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. 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 (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]
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.
The playing surface of the court varies between Olympic Games. It has been on hard court for every Olympiad 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.
(d) = demonstration event, (e) = exhibition event
List of gold medalists and venues where the Games took place listed below.
Sources:[9]
Players who won two events at the same Games listed below.
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]
The breakdown of ranking points towards the ATP rankings is shown below:[12]
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]
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.
