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. 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.

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
  • 2028
  • 2032
Note: demonstration or exhibition sport years indicated in italics

  • Medalists

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

Both Serena 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 (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. In 2021, wheelchair tennis players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott achieved the equivalent wheelchair tennis prize with Paralympic gold.

Tiebreaker games

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 first establishes a clear two point lead wins the set and the match.

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 Olympics since 1984 except for the 1992 and 2024 Olympics (which were on a clay court) and the 2012 Olympics (which was played on a grass court). The changing playing surface gives certain players different advantages and disadvantages not seen in most other Olympic sports. On three occasions, the event has been held, wholly or partly, at a Grand Slam venue - twice at the All-England Tennis Club at Wimbledon (1908 and 2012) and once at Roland Garros in Paris (2024). In both 2012 and 2024, the Olympic men's singles final was a repeat of the recent Grand Slam final at the same venue (Andy Murray v Roger Federer in 2012, Carlos Alcaraz v Novak Djokovic in 2024), and on both occasions the defeated Grand Slam finalist (Murray in 2012, Djokovic in 2024) gained revenge in the Olympic final.

Events

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

Champions and venues

 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)

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:

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States2171341
2 Great Britain17141243
3 France56819
4 Germany36211
5 Russia3328
6 Switzerland3306
7 South Africa3216
8 Spain28515
9 Czech Republic2349
10 Australia2147
11 Chile2114
 China2114
13 Croatia1236
 Mixed team1236
15 ROC (ROC)1203
16 Czechoslovakia1124
17 Italy1023
18 Belarus1012
 Belgium1012
 Canada1012
 Serbia1012
 West Germany1012
23 Puerto Rico1001
24 Sweden0358
25 Argentina0235
26 Greece0213
 Japan0213
28 Netherlands0112
29 Austria0101
 Denmark0101
 Romania0101
 Individual Neutral Athletes0101
32 Unified Team0022
33 Australasia0011
 Bohemia0011
 Brazil0011
 Bulgaria0011
 Hungary0011
 India0011
 New Zealand0011
 Norway0011
 Poland0011
 Ukraine0011
Totals (42 entries)767691243

Open Era

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 United States144826
2 Russia3328
3 Switzerland3306
4 Spain28515
5 Germany2417
6 Czech Republic2349
7 Great Britain2204
8 Australia2147
9 Chile2114
 China2114
11 Croatia1236
12 ROC (ROC)1203
13 Czechoslovakia1113
14 Belarus1012
 Belgium1012
 Canada1012
 Italy1012
 Serbia1012
 West Germany1012
20 Puerto Rico1001
21 Argentina0235
22 France0224
23 Sweden0123
24 Netherlands0101
 Romania0101
 South Africa0101
 Individual Neutral Athletes0101
27 Unified Team0022
28 Brazil0011
 Bulgaria0011
 India0011
 Japan0011
 New Zealand0011
 Poland0011
 Ukraine0011
Totals (34 entries)444452140

Amateur Era

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Great Britain15121239
2 United States73515
3 France54615
4 South Africa3115
5 Mixed team1236
6 Germany1214
7 Sweden0235
8 Greece0213
9 Japan0202
10 Austria0101
 Denmark0101
12 Australasia0011
 Bohemia0011
 Czechoslovakia0011
 Hungary0011
 Italy0011
 Netherlands0011
 Norway0011
Totals (18 entries)323239103

Multiple medal winners

Total Name Gold Silver Bronze
5 Venus Williams 4 1 0
4 Serena Williams 4 0 0
4 Reginald Doherty 3 0 1
3 Vincent Richards 2 1 0
3 Andy Murray 2 1 0
3 Laurence Doherty 2 0 1
3 Mary Joe Fernández 2 0 1
3 Suzanne Lenglen 2 0 1
3 Charles Winslow 2 0 1
2 Kateřina Siniaková 2 0 0
2 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
5 Kathleen McKane Godfree 1 2 2
4 Charles Dixon 1 1 2
3 Max Décugis 1 1 1
3 Fernando González 1 1 1
3 Steffi Graf 1 1 1
3 Major Ritchie 1 1 1
2 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
3 Mike Bryan 1 0 2
2 Novak Djokovic 1 0 1
2 John Peers 1 0 1
2 Victoria Azarenka 1 0 1
2 Jack Sock 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
4 Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 0 2 2
3 Harold Mahony 0 2 1
3 Conchita Martínez 0 2 1
3 Jana Novotná 0 2 1
2 Rajeev Ram 0 2 0
2 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 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 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

Double crown

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

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

Point distribution

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.

2004

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

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

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—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.

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

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. 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

  • 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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