Since 1896, championships have been held among men, and since 1900 - among women.
However, later, in 1928, tennis as a sport that became professional was excluded by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) from the program Olympic competitions and was absent from the Olympics for several decades.
Only in 1968 in Mexico City during the Games of the XIX Olympiad a demonstration tennis tournament was held.
In 1977, the IOC, at its 79th session in Prague, recognized the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as a governing sport that meets the criteria of the Olympic Charter. However, this Olympic recognition of tennis did not mean its immediate inclusion in the Olympic program.
Tennis was not represented at the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow in 1980. In 1984, at the Games of the XXIII Olympiad in Los Angeles, only demonstration tennis competitions were held.
Only on Games XXIV At the 1988 Olympics, tennis was finally returned to the program of official Olympic competition, after a 64-year hiatus.
Athletes who have taken part in official team competitions, including for the team of their country in the Davis Cup and the Federation Cup, are allowed to play in the Olympic tournament.During the time during which tennis is included in the program of the Games of the Olympics in the period from 1896 to 1924 inclusive and in the period from 1988 to 1996 inclusive, the largest total number of Olympic awards of various denominations was won by athletes:
- Great Britain - 36 medals - 14 gold, 11 silver, 11 bronze.
- This is followed by the USA - 26 medals - 14 gold, 4 silver, 8 bronze.
- France - 15 medals - 5 gold, 4 silver, 6 bronze.
- Germany - 7 medals - 2 gold, 3 silver, 2 bronze.
- Spain - 7 medals - 5 silver, 2 bronze. Sweden - 7 medals - 2 silver, 5 bronze.
Youngest female tennis player Olympic champion turned out to be American Jennifer Capriati, who was a little over 16 years old when she won the 1992 Games in Barcelona in singles.
The oldest was George Hillard of Great Britain, who was in his 45th year when he was awarded the gold medal in doubles at the Games of the IV Olympiad in London in 1908.
The best results of the performances of Russian tennis players in major international competitions:
Finalists of the Wimbledon tournament: O. Morozova - mixed doubles (1968, 1970) and singles (1974), A. Olkhovsky - mixed doubles (1997).Winners of 8 Grand Slam tournaments: Australia - A. Olkhovsky (1994; mixed), E. Kafelnikov (1999; singles);
France: O. Morozova (1974; couple), E. Manyukova / A. Olkhovsky (1993; mixed), E. Kafelnikov - 1996 (singles) and a couple (1996-97);
USA: E. Kafelnikov (1997; couple).
E. Kafelnikov - Grand Slam Cup semi-finalist (1995-96).
Winners of 61 Crand-Prix and ATP-Tour tournaments in singles and doubles (1987-98).
Winners of 29 WITA and WTA Tour tournaments in singles and doubles (1974-98).
Davis Cup finalists (1994-95).
Finalists of the Federation Cup (1999).
A. Kournikova - world champion among girls (1995).
A. Cherkasov - 5-time European champion among youths (1982, 1985-87).
"ETA Players of the Year": 14 years old - A. Kournikova, A. Derepasko (1994), L. Krasnorutskaya (1997); 16 years old - E. Bovina (1997).
How did the name of the game "tennis" come about?
It is believed that this name is based on the French word "tenne", meaning "take, grab." With this appeal, the players drew the opponent's attention to the beginning of the ball game.
Why is the term "service", which means "service", used in the submission?
The service actually existed in the game. Some high-ranking members of the nobility, in particular Henry VIII, king of England in the 16th century, did not serve the ball themselves, but preferred to use the "services" of servants.
Why is the successful end of a point scoring in a special way in tennis?
Known since the days of the old French game, scoring is based on dividing the day by 24 hours (up to 24 games were played). The hours, in turn, were divided into four quarters; each successful ball was equal to one quarter of an hour, i.e. 15 minutes corresponded to 15 points. Thus, one game lasted up to 60 points, and the counting was carried out as follows: 15, 30, 45, 60. Over time, the number of games decreased to 6 in one set, and every third successful ball is now counted for 10 points, i.e. instead of 45, 40 is declared.
(information from the site www.sportstar.ru was used)
11th century beginnings
The earliest recognisable relative to tennis, as we know it, was "jeu de paume", played in 11th century France. Played in a monastery courtyard, the game used the walls and sloping roofs as part of the court and the palm of the hand to hit the ball.
Tennis overtakes croquet
By the late 19th century, the popularity of lawn tennis had overtaken croquet in England. For this reason, the All England Croquet Club embraced the sport and designated certain croquet lawns to be used for tennis. It was this natural supply of venues combined with the already existing framework for a racquet game that resulted in the birth of the modern game in England.
An international sport
In 1913, lawn tennis was becoming increasingly popular worldwide. Therefore it seemed natural that the existing National Tennis Associations should join forces to ensure the game was uniformly structured. An international conference was held between 12 nations in Paris and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) was created.
Professional dilemma
Tennis has a long Olympic history but withdrew from the program after 1924. It did not return as a medal sport until 1988. Professionals are now welcome to compete, and the Olympic competition includes men "s and women" s singles and men "s and women "s doubles.
Upcoming tennis tournament XXXI summer The Olympic Games will be the fifteenth in the history of the Olympics and the eighth in the recent history of tennis - after tennis returned to the Olympic sports in 1988.
At the Olympic tournament, five sets of medals will be played: in singles and doubles for men and women, as well as in the category of mixed pairs. The tournament will be held under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee, with the support of the ITF. Participants in the tennis tournament at the 2016 Olympics will not receive points in the ATP and WTA ratings.
All matches in the tournament will be played in a three-set format. An exception is the final of the men's singles tournament, which will be held in a five-set format. The decisive set in all categories, except for the "mixed", will be held without a tie-break. In case of equality in the parties in the "mixed" game, the winner will be determined according to the "champion tie-break" system.
Serb Novak Djokovic got the first seed in singles in men. The leader of the world ranking starts with a match against Argentinean Juan Martin Del Potro, to whom he lost in the bronze medal match at the 2012 Olympics in London. Already in the second round, Novak can meet with the Portuguese Joao Sousa, whose starting rival is the Dutchman Robin Haase. The most likely rival of Djokovic in the third round match is the American Jack Sok, who has secured the status of a Top-30 player.
In a duel for reaching the semifinals of the Games, the Serbian player can face the French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or the Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut, who already has two titles in 2016, won in competitions with hard surface. Luxembourger Gilles Müller is quite capable of preventing the former, while the Russian Andrey Kuznetsov will try to block the way of the latter at the start.
Also at the top of the grid is the Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who will start his performance with a match with Argentinean Federico Delbonis. Really serious competition to Raphael in the fight for reaching the quarter finals of the competition can be imposed only by the Frenchman Gilles Simon, whose results in recent times are not encouraging. Against Rafael, the fact is that he has not yet fully recovered from his left wrist injury. Obviously, if health allows Nadal to perform in full force, then the Spaniard with a high degree of probability will fight for a medal of the highest standard.
In the third quarter, Japan's Kei Nishikori, who reached the Masters final in Toronto, will begin his tournament career. In the first round, he will meet with the Spaniard Albert Ramos, who had an excellent clay part of the season. Then Kei, most likely, will confront the Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis. Problems for the Japanese can begin in the 1/8 finals, where he can play with the German Philip Kohlschreiber.
The fight in the final quarter of the grid promises to be interesting as well. Of course, the status of the main favorite here belongs to Andy Murray, who won gold at the London Olympics. This is not surprising, because the Briton won the Grand Slam tournament - Wimbledon for the first time in three years.
The lot was favorable to Andy in Rio de Janeiro. Although a somewhat dangerous opponent can meet Murray only in the third round, and even then the most likely contender for this - the Frenchman Benoit Peer - is far from being in optimal shape.
Only in the quarter-finals, the Briton, whose entry into this stage is beyond doubt, may face any difficulties, although, in all honesty, neither Spaniard David Ferrer nor American Steve Johnson should become a serious obstacle for Murray.
The main character at the top will be the leader of the world ranking table, American Serena Williams. The current champion of the Games will begin her tournament career with a duel with Australian Daria Gavrilova.
In the second round, Serena can meet with Frenchwoman Alize Cornet, whose starting rival will be the Swede Johanna Larsson. In the match for reaching the quarterfinals, Williams Jr. is likely to fight with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina. In a quarterfinal duel, Serena's rival may be Italian Robert Vinci or Czech Petra Kvitova.
Spaniard Garbin Mugurusa and American Venus Williams will start in the second quarter of the upper half of the tournament bracket. However, Swiss Timea Bachinski and Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova are quite capable of preventing them from meeting in the quarterfinals.
Mugurusa will begin his performance with a duel with Serbian Elena Jankovic. Already in the second round, the Spaniard can fight the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu, and in the 1/8 finals of the Olympics she can play with Pavlyuchenkova.
Venus Williams will face Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in the opening round. Already in the next match, the American can play with the Czech Lucy Shafarzhova, and Bachinski may become a rival of Venus in the third round match.
The third quarter of the tournament grid turned out to be no less interesting. Here, the fourth racket of the tournament, Polka Agnieszka Radwanska, will start her performance. In the first round, Agnieszka will meet with the Chinese woman Zheng Saisai. The first really dangerous rival of the polka can be the Russian woman Daria Kasatkina, with whom Radwanska can fight in the second round.
For reaching the quarterfinals of the competition, Agnieszka will most likely compete with Czech Barbara Strykova. In the quarterfinal match, the polka can play with the American Madison Keys, who became the vice-champion of the competition in Montreal a week ago.
In the second quarter of the bottom half of the tournament grid, the German Angelique Kerber, who received the second number at the seeding, will start the competition. The winner of the Australian Open at the start of the tournament will meet with Colombian Mariana Duque-Marina. Despite the fact that Angelique was unable to reach the final of the tournament in Montreal, she looks like the favorite in her part of the bracket.
In the second round of the tournament, the German will play with the winner of the meeting between the Canadian Eugenie Bouchard and the American Sloane Stevens, and then, most likely, will confront the Australian Samantha Stosur, who received the 13th number at the seeding.
In the upper part of this quarter, the main focus will be on Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the first round, Svetlana will face off against the Chinese woman Jiang Wang. Then either the Romanian Monica Niculescu, or Veronica Sepede-Roig from Paraguay will stand in the way of Kuznetsova. In the third round, the Russian woman can meet with the British Johanna Conte.
Who has won the most medals in the Olympic tennis tournament? Which Russian players were the first at the Olympics? What record is Leander Paes preparing to break in London and what Olympic anti-record will never be corrected by Elena Dementieva? Which Swiss won the Olympics on Federer's birthday? This and much more is on this list of fifty facts about tennis at the Olympics.
1. For the first time, tennis competitions were held at the first Olympic Games in Athens in 1896.
2. Tennis was one of the nine sports, along with swimming, athletics, wrestling, cycling, shooting, weightlifting, artistic gymnastics and fencing, in which the participants of the first Olympiad competed.
3. Of the 13 participants in the singles tennis tournament at the first Olympics, seven represented Greece, the host of the Games.
4. At the first Olympiads in doubles, many players were grouped into teams, whose members played for different countries.
5. Gold medalist of the first Olympic Games in singles and doubles, Briton John Boland (on the picture), from 1900 to 1918 was a member of the British House of Commons.
6. George Robertson, who won bronze in doubles at the 1896 Olympics, took part in the shot put and discus throw at the same time. His result in discus throws, 25 m and 20 cm, remains the worst result ever shown at the Olympics in this discipline for men. Robertson's partner in doubles, Australian Teddy Flack, was much more successful - he won gold in the 800 and 1500 meters.
7. Players in the first three Olympics competed on clay.
8. Tennis competitions in the Olympic Games were held 9 times on clay courts, 6 times on hard courts, 3 times on grass (including the 2012 Olympics) and 2 times on wooden courts.
9. The famous Docherty brothers have won seven medals in tennis for two. Lawrence took gold in singles and doubles (with brother) and bronze in mixed doubles in 1900. Reginald in 1900, in addition to a medal in pairs, received gold in mixed doubles, and at the 1908 Olympics won bronze in singles and gold in pairs.
10. The first women's competition was held in 1900. The champion was the representative of Great Britain, five-time winner of Wimbledon, Charlotte Cooper. She also won gold in the mixed category, paired with Reginald Docherty.
11. At the 1904 Olympics, 35 out of 36 participants represented the United States and one Germany. The competition was held in the American St. Louis, so the European athletes, in general, did not want to travel a whole week across the ocean on a ship.
12. In 1908 and 1912 at the Olympics, indoor competitions were added as separate disciplines, along with outdoor competitions. The games in the hall were played on a wooden floor.
13. In 1912, at the Stockholm Olympics, representatives of Russia first appeared among the participants. They are Mikhail Sumarokov-Elston and Alexander Alenitsyn (on the picture)... The draw brought them together already in the first round of the tennis tournament, but the team's management decided to let Sumarokov-Elston go ahead without a fight and removed Alenitsyn from the competition. Sumarokov-Elston did not win medals - he lost in the third round to the German Oscar Kreutzer.
14. In 1920, the famous Frenchwoman Susan Lenglen won two gold medals.
15. After the 1924 Olympics, tennis ceases to be an Olympic sport. This is due to the disagreement between the International Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee. The first wanted to have a representative in the IOC leadership in order to ensure normal conditions for tennis players (the 1924 Games were badly organized), in addition, the status of the players was in question - who is considered an amateur and who is a professional.
16. There was no tennis at the Olympics for 64 years - only in 1988, in the year of the 75th anniversary of the ITF, in Seoul he made his triumphant return.
17. Exhibition tennis tournaments were held in Mexico City in 1968 and in Los Angeles in 1984 at the Olympic Games. In Los Angeles, about 6,000 people attended matches every day - more than many other sports.
18. In the 1984 exhibition tournament, only tennis players under the age of 21 were allowed to play. The virtual gold medals were then won by 15-year-old Steffi Graf and 18-year-old Stefan Edberg - both future top rackets of the world and multiple Grand Slam champions.
19. At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the entire podium for women was taken by representatives of Russia - Elena Dementieva won gold, Dinara Safina won silver, and Vera Zvonareva won bronze (on the picture)... The last time this was possible for the representatives of Great Britain in 1908 in the women's singles and men's doubles, that is, exactly one hundred years ago.
20. The leader in the number of medals won in tennis is Great Britain. Athletes from this country have won 44 medals, of which 16 are gold. In second place are the Americans, who have 17 gold medals out of 34.
21. Great Britain won 43 of 44 medals up to and including 1924. After the restoration of tennis as Olympic look sports, the players representing Foggy Albion won only one medal - Tim Henman and Neil Broad took silver in Atlanta.
22. In a "new era" that began in 1988, absolute leaders in the number of tennis medals were Americans. They have 10 gold medals - the second-coming Russians, Chileans and Swiss boast only two gold medals.
23. American couple Gigi Fernandez and Mary-Joe Fernandez are the only players to defend their title at the Olympics - they won doubles in 1992 in Barcelona and in 1996 in Atlanta.
24. Venus Williams (on the picture)- the only woman in history who managed to take three gold medals in tennis disciplines. She has won gold in singles and doubles in Sydney in 2000 and gold in pairs in Beijing in 2008.
25. Fernando Gonzalez and Steffi Graf are the only players since 1988 to have a full complement of medals: gold, silver and bronze.
26. Conchita Martinez is the only one who was able to win medals at three different Olympics. In 1992 and 2004, she won silver, and in 1996 - bronze, all in doubles.
27. Among the gold medalists of the Olympics, Elena Dementyeva is the only one who has never won a Grand Slam tournament.
28. For the first time in 88 years, the Olympics will host mixed competitions. The latest champions here were the Americans Hazel Whiteman and Norris Williams, who won gold in 1924 in Paris.
29. Most of all medals in tennis at the Olympics were won by British Caitlin McCain - she has five of them (1 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze). With four medals, Caitlin is followed by Reginald Docherty, Charles Dixon, Gunnar Setterwall and Arancia Sanchez-Vicario.
30. In 1996, the Indian Leander Paes brought his country the first medal in 16 years (since the 1980 Olympics in Moscow), and this medal (bronze in singles) was the first since 1952 that India received not in field hockey.
31. The same Leander Paes (on the picture) may be the only player to have competed in six Olympics in a row - in 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012.
32. Germany's Friedrich Traun, winner of the first Olympiad in doubles, is the youngest ever gold medalist in tennis. He became the champion at the age of 20 years and 13 days. Unfortunately, Friedrich's life was short - at the age of 32 he committed suicide - as they said, due to the fact that he was a bigamist.
33. The youngest gold medalist among women is the American wundkind Jennifer Capriati - she tried on the gold medal in 1992, at the age of 16, beating Steffi Graf herself in the final.
34. The "oldest" Olympic gold medalists in tennis are John Hilliard (he was 44 years old when he won the doubles tournament in London), and among women - Winifred McNair, who at the age of 43 won the doubles at the Games in Antwerp.
35. The lowest-rated player ever to become an Olympic champion in tennis is Swiss Marc Rosse, who at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics defeated Spaniard Jordi Arres in the five-set final, being 44th in the world. Rosset won his medal on August 8 - on this day Roger Federer celebrated his 11th birthday.
36. Parents and relatives of many tennis players themselves participated in the Olympics: father Lindsay Davenport played in 1968 for the US volleyball team, Svetlana Kuznetsova's brother Nikolai - Olympic silver medalist in Atlanta in the team pursuit on a cycle track, Nadezhda Petrova's mother, Nadezhda Ilyina, won bronze medal in the 4x400 meters relay at the games in Montreal, Vera Zvonareva's mother Natalya Bykova - bronze medalist of the Moscow Olympics as part of the field hockey team.
37. All women's gold medalists since the 1988 Seoul Games were in the Top 10 at the time of their victory.
38. Since 1988, the US has always won the women's doubles. An exception is 2004, when Chinese women became champions.
39. Steffi Graf (on the picture)- the only player in history to win the so-called Golden Helmet. In 1988, she won all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Seoul Olympics.
40. Only two men, Andre Agassi and Rafael Nadal, have the career Golden Helmet. They have at least once won all the Grand Slam tournaments and won gold in the Olympic Games - Agassi in 1996, and Nadal in 2008.
41. Tennis players from 33 countries and various state unions rose to the podium for medals. Among the medalists are representatives of the now defunct Bohemia, Australasia (the sports union of Australia and New Zealand), as well as the "United Team", which included players from some countries of the former USSR, who played under the Olympic flag.
42. Roger Federer and Serena Williams, who both have 31 singles titles at the Grand Slam tournaments, have never won a singles medal at the Olympics. But both are Olympic gold medalists in pairs.
43. The London Olympics will be the fourteenth to feature tennis in the program.
44. For victory at the 2012 Olympics, the winner among men will receive 750 rating points (for comparison, for winning the Masters series tournament they will give 1000 points, and in the Grand Slam tournament - 2000), and for women - 685 rating points.
45. Not all players in the Top 56 rating will be able to take part in the Games - someone was hindered by competition from compatriots (no more than four players from one country can play in single competitions), and someone - by the rules of national teams. In Germany, Sweden, Belgium, New Zealand and other countries there are additional requirements - somewhere you need to be in the Top 24 or Top 16 of the rating, somewhere the player must definitely reach the quarterfinals at the Grand Slam tournament. As a result, Sofia Arvidsson, Marina Erakovich, Olivier Rochus and even Julia Görges with Philip Kohlschreiber almost parted with hopes for the Olympics. And Marion Bartoli will definitely not play in London.
46. Representatives of Liechtenstein and Paraguay - Stephanie Vogt and Veronica Sepede Roig will play at the London Olympics in the women's tennis tournament. They received special invitations, which are given to countries whose representation at the Olympics is extremely small.
47. The final of the men's tournament at the Olympics will be played in a five-set format, although all other matches until the final will be played in three sets.
48. Matches will be played on the Wimbledon courts, but the traditional Olympic color restrictions will be lifted so that most spectators will be able to see players playing on these courts in colors other than white for the first time.
49. 64 participants will compete in singles, and there can be no more than four people from each country. In the early stages, representatives of one country will not be able to meet with each other - they will all be seeded in different quarters of the grid.
50. The draw for the tennis tournament will take place on 26 July at 11:00 London time. The tournament starts on July 28 and ends on August 5. The day after the end of the tennis Olympic tournament on the grass kicks off the hardcore Masters in Toronto. The women's tournament in Montreal will start a day later.
According to http://www.itftennis.com
Tennis is a game with a ball and rackets on a special area (a court 23.77 m long and 8.23 m wide), divided by a net fixed at a height of 1.07 m. The mesh is stretched over square and round pillars with a side and a diameter of no more than 15 cm.
Known since the days of the old French game, scoring is based on dividing the day by 24 hours (up to 24 games were played). The hours, in turn, were divided into four quarters; each successful ball was equal to one quarter of an hour - 15 minutes corresponded to 15 points. Thus, one game lasted up to 60 points, and the counting was carried out as follows: 15, 30, 45, 60. Over time, the number of games decreased to 6 in one set, and every third successful ball is now counted for 10 points, i.e. instead of 45, 40 is declared.
OLYMPIC GAMES
Tennis competitions first appeared at the 1896 Games in Athens and continued until the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris, after which they were canceled. Then tennis was included in the Games program twice as a demonstration sport, until it again entered the competitive program of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. Initially, the competition was for men, with women appearing at the 1900 Games in Paris.
RUSSIA
On August 18, 1878, the “Manifesto on the World Development of Lawn Tennis in Russia” was promulgated, proclaimed by an initiative group headed by the writer and historian Dmitry Solovyov. By the beginning of the 20th century, there were 12 large tennis clubs in Russia.
The most titled tennis player in Russia is still Evgeny Kafelnikov, winner of two Grand Slam tournaments (Roland Garros 1996 and Australian Open 1999) and the 2000 Sydney Olympic champion in singles. Marat Safin also won two Grand Slam tournaments (Australian Open 2005 and US Open 2000).
The most titled tennis player in Russia is Maria Sharapova. She has won five Grand Slam tournaments (Wimbledon 2004, US Open 2006, Australian Open 2008 and twice Roland Garros in 2012 and 2014).
In 2008, Elena Dementieva became the champion of the Games in Beijing. In the Dementieva collection, this medal is the second at the Olympic Games: in 2000, in Sydney, the Russian woman won a silver medal. The tennis tournament in Beijing was a real triumph for the Russian women's tennis: The entire podium was taken by representatives of the national tennis school. Dinara Safina won the silver medal, Vera Zvonareva won the bronze.
Successful performance at the Olympics continued in London in 2012. Maria Sharapova won a silver medal in singles, while Nadezhda Petrova and Maria Kirilenko won bronze medals.
At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Russian national team again had gold medal in tennis. For the first time in the history of Russian tennis, it was won in doubles by Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.
Photo - Sergey Kivrin and Andrey Golovanov
Tennis is a game with a ball and rackets on a special area (a court 23.77 m long and 8.23 m wide), divided by a net fixed at a height of 1.07 m. The net is stretched on pillars of square and circular cross-section with a side and a diameter of no more than 15 cm. The goal of the game is to send the ball to the opponent's half by hitting the racket so that he could not beat it off or beat it off in violation of the rules. 2 players (or 2 teams of 2 people) are on opposite sides of the net. One of them is serving and throws the ball into play, serves. The second player is the receiver. The task of the players is to direct the ball by striking the racket towards the opponent's side, while hitting the ball into the boundaries of the court. The player must have time to hit the ball before it touches the court more than once. The player at fault loses the rally and his opponent scores a point. Players need to collect points to win games. By gaining games, one of the players wins the set. To win a match, you must win 2 out of 3 or 3 out of 5 sets. As soon as one of the players reaches the required number of won sets, the match ends.
