The Supersized Olympic Tennis Quiz

The tennis competition in Rio is a stone's throw in time away, but the Backspin Olympic Tennis Quiz is here. Right now. In super-sized form, in fact.

I've combined the first two Olympic quizzes (with the Q&A's updated and, in some cases, re-written) with a whole new set of questions for something of a monster-sized test of Olympic tennis knowledge, though it admittedly comes up a bit short of being the sort of "monster" that might just be living at the bottom of the sewage-filled Rio waters some of the athletes will be competing in during the Rio games. But luckily, here, it's safe to not go into the water.

Oh, and if you want to take the WHOLE quiz and keep score, then it's all pretty self-explanatory. But if you want to just test yourself with the questions not included in the two previous Backspin Olympic Tennis quizzes, just jump around to the blue-colored questions. There are two sets of scoring charts at the end, depending on which route you choose to take.


In general, these questions refer to Olympic tennis since the sport returned to the games in 1988, unless otherwise noted.

1. Who did Steffi Graf defeat in the singles final in Seoul to collect the Olympic leg of her 1988 "Golden Slam?"

a. Gabriela Sabatini
b. Martina Navratilova
c. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
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2. How many former #1-ranked players did Serena Williams defeat en route to her first Olympic singles Gold in London in 2012?

a. 2
b. 3
c. 4
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3. How old was Jennifer Capriati when she won Olympic singles Gold?

a. 16
b. 17
c. 18
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4. Only one head-to-head Medal Match (Gold or Bronze) has been contested between two women representing nations in which they were not born. What was the match-up?

a. Monica Seles vs. Jelena Dokic
b. Martina Hingis vs. Mary Pierce
c. Martina Hingis vs. Monica Seles
d. Martina Navratilova vs. Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere
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5. True or False? In 2012, when Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka filled the medal stand, it marked the only Olympiad in which all the women's singles medalists had been ranked #1 at some point during their careers.
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6. True or False? While both Williams sisters have swept Olympic Gold in both singles and doubles in a singles games (Venus in Sydney in 2000, Serena in London in '12), there has never been a male player who's swept both titles at the same Olympics since tennis returned as a medal sport in 1988.
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7. Which Swiss has won an Olympic Gold in men's singles?

a. Roger Federer
b. Marc Rosset
c. Stan Wawrinka
d. Jakob Hlasek
e. no Swiss man has ever won Olympic Gold in singles
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8. True or False? China has never won an Olympic medal in tennis.
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9. True or False? Other than Justine Henin, no other Belgian has ever won an Olympic medal in tennis.
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10. Which two teenagers won the Los Angeles '84 tournament when tennis was a demonstration event before its re-introduction as a medal sport in '88?

a. Steffi Graf & Boris Becker
b. Steffi Graf & Stefan Edberg
c. Gabriela Sabatini & Boris Becker
d. Hana Mandlikova & Pat Cash
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11. In the seven Olympic tennis competitions since the sport's return to the games in 1988, how many of the seven #1 seeds have won the women's singles Gold?
a. 4
b. 3
c. 2
d. 1
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12. Two women have won doubles medals with multiple players. Who are they?

a. Mary Joe Fernandez & Lisa Raymond
b. Rennae Stubbs & Gigi Fernandez
c. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario & Conchita Martinez
d. Conchita Martinez & Virginia Ruano Pascual
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13. Yes or No? While several siblings -- the Williamses, Bryans and even the Dohertys way back in 1900 -- have claimed medals as duos throughout Olympic history, has any married pair ever combined their efforts en route to the tennis medal stand?
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14. True or False? Andy Murray's Gold Medal performance in London in 2012 ended a longer stretch of years between British men's Olympic singles champions than the long drought of British men's singles slam champs that he ended by winning Wimbledon in 2013.
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15. True or False? Since 1988, Andy Murray and Jennifer Capriati are the only players to win singles Gold as a member of the Olympic team of the host nation.
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BONUS: Only four women have played in a singles medal match (Gold or Bronze) in her home country at the Olympics since the sport's return in 1988. Pick them:

a. Conchita Martinez (Barcelona '92)
b. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (Barcelona '92)
c. Lindsay Davenport (Atlanta '96)
d. Mary Joe Fernandez (Atlanta '96)
e. Jelena Dokic (Sydney '00)
f. Alicia Molik (Sydney '00)
g. Eleni Daniilidou (Athens '04)
h. Li Na (Beijing '08)
i. Zheng Jie (Beijing '08)
j. Peng Shuai (Beijing '08)
h. Elena Baltacha (London '12)
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16. Serena Williams has only participated in singles at two Olympics. She won in 2012, but lost in the QF in 2008. Which Russian defeated her?

a. Maria Sharapova
b. Dinara Safina
c. Elena Dementieva
d. Vera Zvonareva
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17. There have been seven Olympiads since tennis returned to the Games in 1988. Three of seven men's singles Gold winners don't also have grand slam singles titles to their credit. How many of the six women's Gold Medalists are also slam-less?

a. 0 (they've all won slams)
b. 1
c. 2
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18. True or False? Serena Williams and Steffi Graf are the only players -- women or men -- who have won a "Career Six Pack" of the six biggest singles titles available in the sport (the four slams, Olympic Gold and the WTA/ATP season-ending championships)
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19. From this list, pick the two doubles duos that have also accomplished the same "Six Pack" mentioned in Question #18.

a. Martina Navratilova & Pam Shriver
b. Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde
c. Jana Novotna & Helena Sukova
d. Mahesh Bhupathi & Leander Paes
e. Serena Williams & Venus Williams
f. Bob Bryan & Mike Bryan
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20. True or False? Victoria Azarenka's Singles Bronze in 2012 is the only Olympic tennis medal ever claimed by Belarus.
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21. Pick from the following list the three match-ups that have occurred as Gold Medal Matches as well as in grand slam Finals:

a. Steffi Graf vs. Gabriela Sabatini
b. Steffi Graf vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
c. Lindsay Davenport vs. Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
d. Lindsay Davenport vs. Martina Hingis
e. Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams
f. Justine Henin vs. Amelie Mauresmo
g. Justine Henin vs. Kim Clijsters
h. Serena Williams vs. Maria Sharapova
i. Serena Williams vs. Victoria Azarenka
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22. Behind both Serena and Venus Williams, who has won the THIRD-most Olympic medals while representing the U.S. since the sport returned to the Olympics in 1988?

a. Lindsay Davenport
b. Bob & Mike Bryan
c. Pam Shriver
d. Mary Joe Fernandez
e. Jennifer Capriati
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23. Approximately how many months was Justine Henin out of action before she arrived in Athens and won the singles Gold?

a. one
b. three
c. five
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24. How many women's singles medalists since 1988 never reached a slam singles final in their careers?

a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3
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25. True or False? No woman has won more overall Olympic medals in doubles than Conchita Martinez.
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26. How many different Russian women have won Olympic medals in tennis (WS/WD/MX) since 1988?

a. 5
b. 6
c. 7
d. 8
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27. Two women have won singles medals of multiple colors. Who are they?

a. Lindsay Davenport & Mary Joe Fernandez
b. Steffi Graf & Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
c. Steffi Graf & Elena Dementieva
d. Jana Novotna & Elena Dementieva
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28. True or False? Every Olympic tennis medal stand -- Gold, Silver and Bronze winners -- has included at least one former slam singles champ.
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29. Serena & Venus Williams have won women's doubles Gold at multiple Olympics, but they aren't the only female duo to accomplish the feat. Who comprised the other multiple Gold-winning team?

a. Jana Novotna & Helena Sukova
b. Conchita Martinez & Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
c. Mary Joe Fernandez & Lindsay Davenport
d. Mary Joe Fernandez & Gigi Fernandez
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30. In 1926, Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills played in what was dubbed "The Match of the Century," the only meeting in the careers of the two players considered the greatest in the women's game in the first half of the 20th century. Lenglen won that match. Both also won multiple Olympic medals during tennis' original stint in the games, but which of the two women won the MOST medals?
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>>>[ 3 PTS. EACH UNLESS NOTED ]<<<1. a. - Graf defeated Sabatini, 6-3/6-3 in the Seoul final in 1988. Sabatini would also lose in the final to Graf in another leg of the German's "Golden Slam" that season, at the U.S. Open. But, two years later, Sabatini would defeat Graf at the U.S. Open to claim her only slam singles title. The Argentine won a doubles slam title at Wimbledon in 1988, as well... while partnering Graf, of course.
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2. c. - Williams defeated four former #1's (Jankovic, Wozniacki, Azarenka & Sharapova), as well as a former #2 (Zvonareva), while winning singles Gold at Wimbledon in the '12 games. In maybe THE "time capsule"-worthy performance of her entire career, Serena lost just twenty games through the six rounds, never losing a set. And, of course, she also won her third Olympic Gold in doubles with Venus, too.
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3. a. - Capriati was 16 in Barcelona '92 when she defeated Steffi Graf in the singles final. It would be eight and a half years before she'd finally win her first slam title at the Australian Open in 2001.
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4. a. - Monica Seles (USA = born in Novi Sad, Yugoslavia) defeated Jelena Dokic (AUS = born in Osijek, Croatia but later representing Yugoslavia) in the Bronze Medal Match in Sydney in 2000.
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5. True. - 2012 was the first time all the women's singles medalists were one-time #1-ranked players. In 1992, Jennifer Capriati (Gold), Steffi Graf (Silver) and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (Bronze) met the standard, but at those Olympics there was no head-to-head match to decide 3rd/4th place, so Mary Joe Fernandez (who reached only #4) shared the Bronze medal honors with ASV.
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6. False. - Chile's Nicolas Massu won both singles and doubles Gold in Athens in 2004.
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7. b. - Marc Rosset won the singles Gold in '92. Federer has never won an Olympic singles medal (he lost the Bronze Medal match in '00, then won Silver in '12), but he and Wawrinka did claim the doubles Gold in Bejiing in '08.
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8. False. - Though China has never won an Olympic medal in singles (Li Na lost in the Bronze Match in '08), Li Ting/Sun Tiantian won Gold in doubles in 2004 in Athens, while Yan Zi/Zheng Jie took Bronze in 2008 in Beijing.
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9. False. - Els Callens & Dominique van Roost claimed the 2000 Bronze in doubles in Sydney, defeating Belarus' Olga Barabanschikova & Natasha Zvereva in the Bronze Match.
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10. b. - Steffi Graf (at 15, the youngest player in the competition) and Stefan Edberg (18) won the demonstration event in Los Angeles. Graf won Gold (1988) and Silver (1992) in singles in later official Olympic tennis events, while Edberg won singles Bronze in 1988.
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11. c. - Only two of the seven women's singles #1 seeds -- Steffi Graf in '88 and Justine Henin-Hardenne in '04 -- have won Gold. Of the other five #1 seeds, only two have won other medals -- Graf ('92 Silver) and Victoria Azarenka ('12 Bronze). 1996 #1 Monica Seles lost in the QF, 2000 #1 Lindsay Davenport withdraw with an injury in the 2nd Round, and 2008 #1 Ana Ivanovic pulled out of the event before playing her 1st Round match. Gold medalist Serena Williams was the #4 seed in London in 2012.
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12. d. - Conchita Martinez & Virginia Ruano Pascual are the only women who've won doubles medals with more than one person. Martinez won with Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario (1992, '96) & Ruano Pascual ('04), while Ruano Pascual also won with Anabel Medina-Garrigues ('08).
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13. No... well, and yes (so you get points here no matter your answer). - In fact, France's husband & wife duo of Max & Marie Decugis DID win Gold at the 1906 Second International Olympic Games in Athens, which were originally set up as an officially recognized games to take place in Athens in intermediate years, between the regular Olympics held in other cities. Such an "in-between" Olympiad were never held again, and this competition is now known as the "Intercalated Games." The winners of medals in all sports in 1906 are no longer viewed as "official" Olympic medalists, as the status was retroactively revoked by the IOC.
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14. True. - While Murray's 2012 U.S. Open win was the first slam title claimed by a British male in seventy-six years (Fred Perry - 1936), his 2012 Olympic Gold ended an even longer drought of 104 years, as the last Brit to take the men's singles Gold was Josiah Ritchie in 1908 (also in London).
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15. False. - While there has been only one woman who's won singles Gold in her home nation, it wasn't Capriati, it was Lindsay Davenport. She did so in Atlanta in 1996, the same Games in which her countryman Andre Agassi won the men's title. Agassi and Murray ('12 London) are the only men's singles Gold medalists to win in front of a home crowd (though, if we want to split hairs, Murray is from Scotland, but he won Gold in London, England). Capriati, by the way, won HER Gold in '92 in Barcelona.
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BONUS: (3 pts. for each correct answer; total: 12 pts.) c, d, e, h - Davenport won singles Gold in Atlanta, while Fernandez lost the Bronze match in the same Games. Dokic (Sydney) and Li (Beijing) also lost in Bronze medal matches.
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16. c. - Dementieva defeated Serena Williams in three sets in the QF of the 2008 Olympics. Dementieva went on to win the Gold in the Russian sweep of the medals, as Safina took Silver and Zvonareva the Bronze. Sharapova didn't participate in her first Olympics until 2012, when she lost in the Gold Medal Match to Williams. Serena didn't qualify for the '00 Olympics, and pulled out of the '04 games in Athens one week before the start of play due to a knee injury.
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17. b. - the only women's singles Gold medalist who hasn't also won a singles slam title is Elena Dementieva (2008).
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18. False. - There is a third player who has also claimed all six singles titles in their career -- Graf's husband, Andre Agassi. Of the players active in 2016, Novak Djokovic needs only Olympic singles Gold to accomplish the career feat, while Rafael Nadal is missing only the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals title on his resume. Roger Federer had needed only Olympic singles Gold, but since he has announced that he will miss the Rio Olympics due to a knee injury, it would seem assured that the nearly 35-year old Swiss great will now forever be one major title short of a "Six Pack." Although, Federer DID win Olympic Gold in men's doubles with Stan Wawrinka in 2008.
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19. (3 pts. for each correct answer; total: 6 pts.) b & f - The only doubles duo to pull off the "Six Pack" are Woodbridge/Woodforde and the Bryan twins. Serena & Venus Williams still need a WTA Finals title to complete the collection. Three other individual doubles players have pulled off the feat with multiple partners: Gigi Fernandez, Daniel Nestor and Pam Shriver.
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20. False. - It's not the only one. In fact, Azarenka and Max Mirnyi teamed to win the 2012 Mixed Doubles Bronze, as well. It was the first MX competition held in Olympics competition in eighty-eight years. Of note, Belarus-born Natasha Zvereva won Women's Doubles Bronze in 1992, but as a member of the "Unified Team" (informally called the Commonwealth of Independent States team), which consisted of twelve of the fifteen former Soviet republics following the fall of the U.S.S.R..
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21. (3 pts. for each correct answer; total: 9 pts.) - a, f & h - the only three women's Gold Medal Match match-ups that have also been grand slam finals are Graf vs. Sabatini (1988, and in three slam finals), Henin vs. Mauresmo ('04, and in two slam finals that same year) and S.Williams vs. Sharapova ('12, and in four slam finals)
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22. d. - Mary Joe Fernandez's three medals stand third on the U.S. list (2 Gold & a Bronze). MJF came close to a fourth medal, the same number as Venus and Serena, but lost the 1996 Bronze Medal Match to Jana Novotna.
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23. b. - Henin was out about three months prior to Athens with what was later diagnosed as the cytomegalovirus, not playing after an early loss at Roland Garros in late May until the Games began in mid-August. After winning the Gold, she played four matches at the U.S. Open and then missed the rest of the season.
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24. c. - only two of the twenty-three women's singles medalists from 1988-2012 never reached a slam final: Manuela Maleeva (1988 Bronze) and Alicia Molik (2004 Bronze). Maleeva's best slam results were a pair of semifinals at the U.S. Open in 1992 and '93, while Molik reached the QF of the Australian Open in 2005.
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25. True. - No woman has won MORE Olympic medals in doubles than Conchita Martinez's three, but two others have claimed just as many. Martinez won three total medals at three different Olympic Games between 1992-2004 -- one Gold and two Silvers; while Serena and Venus Wiliams (with a trio of Golds) tied her total with their 2012 win in London. Of course, they alone could become the winningest WD medalists with a place on the medal stand in Rio this summer.
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26. b. - Six different Russian women have won Olympic medals in tennis since 1988: Elena Dementieva (2000 WS Silver/2008 WS Gold), Dinara Safina (2008 WS Silver), Vera Zvonareva (2008 WS Bronze), Maria Sharapova (2012 WS Silver), Maria Kirilenko (2012 WD Bronze) and Nadia Petrova (2012 WD Bronze). Former U.S.S.R. representatives Leila Meskhi (born in Georgia) & Natasha Zvereva (Belarus) won Doubles Bronze as members of the Unified Team in 1992.
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27. c. - Steffi Graf ('88 Gold & '92 Silver) & Elena Dementieva ('00 Silver & '08 Gold) are the only two women with singles medals of different hues.
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28. False. - In 2008, all three medalists -- in order, Elena Dementieva, Dinara Safina & Vera Zvonareva -- failed to win slam singles titles during their careers. All three did reach slam finals, though, going a combined 0-7 (Dementieva 0-2, Safina 0-3, Zvonareva 0-2). In the '08 Bronze Medal Match, Zvonareva defeated Li Na, who would later win two slam titles. Dementieva also won a Silver medal in 2000, and is the only multiple singles medalist without a slam title. The other medalists since '88 without a slam title are Zina Garrison (1988 Bronze), Manuela Maleeva (1988 Bronze), Mary Joe Fernandez (1992 Bronze) and Alicia Molik (2004 Bronze).
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29. d. - Mary Joe Fernandez & Gigi Fernandez won Gold in 1992 and 1996. Novotna/Sukova ('88 & '96 Silver) and Martinez/Sanchez-Vicario ('92 Silver & '96 Bronze) both won two medals, but neither duo ever took Gold.
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30. Lenglen. - Both the U.S.'s Wills (1924) and France's Lenglen (1920) won singles Gold. Wills won an additional Gold in doubles in '24 to give her two career Olympic medals. Lenglen won three, also claiming Mixed Doubles Gold and Women's Doubles Bronze in the 1920 games. Lenglen was especially dominant while claiming her '20 singles Gold in Antwerp, winning sixty of sixty-four games in six matches, putting up three double-bagel victories. Three of the four total games lost by Lenglen came in the final vs. Brit Edith Holman. In Paris in '24, Wills won forty-eight of sixty-two games through four matches, but never posted a love set.
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GOLD: 99-111 / 36-42 - Yes! Singles Gold for you! Even Fed doesn't have that.
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SILVER: 72-96 / 27-33 - Don't feel bad, Steffi Graf won Olympic Silver once. (Psssst, way to go not reminding them that she won Gold, too... wait, can they see this?)
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BRONZE: 45-69 / 18-24 - Good job! Li Na LOST a Bronze medal match, but still won two slam titles and is the idol of billions. So, you know, you've only got a little bit more to get accomplished.
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TIN: 18-42 / 12-15 - Umm, did you know that bronze generally contains about 12% tin? Well, now you do.
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PAPER BAG: 0-15 / 0-9 - Hey, at least you could use your prize to catch the vomit after an afternoon swim in Rio! No one goes away empty-handed.
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All for now.