Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried, nicknamed El Vampiro, is a Chilean former professional tennis player and a coach. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics. He is the only man to have won both gold medals at the same Games since the re-introduction of Olympic tennis in 1988, and they were the first two Chile's Olympic gold medals. Massú also reached the final of the 2003 Madrid Masters and won six singles titles. He was the coach of 2020 US Open champion and former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem from 2019 to 2023.
Jan-Ove Waldner, in Sweden commonly J-O Waldner, is a Swedish former professional table tennis player. He is often referred to as "the Mozart of table tennis." A sporting legend in his native Sweden as well as in China, he is known in China as 老瓦 Lǎo Wǎ or 常青树 Cháng Qīng Shù, because of his extraordinary longevity and competitiveness.
China competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's ninth appearance at the Summer Olympics since its debut in 1952. A total of 384 Chinese athletes, 136 men and 248 women, were selected by the Chinese Olympic Committee to compete in 28 sports. For the third time in its Olympic history, China was represented by more female than male athletes.
Zhang Yining is a Chinese table tennis player who retired in 2009. She is considered one of the greatest female players in the sport's history. In terms of achievements, she is one of the most successful female table tennis players having won the gold medal in each of the Table Tennis World Cup, the Table Tennis World Championships, and the Olympic Games. She is also the first player overall, and the first female, to have completed a Double Grand Slam.
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.
Achanta Sharath Kamal is an Indian professional table tennis player. He is the first Indian table tennis player ever to become ten time Senior National Champion hence breaking the record of eight-time National Champion Kamlesh Mehta. In 2019 he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth highest civilian award and in 2022, he was awarded the Khel Ratna Award, India's highest sporting honour. He is ranked 32 in ITTF world ranking. He beat Joo Se Hyuk and Chuang Chih-yuan, world no. 8 and 16 respectively in 2015 28th Asian cup at Jaipur. Sharath won the men's singles gold in the 16th Commonwealth table tennis championship held at Kuala Lumpur in 2004. He is a recipient of the Arjuna award for the year 2004.
Wang Nan is a female Chinese table tennis player from Liaoning. Wang was ranked world #1 on the ITTF ranking system from January 1999 to November 2002. She is left-handed, and began playing table tennis when she was seven years old. Her particular skills are changing the placement of the ball during rallies and her loop drive, as well as her notable speed. Wang has been the leader of the women's table-tennis team of China after Deng Yaping's retirement. In terms of achievements, she is one of the most successful female table tennis players having won the gold medal in each of the Table Tennis World Cup, the Table Tennis World Championships, and the Olympic Games.
Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 Summer Olympics to 1976 Winter Olympics, China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time at the 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time during the last days to participate in one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete with the name "China", although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of the "two Chinas", the PRC started a period of isolationism, withdrawing from several international sporting bodies and the UN system until the mid-1970s, when the country participated for the first time in the Asian Games in 1974 and the World University Games in 1977. Returning to the IOC officially only in 1979, which gave it the right to send an official delegation, starting from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. Their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The People's Republic of China staged boycotts of the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne, Australia, Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome, Italy, Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan, Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City, Mexico, Games of the XX Olympiad in Munich, Germany, and Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal, Canada. China also boycotted the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow, Soviet Union due to the American-led boycott and the ongoing Sino-Soviet split, together with the other countries.
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.
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.
Great Britain's Andy Murray defeated Switzerland's Roger Federer in the final, 6–2, 6–1, 6–4 to win the gold medal in men's singles tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The final was a rematch of the Wimbledon final played at the same venue four weeks prior, in which Federer prevailed. Federer was attempting to become the third man to complete the career Golden Slam in singles. It was Federer's third consecutive Olympics as the singles world No. 1, but his silver finish remains his only Olympic medal in singles. In the bronze medal match, Argentina's Juan Martín del Potro defeated Serbia's Novak Djokovic, 7–5, 6–4. Murray's gold was Great Britain's first medal at the event since 1908, and the nation's record fourth overall. Federer's silver was Switzerland's first medal at the event since 1992. Del Potro's bronze was Argentina's first medal at the event overall.
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.
Chen Meng is a Chinese professional table tennis player and Olympic champion. She joined the provincial team when she was 9 and joined the national team when she was only 13 in 2007. She is the women's singles champion of the ITTF Women's World Cup in 2020, the ITTF World Tour Grand Finals in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and also at the inaugural WTT Singapore Smash. She is also the silver medalist of women's singles in the 2019 World Table Tennis Championships and a double gold medalist in the 2020 Summer Olympics. She obtained her second gold medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held between 24 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Tennis Park.
Fan Zhendong is a Chinese professional table tennis player. After joining the Chinese national table tennis team in 2012 as the youngest member of the team, he went on to become the youngest ITTF World Tour Champion and the youngest World Table Tennis Champion. In April 2018, he achieved the top spot in the world rankings after holding position No. 2 for 29 consecutive months, starting from November 2015. He won the Olympic gold medal in men's singles at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, becoming just the 6th male player to achieve a Grand Slam.
Defending gold medalist Andy Murray of Great Britain successfully retained his title, defeating Juan Martín del Potro of Argentina in the final, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–5 to win the gold medal in Men's singles tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics. He became the first tennis player ever, male or female, to win two Olympic singles gold medals. Murray and del Potro were only the third and fourth men to win multiple singles medals of any color. Murray's gold was Great Britain's fifth in men's singles, the most of any nation. In the bronze medal match, Japan's Kei Nishikori defeated Spain's Rafael Nadal, 6–2, 6–7(1–7), 6–3, earning Japan's first men's singles Olympic medal since 1920.
Wang Chuqin is a Chinese professional table tennis player. He is the top ranked player in the ITTF world ranking. Most recently, he was the silver medallist in men's singles, gold medallist in mixed doubles with Sun Yingsha and gold medallist in men's doubles with Fan Zhendong for the 2023 World Table Tennis Championships in Durban. He won the men's singles title at the WTT Cup Finals in 2021 and WTT Champions Xinxiang in 2022. He was crowned the men's singles title at WTT Champions Macao twice. Wang also won gold along with teammates Fan Zhendong, Liang Jingkun, Lin Gaoyuan and Ma Long at the 2022 World Team Table Tennis Championships. He won gold in the men's singles and mixed team events at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sun Yingsha is a Chinese professional table tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles.
Germany's Alexander Zverev defeated Karen Khachanov of the Russian Olympic Committee in the final, 6–3, 6–1, to win the gold medal in Men's Singles tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics. It was both countries' first medals at the event since 2000, and Germany's first victory. In the bronze medal match, Spain's Pablo Carreño Busta defeated Serbia's Novak Djokovic, 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 6–3. En route to his bronze medal, Carreño Busta defeated the world's top two ranked players – the ROC's Daniil Medvedev and Djokovic.
Zheng Qinwen is a Chinese professional tennis player. She won the gold medal in singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics, becoming the first Asian tennis player, male or female, to win an Olympic gold in singles. She reached a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 7 on 29 January 2024, becoming the second Chinese player to reach the top 10 after Li Na.
Marc Rosset (SUI)
Jennifer Capriati (USA)
Boris Becker / Michael Stich (GER)
