Four tennis events were contested at the 1900 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. These were played at the Cercle des Sports de l'Île de Puteaux. All four events were won by Great Britain. 26 tennis players from 4 nations competed, with over half from the host nation of France.
Anthony Frederick Wilding, also known as Tony Wilding, was a New Zealand world No. 1 tennis player and soldier who was killed in action during World War I. Considered the world's first tennis superstar, Wilding was the son of wealthy English immigrants to Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand and enjoyed the use of private tennis courts at their home. He obtained a legal education at Trinity College, Cambridge and briefly joined his father's law firm. Wilding was a first-class cricketer and a keen motorcycle enthusiast. His tennis career started with him winning the Canterbury Championships aged 17. He developed into a leading tennis player in the world during 1909–1914 and is considered to be a former world No. 1. He won 11 Grand Slam tournament titles, six in singles and five in doubles, and is the first and to date only player from New Zealand to have won a Grand Slam singles title. In addition to Wimbledon, he also won three other ILTF World Championships : In singles, two World Hard Court Championships (WHCC) (1913–14) and one World Covered Court Championships (WCCC) (1913). With his eleven Grand Slam tournaments, two WHCC and one WCCC titles, he has a total of fourteen Major tournament titles. His sweep of the three ILTF World Championships in 1913 was accomplished on three different surfaces being the first time this has been achieved in Major tournaments.
At the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden eight tennis events were contested divided over two tournaments; an indoor covered courts tournament, played on wood, held from May 5 until May 12 and an outdoor hard court tournament, played on clay, held from June 28 until July 5.
Major Josiah George Ritchie was a tennis player from Great Britain. Major was his first name, not a military title. He was born in Westminster, educated at Brighton College and died in Ashford.
Arthur William Charles Wentworth Gore was a British tennis player.
France competed at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden. 119 competitors, 118 men and 1 woman, took part in 66 events in 13 sports.
The men's (outdoor) singles was one of six lawn tennis events on the Tennis at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. The tournament was played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. There were 31 competitors from 9 nations. Nations could enter up to 12 players. The event was won by Major Ritchie of Great Britain, the nation's third victory in four Games. Otto Froitzheim earned Germany's first medal in the event with his silver. Another Briton, Wilberforce Eaves, took bronze.
The women's singles (outdoor) was one of six lawn tennis events on the Tennis at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. The number of withdrawals resulted in empty brackets, with one player making it to the final without playing a single match while another had to win two to advance to that point. Nations could enter up to 12 players. In all, 13 women from 4 nations were entered but only 5 from Great Britain competed. The tournament was held from 7 to 11 July at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. It was won by Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers, with Dora Boothby taking silver and Ruth Winch bronze.
The men's outdoor doubles' was one of six lawn tennis events on the Tennis at the 1908 Summer Olympics programme. Nations could enter up to 6 pairs. The event was plagued by withdrawals, with only 12 teams competing of the 21 that entered. There were 24 players from 8 nations. The event was won by Reginald Doherty and George Hillyard after defeating James Cecil Parke and Major Ritchie in the final. Clement Cazalet and Charles P. Dixon took the bronze medal without a bronze-medal match due to the withdrawal of an entire quadrant of the bracket. All three medal pairs were British. It was the second medal sweep in the men's doubles, after the United States did it in 1904, and it was also the last time that the men's doubles gold medal match was contested by pairs representing the same nation until Tokyo 2021. Doherty became the first man to win multiple men's doubles medals and gold medals, having earned gold with his brother Laurence Doherty in 1900.
Kenneth Powell was a British athlete and tennis player who competed in the 1908 and the 1912 Summer Olympics as well as at the Wimbledon Championships.
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.
The women's singles was a tennis event held as part of the Tennis at the 1920 Summer Olympics programme. A total of 18 players from 7 nations competed in the event, which was held from 16 to 24 August 1920 at the Beerschot Tennis Club. The event was won by Suzanne Lenglen of France, defeating Dorothy Holman of Great Britain in the final. It was the second consecutive victory for a French woman, with Marguerite Broquedis winning the pre-war 1912 tournament. Kathleen McKane Godfree of Great Britain defeated Sigrid Fick of Sweden in the bronze-medal match.
Poland competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's twentieth appearance at the Summer Olympics, having missed the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles because of the Soviet boycott. The Polish Olympic Committee sent a total of 218 athletes to the Games, 130 men and 88 women, to compete in 22 sports.
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 the 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.
Belarus' Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi defeated Great Britain's Laura Robson and Andy Murray in the final, 2–6, 6–3, [10–8] to win the gold medal in Mixed Doubles tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In the bronze medal match, the United States' Lisa Raymond and Mike Bryan defeated Germany's Sabine Lisicki and Christopher Kas, 6–3, 4–6, [10–4].
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.
Tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo was held between 24 July and 1 August 2021 at the Ariake Tennis Park.
The United States' Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock defeated compatriots Venus Williams and Rajeev Ram in the final, 6–7(3–7), 6–1, [10–7] to win the gold medal in Mixed Doubles tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In the bronze-medal match, the Czech Republic's Lucie Hradecká and Radek Štěpánek defeated India's Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna, 6–1, 7–5. The United States became the first nation to win two gold medals in the mixed doubles, and the Czech Republic won its first medal in the event.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee defeated compatriots Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in the final, 6–3, 6–7(5–7), [13–11] to win the gold medal in Mixed Doubles tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Australia's Ashleigh Barty and John Peers won the bronze medal following a withdrawal from Serbia's Nina Stojanović and Novak Djokovic. 32 competitors from 14 countries participated.
Major Ritchie (GBR)
