Tennis is one of the most viewed sports at the Summer Olympics ever since its inception but which year was the sport added to the games?
Every year, the Olympic Tennis tournament attracts the world’s top stars including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Tennis was part of the Summer Olympics from the first edition, but was dropped in 1924 after disputes between the concerning authorities. It returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Olympics, open for all players and has been played at every edition of the Games uptil the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Miloslav Mečíř (Czechoslovakia) and Steffi Graf (West Germany) won gold in the two singles tournaments at Seoul 1988.
At Tokyo 2020, the tournament followed a knockout format with men’s and women’s singles and doubles competitions, and a mixed doubles event that was first contested at London 2012. Matches were played on hard courts, which is the usual surface for the Olympic tournament.
In the singles events, 56 athletes qualified based on their world ranking and as a rule, must have represented their country in recent national team-level competitions. A maximum of six players were allowed per nation.
This year, Germany’s Alexander Zverev won the gold beating Karen Khachanov in the men’s final. In the women’s draw Belinda Bencic of Switzerland won her first ever gold beating Czech Marketa Vondrousova in the final.
Britain’s Andy Murray is the only person to win back-to-back golds after defending his men’s singles title at Rio 2016.
The Olympic gold is a major achievement for every professional tennis player. There has been only one person in the Open Era to complete the Golden Slam – Steffi Graff in 1998. The Golden Slam consists of winning all four Grand Slams in addition to the Gold in the Olympic tennis tournament.
There have been some countries which have produced tennis sensations that have produced on the Olympic stage. The competition has intensified every Olympic games and continues to as we head to the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
Kathleen Godfree (one gold, two silvers, and two bronzes) and Venus Williams (four gold, one silver) are the all-time record holders for the most Olympic medals in tennis. The Williams sisters share the all-time record – with Serena and Venus winning four Gold medals each. Britain’s Andy Murray is the only men’s player to have won two singles gold medals.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States of America | 21 | 6 | 12 | 39 |
| 2 | Great Britain | 17 | 14 | 12 | 43 |
| 3 | France | 5 | 6 | 8 | 19 |
| 4 | Russia | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | South Africa | 3 | 2 | 1 | 6 |
| 6 | Spain | 2 | 7 | 4 | 13 |
| 7 | Germany | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 8 | Switzerland | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | Chile | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
In the women’s section, Venus Williams has won four golds and one silver while her sister has four golds to her name. The Americans are the history-makers in women’ singles and doubles in the history of the Olympics.
Men
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reginald Doherty | Great Britain | 1900–1908 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 2 | Vincent Richards | USA | 1924 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| 2 | Andy Murray | Great Britain | 2008–2016 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
Women
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Venus Williams | USA | 2000–2016 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 2 | Kathleen Godfree | Great Britain | 1920–1924 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 | Serena Williams | USA | 2000–2016 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
Great Britain has accumulated a record 43 medals in tennis in the history of the Olympics. This is followed by United States in 39 and France with 19. But, the United States have 21 Gold medals to their name putting them at the top of the list.
We will see where the tennis world stands when tennis returns at the Olympics in Paris in 2024.
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