XXIX Olympiad, Beijing

Venue: Olympic Green Tennis Centre, Beijing (DecoTurf II)
Centre Court (Capacity): 10,000
Date: 10-17 August 2008
Events: 4 (Men's & Women's Singles, Men's & Women's Doubles)
Official Ticketing: www.tickets.beijing2008.cn

[2008 Fact Sheet]

Visit the official Beijing 2008 website: www.beijing2008.com.

Brief History

Tennis was included in the competition program of the Olympic Games from 1896 to 1924. In fact, tennis was a founding sport in the first modern Olympics in 1896, with the inaugural tournament in Athens. It re-emerged in 1984 as a demonstration sport, and was officially re-instated as a full medal sport in 1988.

See: Olympic Medalists (1988 - 2004)

The significance of Seoul

After an absence of 64 years, tennis was allowed back to the Olympics as a demonstration sport at the 23rd Los Angeles Games in 1984. However, the heated debate regarding amateurism versus professionalism was still very much alive and, as a compromise, the participation of professionals in L.A. was restricted to newcomers below the age of 20.

By Seoul 1988, all restrictions were finally lifted. The amateur rule, which had plagued athletes and officials alike since the beginning of the Olympic Games, was finally overturned. It was now up to individual sports groups to determine whether or not "professionals" should be allowed to compete in the Olympics. This new rule allowed tennis to return to the Olympic Games, not having appeared since 1924 when it was dropped because of the bickering concerning professional/amateur athletes.

Although professionals who met certain constraints were allowed to take part in the football competition during the Summer Games, and also ice hockey in the Winter Games, tennis was the first sport to open up to professionals without attaching any conditions. The Seoul Olympic tennis competition saw 129 players from 39 countries, including 81 male and 48 female players.

The list of participants featured some of the world's very best: Steffi Graf of the Federal Republic of Germany, Chris Evert of the United States, and Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina in the women's events; Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia, Stefan Edberg of Sweden, and Henri Leconte of France in the men's events.

It was here in Seoul that one Stefanie "Steffi" Graf made history. Winning the gold medal in women's singles was no ordinary achievement, but that year, she was to win all four Grand Slam singles titles. By holding all five simultaneously, it meant she had reached a position where no one had gone before, and in her honour, this accomplishment was subsequently referred to as the "Golden Slam".

No other player had come close to matching that feat, man or woman.

One player, however, did manage to win all four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold at various stages during his professional tenure - the so called "Career Golden Slam".

That player's name was Andre Kirk Agassi.

In 1988, each NOC was allowed to enter three players each for men's and women's singles, one pair each for men's and women's doubles; and a maximum of four men and three women were allowed for entries. There were three ways to participate in the Seoul Olympic tennis competition: direct participation, regional qualifying, and as a wildcard entry.

The 64 players in the men's singles, for instance, included 32 chosen through direct participation, 24 selected after elimination and eight wildcard entries. The 48 women competitors in the singles were made up of 32 in direct participation, 12 selected through preliminaries and four wild cards.

The direct participation was a system in which each NOC was assigned one to two participating players according to the order of placings from the 1987 Davis Cup for men and the 1987 Federation Cup for women; when each NOC submitted the entry form, the players listed were eligible to enter the competition without going through the regional elimination. The wild card was a system in which the ITF recommended several players from among those who were not included in the direct participation and the regional eliminations.

Asian players who ended up in the maindraw of the men's singles (disregarding method of qualification) include Indians Vijay Amritraj and Zeeshan Ali; Japan's Toshihisa Tsuchihashi and Shuzo Matsuoka; and Korea's Kim Bong-Soo, Yoo Jin-Sun, and Song Dong-Wook.

The tennis competitions were held at the tennis courts constructed in the Olympic Park. The Olympic Tennis Courts, covering 9,064 square meters, include one Center Court with a seating capacity of 10,000, a Number One Court with a seating capacity of 3,500, two Number Two Courts with a seating capacity of 900, and 14 auxiliary courts. The Center Court and Number One Court were equipped with illumination facilities to allow night games.

Tennis balls manufactured by Nassau of Korea were accredited by the ITF for use in the Olympic competition, while nets were supplied by Asics of Japan.

From Seoul to Beijing

Since 1988, the Olympic Tennis Event has grown in stature, as evidenced by the strength and depth of entry.  Recent Olympic Champions include Andre Agassi of the United States in Atlanta, 1996 and Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia in Sydney 2000.

It was quite a task to get tickets for the tennis events at the millennium Olympic Games in Sydney because tennis was sold-out for every session and the NSW Tennis Centre in Sydney was filled to capacity each day with fans from all over the world that had come to support their athletes. More often than not, matches at the Olypics are characterized by battles going deep into the deciding set.

The men's singles gold medal game in Sydney saw Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov outlasting Germany's Tommy Haas over five sets to win the gold medal. Russia also featured in the women's final but a young Elena Dementieva was no match for the imposing American Venus Williams, who not only won gold in the singles but teamed up with sister Serena to win a second gold in the doubles. Canada's Sebastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor edged out the defending champions and local heroes Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde to win gold in the men's doubles.

For the Woodies, arguably the best doubles team ever to play the game, this marked the end of an era, as the gold medal match was to be the last of their outstanding partnership.

Visit the official Beijing 2008 website: www.beijing2008.com.