
mixed doubles
1900 United Kingdom Charlotte Cooper
1912 United Kingdom Edith Hannam
1920 France Suzanne Lenglen

Point distribution

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From the 2004 until the 2012 Summer Olympics, the ATP and the WTA Tours awarded ranking points, for singles players only, who competed at the Summer Olympics. This was discontinued beginning with the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10][11]

2004

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The breakdown of ranking points towards the ATP rankings is shown below:[12]

Stage Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal Fourth place Quarterfinals Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64
ATP Entry Ranking points 400 280 205 155 100 50 25 5
ATP Champions Race points 80 56 41 31 20 10 5 1

2008

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Rankings points determine the position of a player in the ATP (men's) and WTA (women's) rankings, which are based on players' performances in the previous 52-weeks. For the Olympics, the men's player who won received 400 ranking points[13]—put in perspective, this was 100 more than a win at the most prestigious International Series Gold tournaments, 100 less than a Masters Series win, and 600 less than a triumph at one of the four Grand Slam tournaments.[14]

Stage Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal Fourth place Quarterfinals Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64
Men's singles 400 280 205 155 100 50 25 5
Women's singles 353 245 175 135 90 48 28 1

2012

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The points distribution for the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women's Tennis Association tours, concerning only singles competition on the 2012 Olympic Games, is listed below.[15][16] These points can be added to a player's world ranking for the 2012 season.

Stage Gold medal Silver medal Bronze medal Fourth place Quarterfinals Round of 16 Round of 32 Round of 64
Men's singles 750 450 340 270 135 70 35 5
Women's singles 685 470 340 260 175 95 55 1

See also

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References

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  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. Archived from the original on 5 June 2024. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  10. ^ "ITF and ATP announce Olympic agreement". itftennis.com. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  11. ^ "Ranking Points". itftennis.com. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  12. ^ "Ranking Points". International Tennis Federation. Archived from the original on 23 August 2004. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  13. ^ "Ranking Points 2008 (Olympic Tennis Event)". ITF. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
  14. ^ "The ATP 2008 Official Rulebook (p. 153)" (PDF). ATP. Retrieved 2008-08-13. [dead link]
  15. ^ "ITF and ATP announce Olympic agreement". itftennis.com. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  16. ^ "Ranking Points". itftennis.com. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
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