Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried, nicknamed El Vampiro, is a Chilean tennis coach and a former professional player. A former world No. 6 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.
The 1958 Asian Games, officially the Third Asian Games and commonly known as Tokyo 1958, was a multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 May to 1 June 1958. It was governed by the Asian Games Federation. A total of 1,820 athletes representing 20 Asian National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated in the Games. The program featured competitions in 13 different sports encompassing 97 events, including four non-Olympic sports, judo, table tennis, tennis and volleyball. Four of these competition sports – field hockey, table tennis, tennis and volleyball – were introduced for the first time in the Asian Games.
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.
Chile's Fernando González and Nicolás Massú defeated Germany's Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schüttler in the final, 6–2, 4–6, 3–6, 7–6(9–7), 6–4 to win the gold medal in Men's Doubles tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics. They saved four consecutive championship points in the 4th set tiebreak en route to their win. It was Chile's first ever Olympic gold medal. Massú and González also won gold and bronze, respectively, in the singles competition. Germany won its third medal in four Games in the event. In the bronze medal match, Croatia's Mario Ančić and Ivan Ljubičić defeated India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, 7–6(7–5), 4–6, 16–14. It was Croatia's first medal in men's doubles since 1992.
China's participation in the Olympic games is relatively recent. The People's Republic of China sent its first full athletic delegation to the Summer Olympic Games in the 1984 Summer Olympics which was held in Los Angeles, United States.
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.
Ding Ning is a former Chinese table tennis player. She was the winner of women's singles in the 2011 World Table Tennis Championships.
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.
Leander Adrian Paes is an Indian former professional tennis player and the 1st Asian man to be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players of all-time and holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men's doubles and ten mixed doubles Grand Slam titles. He made a total of 34 Grand Slam finals across men's and mixed doubles in his career which is the joint 2nd highest of all-time among men. He holds a career Grand Slam in men's doubles and mixed doubles making him one of only three men in the Open era to achieve this distinction and won the rare men's/mixed double at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships. Paes, together with Mahesh Bhupathi, were the first pair in Open era history to reach the men's doubles finals of all 4 Grand Slams in the same calendar year (1999).
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, Olympic champion, and World Champion. He is currently ranked world No.1 in men's singles.
Sun Yingsha is a Chinese professional table tennis player, Olympic champion, and World Champion. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles. At the closing ceremony of Paris 2024 Olympic games, Sun was selected to extinguish the Olympic flame as the representative of the continent of Asia, the first female to be selected for the role.
Marc Rosset (SUI)
Jennifer Capriati (USA)
Boris Becker / Michael Stich (GER)
