The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams, twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were coached from an early age by their parents Richard Williams and Oracene Price.
Australia has sent athletes to every Summer Olympic Games, as well as every Winter Olympics except 1924–32 and 1948. In 1908 and 1912 Australia competed with New Zealand under the name Australasia.
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, 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.
The United States' Venus Williams defeated Russia's Elena Dementieva in the final, 6–2, 6–4 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2000 Summer Olympics. In the bronze medal match, the United States' Monica Seles defeated Australia's Jelena Dokic, 6–1, 6–4. Williams' victory was the third consecutive gold medal in the women's singles for the United States, all by different players.
Belgium's Justine Henin defeated France's Amélie Mauresmo in the final, 6–3, 6–3 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics. It was Belgium's only gold medal at the 2004 Games. Henin lost only one set during the tournament. In the bronze medal match, Australia's Alicia Molik defeated Myskina, 6–3, 6–4. The medals were the first in women's singles for Belgium and Australia, and the first for France since 1924. The United States' three-Games gold medal streak at the event ended, with no American players reaching the quarter-finals.
Tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt tournament.
This page covers all the important events in the sport of tennis in 2008. Primarily, it provides the results of notable tournaments throughout the year on both the ATP and WTA Tours, the Davis Cup, the Fed Cup, and the Olympics.
The tennis tournaments at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London were staged at the All England Club in Wimbledon, from 28 July to 5 August. This was the first Olympic grass court tournament since tennis was reintroduced as an Olympic sport and the first to be held at a Grand Slam venue in the Open era. Two other 2012 Summer Olympic bid finalists had also offered Grand Slam venues. Second-place finisher Paris offered the French Open venue, the Stade Roland Garros, which later was also included in their successful 2024 bid. Meanwhile, fourth-place finisher New York City offered the US Open venue, the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens.
Russia's Elena Dementieva defeated compatriot Dinara Safina in the final, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the bronze medal match, Russia's Vera Zvonareva defeated China's Li Na 6–0, 7–5. This was the first Olympic medal sweep in tennis since 1908, when three British women won medals in the outdoor women's singles tournament. It was the fifth podium sweep in tennis in Olympic history, all previous sweeps were by British athletes. It was Russia's first victory in the women's singles. Dementieva became the third woman to win multiple Olympic singles medals, following Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, and the first to do so in non-consecutive Games.
The United States' Serena Williams and Venus Williams defeated Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual in the final, 6–2, 6–0 to win the gold medal in Women's Doubles tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics. In the bronze medal match, China's Yan Zi and Zheng Jie defeated Ukraine's Alona Bondarenko and Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–2, 6–2. This was the Williams sisters' second Olympic gold medal in Women's Doubles.
The United States' Serena Williams defeated Russia's Maria Sharapova in the final, 6–0, 6–1 to win the gold medal in women's singles tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Both finalists were attempting to become the second woman to complete the career Golden Slam in singles. Williams won the gold, only weeks after winning the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, without losing a set, without losing more than three games in any set, and without losing more than five games in any match. Her serve was broken only once during the tournament. She also became the first tennis player to complete the career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. It was the United States' first victory in the event since Serena's sister Venus Williams won in 2000, and its fifth gold overall. In the bronze medal match, Belarus' Victoria Azarenka defeated Russia's Maria Kirilenko, 6–3, 6–4.
The United States' Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan defeated France's Michaël Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final, 6–4, 7–6(7–2) to win the gold medal in Men's Doubles tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics. This completed a career Golden Slam for the Bryan brothers, making them the second men's doubles team to do so. Their victory marked the first instance that both Olympic tennis doubles titles were claimed by siblings; fellow Americans Serena and Venus Williams won the women's doubles title. It was a record fourth gold medal for the United States in men's doubles. In the bronze-medal match, France's Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet defeated Spain's David Ferrer and Feliciano López, 7–6(7–4), 6–2. With France's silver and bronze, this was the first time since 1924 that one nation won multiple medals in the men's doubles.
Defending gold medalists Serena Williams and Venus Williams of the United States successfully defended their title, defeating the Czech Republic's Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká in the final, 6–4, 6–4 to win the gold medal in Women's Doubles tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The Williams sisters did not drop a set en route to their third gold medal in doubles, becoming the first players in tennis history to win four Olympic gold medals, with the pairing also winning the doubles golds in 2000 and 2008, and Venus winning the 2000 singles and Serena winning the 2012 singles events. In the bronze medal match, Russia's Maria Kirilenko and Nadia Petrova defeated the United States' Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond, 4–6, 6–4, 6–1.
The tennis tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held at the Olympic Tennis Centre from 6 to 14 August. The competition was played on a fast hardcourt surface used in numerous North American tournaments that aims to minimize disruption for players.
Puerto Rico's Monica Puig defeated Germany's Angelique Kerber in the final, 6–4, 4–6, 6–1 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics. It was Puerto Rico's first Olympic gold medal, and Puig became the first unseeded female player to win the Olympic tennis gold medal. In the bronze medal match, the Czech Republic's Petra Kvitová defeated the United States' Madison Keys 7–5, 2–6, 6–2. It was Germany's first medal in women's singles since 1992 and the Czech Republic's first since 1996.
Russia's Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina defeated Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky and Martina Hingis in the final, 6–4, 6–4 to win the gold medal in Women's Doubles tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the bronze-medal match, the Czech Republic's Lucie Šafářová and Barbora Strýcová defeated compatriots Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká, 7–5, 6–1.
Switzerland's Belinda Bencic defeated the Czech Republic's Markéta Vondroušová in the final, 7–5, 2–6, 6–3, to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics. It was Switzerland's first victory in the women's singles. In the bronze medal match, Ukraine's Elina Svitolina defeated Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina, 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4. It was Ukraine's first Olympic tennis medal.
The tennis tournaments at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris ran from 27 July to 4 August at the Stade Roland Garros, featuring a total of 172 players across five medal events: singles and doubles for both men and women and mixed doubles. Similar to previous editions, the Paris 2024 format is set in a single-elimination tournament with the men's and women's singles draws consisting of 64 players. The tennis tournaments will feature six rounds in the men's and women's singles, five in the men's and women's doubles, and four in the mixed doubles. The players and pairs advancing to the semifinal stage will guarantee their medal contention with the two losing semifinalists competing for a bronze medal. All singles matches will be best of three sets with a standard tiebreak in every set, including the final set. In all doubles competitions, a match tiebreak will be contested instead of a third set. The Paris 2024 event is the first Olympic clay court event since the Barcelona 1992 event was played at Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron. It will also be the first Olympic tournament to be played at a Grand Slam venue since the London 2012 event was staged at the Wimbledon Championships venue, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
