An Olympic sport since Athens 1896,
tennis was dropped from the Olympic program after Paris 1924
and didn't appear again until Seoul 1988.
There are currently no mixed doubles in Olympic tennis, so the 4
gold medals up for grabs are in the men's and women's singles and doubles.
Tennis is played as a knock-out tournament with the best of three sets
going through. The men's finals, however, are played to a best of five.
Olympic Tennis Medal Winners Since The Revival in 1988
Bronze medals were awarded to both the semi-final losers at Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992.
Men's Singles
Seoul 1988:
Miloslav Mecir (Cze); Timothy Mayotte (USA);
Stefan Edberg (Swe), Bradley Gilbert (USA).
Barcelona 1992:
Marc Rosset (Swi); Jordi Arrese (Spa);
Goran Ivanisevic (Cro), Andre Cherkasov (Eun).
Atlanta 1996:
Andre Agassi (USA); Sergi Brugera (Spa); Leander Paes (Ind).
Sydney 2000:
Eugueni Kafelnikov (Rus); Tommy Haas (Ger); Arnaud di Pasquale (Fra).
Athens 2004:
Nicolas Massu (Chi); Mardy Fish (USA); Fernando Gonzalez (Chi).
Men's Doubles
Seoul 1988: USA; Spain; Czechoslovakia,
Sweden.
Barcelona 1992: Germany; South Africa; Argentina,
Croatia.
Atlanta 1996: Australia; Great Britain; Germany.
Sydney 2000: Canada; Australia; Spain.
Athens 2004: Chile; Germany; Croatia.
Women's Singles
Seoul 1988:
Steffi Graf (Ger); Gabriela Sabatini (Arg);
Zina Garrison, Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere (Bul).
Barcelona 1992:
Jennifer Capriati (USA); Steffi Graf (Ger);
Mary Joe Fernandez (USA), Arantxa Sanchez (Spa).
Atlanta 1996:
Lindsay Davenport (USA); Arantxa Sanchez (Spa); Jana Novotna (Cze).
Sydney 2000:
Venus Williams (USA); Elena Dementieva (Rus); Monica Seles (USA).
Athens 2004:
Justine Henin-Hardenne (Bel); Amelie Mauresmo (Fra); Alicia Molik (Aus).
Women's Doubles
Seoul 1988: USA; Czechoslovakia;
Australia, West Germany.
Barcelona 1992: USA; Spain; Australia, Former Soviet
Union.
Atlanta 1996: USA; Czech Republic; Spain.
Sydney 2000: USA; Holland; Belgium.
Athens 2004: China; Spain; Argentina.
The Grand Slam in tennis means holding all four of the major
championships in one year.
Add to that an Olympic gold medal and you have the Golden Slam; only
achieved by Steffi Graf, in 1988.
Andre Agassi, married to Steffi Graf, finally achieved a 'Career
Golden Slam' when he won the French Open in 1999; having already won a gold medal at Atlanta 1996.
Major Championships Making Up The Grand Slam
Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon.
Grand Slam Winners
All 4 tournaments in the same calendar year:
Don Budge (1938); Maureen Connolly (1953); Rod Laver (1962 and 1969);
Margaret Smith Court (1970); Steffi Graf (1988 - Golden Slam).
4 grand slam tournaments consecutively - not in the same calendar
year:
Martina Navratilova (1983-84); Steffi Graf (1993-94); Serena Williams
(2002-03).
Winners of all four grand slam tournaments - Career Grand Slam:
Fred Perry (1933-34-35), Doris Hart (1949-50-51-54), Shirley Fry
(1951-56-57), Roy Emerson (1961-63-64), Billie Jean King (1966-67-68-72), Chris Evert
(1974-75-82), Andre Agassi (1992-94-95-99).
Switzerland's Roger Federer would get a Career Grand Slam; if he ever
wins the French Open.
Steffi Graf
beat Gabriela Sabatini (6-3) (6-3), in Seoul 1988; to win
the women's singles gold medal in Olympic tennis' revival and become the first person to
win a 'Golden Slam' - adding an Olympic gold medal to the Grand Slam.
The German also won a bronze medal in the women's doubles but failed
to defend her singles title in Barcelona 1992; losing
to Jennifer Capriati in the final.
When John Boland,
an Oxford student interested in Greek mythology, travelled to Athens (in 1896) he never
thought that he'd actually be taking part. As Secretary of the Athens 1896 Organising Committee, Thrasyvoalos Manaos,
entered his frien John into the tennis competition. Despite competing with leather-soled
shoes with heels, Boland went on to win the tournament and become an Olympic champion.
             
       
    
ITF:
Bank Lane, Roehampton, London SW15 5XZ, United Kingdom
The need to establish an international tennis federation became obvious in 1911. By that
time lawn tennis was beginning to develop rapidly world-wide and it seemed natural that
national tennis associations already established should come together to form a liaison
whereby the universal game would be uniformly structured.
Asian Tennis Federation.
Oceania Tennis
Federation.
Tennis Europe.
National Tennis Associations
All India Tennis Association:
Tennis in its present form was conceived in England in the 1870s. In the 1880s the British
Army and Civilian Officers brought the game to India. Soon after, regular tournaments like
the Punjab Lawn Tennis Championship at Lahore (now in Pakistan -- 1885); the Bengal Lawn
Tennis Championship at Calcutta (1887) and the All India Tennis Championships at Allahabad
(1910) were organised.
Asociación
Argentina de Tenis.
Bermuda Lawn Tennis Association.
Confederação Brasileira de
Tênis: (Brazil).
CZtenis -- Oficiální Stránky ÈTS:
(Czech Republic).
Dansk Tennis Forbund: (Denmark).
Deutscher Tennis Bund:
(Germany).
Federación Boliviana de Tenis:
(Bolivia).
Federación de Tenis
de Chile.
Fédération Algérienne de
Tennis: (Algeria).
Fédération Française de Tennis:
(France).
Federazione Italiana Tennis:
(Italy).
Hrvatski Teniski Savez: (Croatia).
KNLTB: (Holland).
Lawn Tennis Association:
Revenue from the Wimbledon Championships is plowed back into British tennis.
Real Federación Española de Tenis:
(Spain).
Suomen Tennisliitto:
(Finland)
Tennis
Australia:
The origins of Tennis Australia date to 1904 when local players Norman Brookes and Alf
Dunlop considered entering the newly formed Davis Cup. Before Australia could make a
challenge it had to be represented by a national association. The Australasian Lawn Tennis
Association was formed, embracing New Zealand interests.
Tennis Canada:
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is responsible for the development of tennis across the
country. It is one of the largest and oldest national sport associations in Canada, with
membership made up of the 10 provincial tennis associations and one associate member, the
Northwest Territories Tennis Association.
Tennis Hungary.
Tennis New Zealand:
Serving tennis throughout New Zealand.
Tennis Sweden.
United States Tennis
Association:
On May 21, 1881, a small group of tennis club members met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New
York City to form the world’s first national governing body for tennis: the United
States National Lawn Tennis Association.
Vlaamse Tennisvereniging: (Belgium).
Tennis Tournaments
Australian Open:
The Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific. The tournament was first played in 1905 as The
Australasian Championships, became the Australian Championships in 1927 and the Australian
Open in 1969.
Davis Cup:
Harvard student, Dwight Filley Davis had a beautiful silver trophy commissioned for the
first Davis Cup competition -- between the USA and British Isles -- in 1900. France and
Australia soon joined in and today the Davis Cup has become the premier team competition
in tennis. In 2002, the trophy gained a new plinth, adding 16 additional plaques and
castings and raising the height of the trophy to 110 cm.
Fed Cup:
Fed Cup (formerly the Federations Cup) is the premier team competition in women's tennis,
launched in 1963 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the International Tennis Federation.
The idea for the event can be traced back to 1919, when Mrs Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman came
up with the concept for a women's team competition. When this was rejected, she instead
presented a trophy in 1923 for an annual contest between the United States and Great
Britain, who were at that time the strongest tennis-playing nations.
ITF Women's Circuit:
Entry level tournaments enabling players to work their way up the ladder to WTA Tour
events.
Masters Cup:
The Tennis Masters Cup was created on December 9, 1999. On that day, the Grand Slam
Committee, the ITF and the ATP Tour announced that the ATP Tour World Championship and the
men's Grand Slam Cup would be discontinued and a new jointly owned, end of year men's
tournament to be known as the Tennis Masters Cup was created.
Rogers Cup:
Since 1892, the most accomplished women's tennis players on our planet have showcased
their skills on Canadian courts. Only Wimbledon and the U.S. Open have longer histories
than the major Canadian stop, which is acknowledged by the tennis world to be one of the
best-run tournaments in the world.
Roland Garos:
The French Open is nothing less than the globe's greatest clay court tournament.
Swiss Open:
Played out in the wonderful alpine town of Gstaad -- winter playground of the rich and
famous.
Tennis Tournament
Finder:
View profiles of the ATP events.
Wimbledon:
(The Oldest Tennis Tournament in the World)
The Lawn Tennis Championships at Wimbledon have developed from the garden party atmosphere
of the first meeting in 1877, witnessed by a few hundred spectators, to a highly
professional tournament attracting an attendance of nearly 500,000 and through the press,
radio and television a following of millions throughout the world.
US Open:
The first US National Singles Championship for men was held at the Newport Casino, Rhode
Island, in August 1881. Only clubs that were members of the United States National Lawn
Tennis Association were permitted to enter. In 1978, the US Open moved to the Decoturf
hard courts of Flushing Meadows in Queens.
WTA Tour
Calendar:
Where to find the best women tennis players serving their stuff.
General Tennis Links
ATP Tennis:
The official site for men's professional tennis.
Super Tennis:
Part of the Super Sportzone in South Africa.
Tennis
Directory:
Over 2,000 tennis links sorted into categories.
Tennis Mag:
Australian tennis magazine.
Tennis Server:
Centre Court for tennis on the Internet since 1994.
WTA Tour:
The official site of women's professional tennis.
Tennis.
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