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Tennis at the Summer Olympics facts for kids

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Tennis at the Summer Olympics
Tennis pictogram.svg
Governing body ITF
Events 5 (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
Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics

  • Medalists

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. After two appearances as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984 (with a U-21 age limit), 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.

Medals

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.

Gold medal records

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

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 and Dylan Alcott (2021), are the only players to have won a single-year Golden Slam, in 1988. 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 Grand Slam in both singles and doubles. In 2021, wheelchair tennis players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott achieved the equivalent wheelchair tennis prize with Paralympic gold.

Tiebreaker games

Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova with medals 2012
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

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

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

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



Champions and venues

  double-dagger   Players who won two events at the same Games.

Further information: #Double crown

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

Amateur Era (1896–1924)

Open Era (1988–present)

Participating nations

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

All-time

Sources:

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 21 7 13 41
2  Great Britain (GBR) 17 14 12 43
3  France (FRA) 5 6 8 19
4  Germany (GER) 3 6 2 11
5  Russia (RUS) 3 3 2 8
6  Switzerland (SUI) 3 3 0 6
7  South Africa (RSA) 3 2 1 6
8  Spain (ESP) 2 8 5 15
9  Czech Republic (CZE) 2 3 4 9
10  Australia (AUS) 2 1 4 7
11  Chile (CHI) 2 1 1 4
 China (CHN) 2 1 1 4
13  Croatia (CRO) 1 2 3 6
 Mixed team (ZZX) 1 2 3 6
15  ROC (ROC) 1 2 0 3
16  Czechoslovakia (TCH) 1 1 2 4
17  Italy (ITA) 1 0 2 3
18  Belarus (BLR) 1 0 1 2
 Belgium (BEL) 1 0 1 2
 Canada (CAN) 1 0 1 2
 Serbia (SRB) 1 0 1 2
 West Germany (FRG) 1 0 1 2
23  Puerto Rico (PUR) 1 0 0 1
24  Sweden (SWE) 0 3 5 8
25  Argentina (ARG) 0 2 3 5
26  Greece (GRE) 0 2 1 3
 Japan (JPN) 0 2 1 3
28  Netherlands (NED) 0 1 1 2
29  Austria (AUT) 0 1 0 1
 Denmark (DEN) 0 1 0 1
 Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) 0 1 0 1
 Romania (ROM) 0 1 0 1
33  Unified Team (EUN) 0 0 2 2
34  Australasia (ANZ) 0 0 1 1
 Bohemia (BOH) 0 0 1 1
 Brazil (BRA) 0 0 1 1
 Bulgaria (BUL) 0 0 1 1
 Hungary (HUN) 0 0 1 1
 India (IND) 0 0 1 1
 New Zealand (NZL) 0 0 1 1
 Norway (NOR) 0 0 1 1
 Poland (POL) 0 0 1 1
 Ukraine (UKR) 0 0 1 1
Totals (43 entries) 76 76 91 243

Open Era

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 14 4 8 26
2  Russia (RUS) 3 3 2 8
3  Switzerland (SUI) 3 3 0 6
4  Spain (ESP) 2 8 5 15
5  Germany (GER) 2 4 1 7
6  Czech Republic (CZE) 2 3 4 9
7  Great Britain (GBR) 2 2 0 4
8  Australia (AUS) 2 1 4 7
9  Chile (CHI) 2 1 1 4
 China (CHN) 2 1 1 4
11  Croatia (CRO) 1 2 3 6
12  ROC (ROC) 1 2 0 3
13  Czechoslovakia (TCH) 1 1 1 3
14  Belarus (BLR) 1 0 1 2
 Belgium (BEL) 1 0 1 2
 Canada (CAN) 1 0 1 2
 Italy (ITA) 1 0 1 2
 Serbia (SRB) 1 0 1 2
 West Germany (FRG) 1 0 1 2
20  Puerto Rico (PUR) 1 0 0 1
21  Argentina (ARG) 0 2 3 5
22  France (FRA) 0 2 2 4
23  Sweden (SWE) 0 1 2 3
24  Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) 0 1 0 1
 Netherlands (NED) 0 1 0 1
 Romania (ROM) 0 1 0 1
 South Africa (RSA) 0 1 0 1
28  Unified Team (EUN) 0 0 2 2
29  Brazil (BRA) 0 0 1 1
 Bulgaria (BUL) 0 0 1 1
 India (IND) 0 0 1 1
 Japan (JPN) 0 0 1 1
 New Zealand (NZL) 0 0 1 1
 Poland (POL) 0 0 1 1
 Ukraine (UKR) 0 0 1 1
Totals (35 entries) 44 44 52 140

Amateur Era

Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  Great Britain (GBR) 15 12 12 39
2  United States (USA) 7 3 5 15
3  France (FRA) 5 4 6 15
4  South Africa (RSA) 3 1 1 5
5  Mixed team (ZZX) 1 2 3 6
6  Germany (GER) 1 2 1 4
7  Sweden (SWE) 0 2 3 5
8  Greece (GRE) 0 2 1 3
9  Japan (JPN) 0 2 0 2
10  Austria (AUT) 0 1 0 1
 Denmark (DEN) 0 1 0 1
12  Australasia (ANZ) 0 0 1 1
 Bohemia (BOH) 0 0 1 1
 Czechoslovakia (TCH) 0 0 1 1
 Hungary (HUN) 0 0 1 1
 Italy (ITA) 0 0 1 1
 Netherlands (NED) 0 0 1 1
 Norway (NOR) 0 0 1 1
Totals (18 entries) 32 32 39 103

Multiple medal winners (1896–present)

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

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

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Tenis en los Juegos Olímpicos para niños

  • 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
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