Tennis at the Summer Olympics

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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

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]

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 Greece Athens Athens Lawn Tennis Club Clay United Kingdom John Boland Not held United Kingdom John Boland
German Empire Friedrich Traun
Not held Not held
1900 France Paris Cercle des Sports, Île de Puteaux Clay United Kingdom Laurence Doherty United Kingdom Charlotte Cooper United Kingdom Laurence Doherty
United Kingdom Reginald Doherty
United Kingdom Charlotte Cooper
United Kingdom Reginald Doherty
1904 United States St. Louis Francis Field Clay United States Beals Wright Not held United States Beals Wright
United States Edgar Leonard
Not held
1908 United Kingdom London Queen's Club (indoor) Wood United Kingdom Arthur Gore United Kingdom Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith United Kingdom Herbert Roper Barrett
United Kingdom Arthur Gore
All England Club (outdoor) Grass United Kingdom Major Ritchie United Kingdom Dorothea Lambert Chambers United Kingdom Reginald Doherty
United Kingdom George Hillyard
1912 Sweden Stockholm Östermalm Tennis Pavilion (indoor) Wood France André Gobert United Kingdom Edith Hannam France Maurice Germot
France André Gobert
United Kingdom Edith Hannam
United Kingdom Charles Dixon
Östermalm Tennis Pavilion (outdoor) Clay South Africa Charles Winslow France Marguerite Broquedis South Africa Harold Kitson
South Africa Charles Winslow
German Empire Dorothea Köring
German Empire Heinrich Schomburgk
1920 Belgium Antwerp Beerschot Tennis Club Grass South Africa Louis Raymond France Suzanne Lenglen United Kingdom Noel Turnbull
United Kingdom Max Woosnam
United Kingdom Kathleen McKane
United Kingdom Winifred McNair
France Suzanne Lenglen
France Max Decugis
1924 France Paris Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir Clay United States Vincent Richards United States Helen Wills United States Francis Hunter
United States Vincent Richards
United States Hazel Wightman
United States Helen Wills
United States Hazel Wightman
United States R. Norris Williams
Open era (1988–)
1988 South Korea Seoul Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center Hard Czechoslovakia Miloslav Mečíř West Germany Steffi Graf United States Ken Flach
United States Robert Seguso
United States Pam Shriver
United States Zina Garrison
Not held
1992 Spain Barcelona Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron Clay Switzerland Marc Rosset United States Jennifer Capriati Germany Boris Becker
Germany Michael Stich
United States Gigi Fernández
United States Mary Joe Fernández
1996 United States Atlanta Stone Mountain Tennis Center Hard United States Andre Agassi United States Lindsay Davenport Australia Todd Woodbridge
Australia Mark Woodforde
United States Gigi Fernández
United States Mary Joe Fernández
2000 Australia Sydney Sydney Olympic Park Tennis Centre Hard Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov United States Venus Williams Canada Sébastien Lareau
Canada Daniel Nestor
United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
2004 Greece Athens Athens Olympic Tennis Centre Hard Chile Nicolás Massú Belgium Justine Henin-Hardenne Chile Fernando González
Chile Nicolás Massú
China Li Ting
China Sun Tiantian
2008 China Beijing National Tennis Center Hard Spain Rafael Nadal Russia Elena Dementieva Switzerland Roger Federer
Switzerland Stanislas Wawrinka
United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
2012 United Kingdom London All England Club Grass United Kingdom Andy Murray United States Serena Williams United States Bob Bryan
United States Mike Bryan
United States Serena Williams
United States Venus Williams
Belarus Victoria Azarenka
Belarus Max Mirnyi
2016 Brazil Rio de Janeiro Olympic Tennis Centre Hard United Kingdom Andy Murray Puerto Rico Monica Puig Spain Marc López
Spain Rafael Nadal
Russia Ekaterina Makarova
Russia Elena Vesnina
United States Bethanie Mattek-Sands
United States Jack Sock
2020 Japan Tokyo Ariake Tennis Park Hard Germany Alexander Zverev Switzerland Belinda Bencic Croatia Nikola Mektić
Croatia Mate Pavić
Czech Republic Barbora Krejčíková
Czech Republic Kateřina Siniaková
 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (ROC)
 Andrey Rublev (ROC)
2024 France Paris Stade Roland Garros Clay
2028 United States Los Angeles Dignity Health Sports Park Hard
2032 Australia 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 United States Venus Williams 4 1 0 5
2 United States Serena Williams 4 0 0 4
3 United Kingdom Reginald Doherty 3 0 1 4
4 United States Vincent Richards 2 1 0 3
United Kingdom Andy Murray 2 1 0 3
6 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 3
10 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 2
21 United Kingdom Kathleen McKane Godfree 1 2 2 5
22 United Kingdom Charles Dixon 1 1 2 4
23 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 3
27 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 2
37 United States Mike Bryan 1 0 2 3
38 Belarus Victoria Azarenka 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 2
45 Spain Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 0 2 2 4
Sweden Gunnar Setterwall 0 2 2 4
47 United Kingdom Harold Mahony 0 2 1 3
Spain Conchita Martínez 0 2 1 3
Czech Republic Jana Novotná 0 2 1 3
50 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
59 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
63 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 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]