A year delayed, in a city on lockdown, without fans, with no-touch medal ceremonies, and with many of the top players unable or unwilling to brave/risk the trip to Tokyo with the tail of a worldwide pandemic still sporting potentially deadly whiplash action, the
2020 2021 Olympics are finally here.
Umm... yah!? Right?
The history of the Olympic tennis event since the official return of the sport to the Games in 1988 has provided a slew of big moments and memories. Here are a ranked list of most of them (along with the best Paralympic wheelchair tennis feats), set up in a familar podium-style format...
*Graf's "Golden Slam"*
1988 Seoul Singles Gold - Steffi Graf (FRG) def. Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) 6-3/6-3
...the most-difficult-to-get cog in the wheel that was Steffi's "Golden Slam" -- winning all four slams and Olympic Gold in 1988. Graf was the more-than-appropriate winner of the Gold medal as tennis returned to the Games for the first time in sixty-four years. The German had an overall record of 72-3 in '88. Graf's Golden triumph wasn't just the most expected of all Olympic tennis results, but it was also the most historic. Her run in South Korea came in the midst of a 45-match winning streak (tied for the longest of her career) and stretch in which she went 76-1 during a period spanning the 1988-89 seasons. In fact, from 1987-90, Graf strung together the four best statistical years of her career, putting up a stunning combined won-lost mark of 305-12.
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*Great Golden Scot!*
2012 London Singles Gold - Andy Murray (GBR) def. Roger Federer (SUI) 6-2/6-1/6-4
...Great Britain's long national sporting nightmare (well, one of them, anyway) came to an end as the Scot became the first British man to claim Olympic singles Gold in 104 years, since Josiah Ritchie stood atop the medal stand at yet another Summer Games held in London in 1908. The result in the final was a complete reversal of Murray's fortunes on the very same Centre Court grass at the All-England Club one month earlier, when Federer defeated him in a four-set final to win career slam title #17 at Wimbledon. The loss prevented Federer, who'd had to go 4:26 to win his semifinal over Juan Martin del Potro, from finally claiming Olympic singles Gold, the only major singles title to elude him during his career (though he didn't go undecorated, having won Gold in doubles). Murray's win provided the foundation for a more confident, aggressive game that allowed the Scot to conclude his summer by claiming his first career slam crown at the U.S. Open, ending Britain's 76-year drought (Fred Perry '36) of men's slam champs. In 2013, Murray won Wimbledon, as well, to become the first home-grown British men's winner at SW19 in seventy-seven years.
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*Serenativity Unbound*
2012 London Singles Gold - Serena Williams (USA) def. Maria Sharapova (RUS) 6-0/6-1
...as great as Williams has been at various stages throughout her long career, she may have never been better than she was in the London Games. She never lost a set, was broken just once, defeated three players who'd been ranked #1 (and another who'd been #2), including the reigning #1 (Victoria Azarenka) and #3-ranked (Sharapova) players in the world to complete a Career Golden Slam while becoming the first woman to sweep both the singles and doubles Golds since her sister Venus in 2000.
Serena was so good her spectacular serve wasn't even necessary. When she did see fit to use it at full power and effectiveness, sometimes it felt like an additional weapon she'd found reason to pull out of her back pocket to bludgeon her already beaten, bloodied and bedraggled opponent just a little bit more. You know, simply to remind them who they were dealing with. Truthfully, it was almost overkill. But not really. For Serena-at-her-best has always been about the absolute destruction of anything in her path. In the final, that poor soul was Sharapova. A couple of months earlier, the Russian had completed her Career Grand Slam in Paris, returned to #1 and was the toast of tennis once again. But a month after winning Wimbledon (her first slam win in two years), Williams returned to the AELTC to hand Sharapova her worst defeat on the very same court on which Serena had lost to the Russian in the '04 SW19 final that launched the then 17-year old's superstar career.
The Olympic title run added Williams to the short list of players who have won each of the sport's six biggest singles crowns: the four slams, Olympic Gold and their tour's year-end championships. The others are Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi.
That summer, after returning to action following what could have been a life-threatening pulmonary embolism, Williams found a late-career mid-career fountain of youth that would see her go on to win three of the next five slams. From the start of the summer of '12 until the Rio Games of '16, Williams had jumped her career major total from thirteen to twenty-two, tying Steffi Graf for the most in the Open era. A year later, she surpassed the German with #23 by winning (while secretly pregnant) the Australian Open, leaving her just one short of Margaret Court's all-time mark of 24
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*PicaPower to the People!*
2016 Rio Singles Gold - Monica Puig (PUR) def. Angelique Kerber (GER) 6-4/4-6/6-1.
...in the biggest Olympic tennis shocker ever, #34-ranked Puig is crowned the women's singles champion in Rio, becoming the first person representing Puerto Rico to ever claim Olympic Gold. In all, it was a performance for the tennis ages. Two Top 5 wins, victories over three players who had won a combined four slams (and five by the end of '16), including two reigning major champions and what would be three of 2016's slam champs, was quite the feat for a player who came into the Games with just a single tour title (won two years earlier) to her credit.
Puig rode her fiery, aggressive game to five straight wins that got progressively more astounding as the week went on, including victories over #4-ranked Roland Garros champ Garbine Muguruza -- her first career Top 5 win -- in the 3rd Round, and two-time slam winner Petra Kvitova in the semis to assure herself a medal. The lowest-ranked woman to ever play for singles Gold, Puig then upset #2-ranked (and eventual year-end #1) Australian Open (and, soon, U.S. Open, too) champ Angelique Kerber in the final. After ending the German's spotless Rio set record in the 1st, Puig pulled away in the 3rd, taking a 5-0 lead en route to the victory.
On the final day of play, Puig earned the title of "Olympic Legend." In Puerto Rico, for sure. For the rest of her life, and for generations thereafter.
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*La Petit Taureau's Greatest Victory?*
2004 Athens Singles Gold - Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) def. Amelie Mauresmo (FRA) 6-3/6-3
...smack dab in the middle of her bout with the cytomegalovirus that kept her out of action for the three months prior to Athens, Henin put together maybe the most remarkable performance of her career. She survived a 5-1 3rd set deficit against Anastasia Myskina in the SF, then took out Mauresmo for the Gold. It was only later, once the full knowledge of her illness was known, that we found out just how deep into her reserve that Queen Justine had had to dig to pull this one out. Following her Athens win, still fighting the virus, Henin only played one more tournament (losing in the 4th Round of the U.S. Open) the rest of the '04 season.
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*Venus & Serena: Together Forever*
2000 Sydney Doubles Gold - Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA) def. Kristie Boogert/Miriam Oremans (NED) 6-1/6-1
2008 Beijing Doubles Gold - Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA) def. Anabel Medina-Garrigues/Virginia Ruano Pascual (ESP) 6-2/6-0
2012 London Doubles Gold - Serena Williams/Venus Williams (USA) def. Andrea Hlavackova/Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 6-4/6-4
...as has pretty much been the case throughout their careers, the toughest out in all of tennis is the Williams Sisters on the doubles court. They've played together at four Olympics. Until their shocking 1st Round loss in Rio in '16, they'd gone 15-0 and won three Golds for their efforts. With both having also won singles Gold (Venus in '00, Serena in '12) their four career Golds are the most won in Olympic tennis history.
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*The Russians Have Their Day*
2008 Beijing Singles Gold - Elena Dementieva (RUS) def. Dinara Safina (RUS) 3-6/7-5/6-3
2008 Beijing Singles Bronze - Vera Zvonareva (RUS) def. Li Na (CHN) 6-0/7-5
...after populating the WTA landscape with their deep pool of talent during the 2000's, the Russians went into China and took care of business, completing the first sweep of the medal stand in Olympic tennis in one hundred years. Showing the Hordettes' depth, the women who earned the honors weren't any of the three Russians who'd won grand slam singles titles, but instead were three of their countrywomen who'd all failed to do so in their careers (going 0-7 in slam finals). Former #3 (and two-time major finalist) Dementieva retired two years later, hailed as possibly the best player never to have won a major title. After winning in '08, the Russian held up her Gold-winning moment as not only the best of her career... but also one that she'd cherish even more than she ever would an actual grand slam crown. Safina ranked as high as #1 and reached three slam finals, while Zvonareva reached #2 and played in two.
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*The Golden Summer of Venus*
2000 Sydney Singles Gold - Venus Williams (USA) def. Elena Dementieva (RUS) 6-2/6-4
...the conclusion of Williams' spectacular summer of 2000, during which she notched grand slam victories at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, came with her claiming of Olympic singles Gold Down Under. Also grabbing the Sydney doubles Gold with sister Serena, Venus became the first woman since Helen Wills in 1924 to sweep both medals at the same Olympics. Twelve years after Venus accomplished the feat, Serena matched it in London, taking her first singles Gold and third in doubles (w/ Venus, of course).
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*The Surprise Medalist*
2004 Athens Singles Gold - Nicolas Massu (CHI) def. Mardy Fish (USA) 6-3/3-6/2-6/6-3/6-4
...talk about a stunner! With his win, Massu became Chile's first-ever Olympic Gold medalist (and then the first two-timer when he won in doubles with Fernando Gonzalez). He was the first man to sweep the singles and doubles Golds since Vincent Richards in 1924.
Calling the moment the "best memory in my sport career," Massu said of the continued elation he'd feel years later at the accomplishemnt, "Now I can die happy."
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*The Kid Before the Comeback*
1992 Barcelona Singles Gold - Jennifer Capriati (USA) def. Steffi Graf (GER) 3-6/6-3/6-4
...at 16, with all her long-talked about promise still seemingly in front of her, Capriati took down the defending Olympic champion to become the youngest-ever tennis Gold medalist. But, by the end of 1994, Capriati had been arrested for drug possession and would miss nearly two full years of WTA action. She'd finally return in '96, but wouldn't play a complete season until '99. In 2001, eight and a half years after winning Gold, her gradual comeback took flight as she won the first of what would be three slam titles and reached #1. Twenty years after her Olympic triumph, Capriati career arc was completed when she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
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*Keeping It In the Family... eventually*
1996 Atlanta Singles Gold - Andre Agassi (USA) def. Sergi Bruguera (ESP) 6-2/6-3/6-1
...Agassi and Steffi Graf are two of the three players (w/ S.Williams) to have ever won all four slams, plus Olympic singles Gold and a season-ending tour championship title. Before he won Gold on U.S. soil, Agassi had already won titles at three different slams, but he was still viewed as something of an "underachiever." After Atlanta, he'd win five more slams and go down as one of the game's most celebrated ambassadors. Agassi finally won his first Roland Garros title in 1999, completing his career "Six Pack" of the sport's biggest singles crowns, something that Graf had finished up eleven years earlier. Agassi and Graf were married in 2001 and had two children.
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*Home is Where the Heart Is*
1996 Atlanta Singles Gold - Lindsay Davenport (USA) def. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (ESP) 7-6/6-2
...since the sport's Olympic return in '88, the only woman to win singles Gold in her home nation has been Davenport. The 20-year old was the second of three straight U.S.-born Olympic women's champions (sandwiched between Capriati and Venus). She'd go on to win three slams from 1998-00 before essentially being overtaken at the top of the game by the crafty Martina Hingis, then the Williams sisters.
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*Twice is Nice*
2016 Rio Singles Gold - Andy Murray (GBR) def. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) 7-5/4-6/6-2/7-5
...four years after winning Gold in London, Murray becomes the first player in Olympic history (Steffi Graf's '84/'88 two-fer kicked off with the sport being just a demonstration event in L.A.) to successfully defend the singles Gold. The Scot avoided the likes of Federer (DNP), Nadal and Djokovic (both defeated by Delpo) in the draw, but his win gave a Golden glow to what was a career year.
Having reached the Australian Open and Roland Garros finals earlier in the season, Murray won his second Wimbledon title, reached the #1 ranking for the first time in November (and finished '16 there), won the ATP World Finals crown and was 75-9 (23-3 in majors) on the year.
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*The Twins Have It*
2012 London Doubles Gold - Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan (USA) def. Michael Llodra/Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 6-4/7-6(2)
...the Bryan twins complete a Career Golden Slam by taking men's doubles Gold at the London Games. The only other doubles duos to accomplish the feat are three-time Gold winners Serena & Venus Williams and the Woodies, Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde (below), who won Olympic Gold in Atlanta in 1996 four years before completing their major title set with a Roland Garros title in 2000.
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*First of Her Kind*
2012 London Singles Bronze - Victoria Azarenka (BLR) def. Maria Kirilenko (RUS) 6-3/6-4
2012 London Mixed Doubles Gold - Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi (BLR) def. Andy Murray/Laura Robson (GBR) 2-6/6-3 [10-8]
...just days after celebrating her 23rd birthday, the world #1 from Belarus reacted to her Bronze medal-winning feat in a joyous way that was very similar to how she'd likely have reacted to winning Gold. Azarenka won Belarus' very first Olympic tennis medal with a Bronze Match victory over Kirilenko, then a day later teamed with Mirnyi to claim the nation's first Gold, as well, by defeating the home favorite Brits to become the champions of the first Mixed Doubles competition held at the Olympics since 1924.
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*Roger "versus" Rafa?*
While Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have done battle numerous times in their grand slam pasts, they never met in the Olympics. In fact, their fates at the Games couldn't be more different. Federer, tied with Nadal and Djokovic for the all-time men's slam title lead (w/ 20 each), has participated in four Olympics (as the #1 seed three times) but never won Gold in singles. Defeats in '04 (2nd Round to Tomas Berdych) and '08 (QF - James Blake) were preceded by a Bronze Medal Match loss to Italy's Arnaud Di Pasquale in Federer's Olympic debut in '00.
In 2012, on his favored grass at the All-England Club after having just won slam title #17 at Wimbledon, the stage seemed set for one additional Golden coronation. But Federer was forced to play a 4:26 semifinal vs. Juan Martin del Potro. He won 3-6/7-6(5)/19-17 in the longest three-set men's match in the Open era, with the 3rd set alone lasting 2:43. In the final, he simply wasn't the same legendary champion. Whether the marathon win cost him his best chance at Gold will forever be a "what if?," but the fact remains that, one month after defeating Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final, Federer lost in straight sets to the Scot in the Olympic final at the AELTC. The resulting Silver was the first medal won by the Swiss in singles play, but the loss to Murray will likely be Federer's Olympic swan song, as he was forced to withdraw from both the '16 Rio and '21 Tokyo Games with knee issues, the last coming a month before his 40th birthday and with "retirement" being openly discussed.
2008 Beijing Singles Gold - Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) 6-3/7-6/6-3
2016 Rio Doubles Gold - Marc Lopez/Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Florin Mergea/Horia Tecau (ROU) 6-2/3-6/6-4
...meanwhile, Nadal has played in two Olympics, winning singles Gold in Beijing in '08, then in doubles in Rio eight years later. One day after the '08 Games, Rafa became #1 in the rankings for the first time, ending Federer's record 237-week streak in the top spot, after having spent a record 160 consecutive weeks at #2.
Nadal had a chance for a Golden sweep in '16, but ultimately won no singles medal in Rio. After losing in a final set TB to Juan Martin del Potro in the semis, the Spaniard fell to Kei Nishikori in the Bronze Medal Match. He decided not to play the '21 Games in Tokyo, preferring to preserve his body for the slam title competitions to come, an ongoing numbers-battle (mostly w/ Djokovic) that will ultimately define his overall standing in tennis history.
2008 Beijing Doubles Gold - Federer/Wawrinka (SUI) def. Aspelin/Johansson (SWE) 6-3/6-4/6-7/6-3
...Federer HAS won an Olympic Gold medal, though. In the same Beijing Games in which Nadal was crowned singles champion, he and Swiss teammate Stan Wawrinka claimed the top spot on the doubles medal stand.
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*Big Time Russians*
2016 Rio Doubles Gold - Ekaterina Makarova/Elena Vesnina (RUS) def. Timea Bacsinszky/Martina Hingis (SUI) 6-4/6-4
...Makarova & Vesnina become the first all-Russian pair to win Olympic doubles Gold, taking the title in Rio without dropping a set.
The duo would prove to be one of best big-event pairs of the era. Already with Roland Garros (2013) and U.S. Open (2014) titles in hand, the Hordettes would win the '16 WTA Finals and '17 Wimbledon, as well. With their Rio win, they were left just an Australian Open title from becoming the first women's duo to win all four majors, Olympic Gold and the year-end championships. Makarova/Vesnina lost in the '18 final in Melbourne (as they had in '14). Both players reached WD #1 the following June, but Vesnina (after becoming a mother) only returned to action during the '21 season, while Makarova retired in January 2020.
On a side note, Hall of Famer Hingis' appearance in Brazil, at age 35, was her first in Olympic competition in twenty years. After her "Dream Duo" MX pairing with Roger Federer fizzled because of Fed's knee surgery, and Stan Wawrinka ultimately skipped the Rio Games, Hingis didn't play MX at all. Her original WD partner, Belinda Bencic, went out with a wrist injury. Additionally, during the Olympics, Hingis had announced her 17-month, three-slam winning partnership with Sania Mirza was over. But Timea Bacsinszky's early singles loss in Rio allowed both women to be the Olympic "savior" for the other, as their Silver run provided them with their first career medals.
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*The Argentine Survivor*
2012 London Singles Bronze - Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) def. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-5/6-4
...after losing a marathon 19-17 3rd set in the semifinals vs. Roger Federer, at 4:26 the longest three-set men's match in the Open era (the 3rd set alone lasted 2:43), del Potro would have been given a pass had he suffered a letdown and not had enough left to fight for a medal. But this was a player who'd shown great promise while winning the U.S. Open at age 20 in 2009, only to have to battle back against a career-altering wrist injury and a slew of ailments over the decade-plus since. In London, he looked as good as he'd looked in years, pounding those thundering groundstrokes that he used to take down both Federer and Nadal in Flushing Meadows. Rather than go home from London empty-handed, he took Bronze by taking down Djokovic, who led in winners, aces and 1st serve win percentage. But Djokovic was 0-for-6 on break point attempts, while del Potro converted a pair. And that was the difference in a straight sets victory that brought Delpo to his knees... in a good way.
2016 Rio 1st Round - Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) def. Novak Djokovic 7-6(4)/7-6(2)
2016 Rio SF - Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) def. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 5-7/6-4/7-6(5)
...four years later, with Federer not in the Olympic event, del Potro (playing with a protected ranking due to his latest injury break due to wrist surgery) took out the #1 (Djokovic) and #3 (Nadal) seeds, only to fall short of Gold in the final vs. #2 Andy Murray. Still, the run gave the Argentine a Silver to go along with his previous Bronze.
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*When They Were Young*
1984 Los Angeles Women's Final - Steffi Graf (FRG) def. Sabrina Goles (YUG) 1-6/6-3/6-4
1984 Los Angeles Men's Final - Stefan Edberg (SWE) def. Francisco Maciel (MEX) 6-1/7-6
...four years before tennis became an official medal sport again, it was a demonstration, non-medal event in Los Angeles. As it turned out, the results in L.A. proved to be quite prophetic. The winners? A 15-year old, #8-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany, three years before her first slam victory (she'd go on to win 22), and 18-year old Swede Stefan Edberg (#3), who'd win the first of his six career slams the next season in Australia. Four years later, Graf would win the first singles Gold in tennis' official return to the Games, then pick up a Silver in '92. Edberg won the Bronze in '88.
1984 wasn't the only time Graf and Edberg shared the spotlight. Both won Wimbledon titles four years later in 1988, then they were members of the same class of inductees at the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004, twenty years after their Olympic demonstration triumphs.
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=HONORABLE MENTIONS=
In 1992 in Barcelona, Marc Rosset becomes the answer to a trivia question, becoming the only Swiss man to win Olympic singles Gold. In the nealry thirty years since, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka have combined to win 23 singles slam titles... but Rosset still stands alone atop Switzerland's tennis medal stand.
Six years after his Olympic triumph, a 1st Round tennis defeat at the U.S. Open both nearly cost, and ultimately saved, Rosset's life. Scheduled to fly back to Geneva on Swissair, Rosset decided that he needed additional practice time would take advantage of the abundance of hitting partners at Flushing Meadows for one additional day. He missed Flight 111, which crashed near Nova Scotia, killing all 229 aboard.
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In 2016, sixteen years after she'd swept the singles and doubles Golds in Sydney, 37-year old Venus Williams was playing in Rio. Arguably the player who loves the Olympics more than any other, Williams played with a viral illness and was dumped out of the 1st Round of singles on Day 1. Then she and sister Serena lost their first Olympic doubles match ever on Day 2. After at first being noncommittal about playing mixed doubles, thinking she'd be busy in the other two draws, Venus teamed up with Rajeev Ram (himself a late addition to the U.S. team) and very nearly wrote what could have been a storybook ending to the greatest-ever Olympic tennis career.
After saving two MP in the 1st Round vs. Bertens/Rojer, the U.S. duo went all the way to the Gold Medal Match, where they won the 1st set and held a 6-3 lead in the 3rd set TB vs. Mattek-Sands/Sock. A win would have given Venus a record fifth tennis Gold, and made her the only player to win Gold in singles, doubles and mixed. But it wasn't meant to be. Still, Venus remains tied with Serena with the most tennis Golds (4), and her Silver medal matches 1920's star Kitty McKane's record of five career Olympic tennis medals. She's won the most tennis medals, male or female, since the sport's return to the Games in 1988.
And while there may be some disagreement about whether or not Venus loves her Olympic participation MORE than any other athlete, before making a decision, one should probably take a look at her extended reaction to winning the semifinal contest over Mirza/Bopanna, which simply assured her of a fifth medal and another shot to play for Gold. It's priceless, really.
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Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeats Tommy Haas in the 2000 men's singles final in Sydney, becoming the first Russian to win Olympic tennis Gold
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In Seoul (1988), Slovak-born Miloslav Mecir, playing for Czechoslovakia, wins the men's singles Gold. To date, no other player representing either side -- Czech Republic or Slovakia -- of the former Soviet era nation has won Olympic tennis Gold.
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In the 2012 2nd Round in London, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeats Canada's Milos Raonic in an Olympic record 25-23 3rd set. In the final set alone, Tsonga led 129-128 in total points. Although, for the match, the losing Raonic held a 180-178 edge.
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Before the Williams Sisters, another U.S. women's duo -- Florida-born Mary Joe Fernandez & Puerto Rico-born Gigi Fernandez (no relation) -- teamed to win back-to-back Olympic doubles Golds in 1992 (Barcelona) and 1996 (Atlanta)
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After Jelena Dokic came up short in her medal quest Down Under in the Sydney games in '00, losing in the Bronze Medal Match to Monica Seles, Alicia Molik pulled off the feat by taking Bronze four years later in Athens, defeating three seeds (#4 Elena Dementieva, #8 Ai Sugiyama & #3 Anastasia Myskina). Molik defeated Myskina, months after the Russian sparked her nation's 2000's tennis revolution by winning at Roland Garros, in the Bronze Medal Match. Myskina had blown a 5-1 3rd set lead to eventual Gold medal winner Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semifinals.
Molik is still the only Australian singles player, male or female, to win a medal in Olympic history.
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Have you heard? The talent pool of Czech tennis women is *very* deep
In 2016, that reality played out on the Rio medal stand, where four *different* Czechs won Bronze medals in the event's three eligible competitions. In singles, it was Petra Kvitova. In doubles, Lucie Safarova & Barbora Strycova, who'd upset two-time defending Gold medalists Venus & Serena Williams (who been 15-0 in their Olympics career) in the 1st Round, while Lucie Hradecka teamed with Radek Stepanek in Mixed.
Later that year, the Czech Republic claimed a third straight Fed Cup title, and a fifth in six years.
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And a couple of misses...
*The Best Laid Plans...*
2004 Athens Doubles Gold - Li Ting/Sun Tiantian (CHN) def. C.Martinez/Ruano Pascual (ESP) 6-3/6-3
2008 Beijing Doubles Bronze - Yan Zi/Zheng Jie (CHN) def. A.Bondarenko/K.Bondarenko (UKR) 6-2/6-2
2008 Beijing Singles Bronze - Vera Zvonareva (RUS) def. Li Na (CHN) 6-0/7-5
...in 2004, four years before China hosted the games in Beijing, Li Ting & Sun Tiantian earned the first Chinese medal in tennis. The Chinese tennis federation put much effort into building up the sport within the nation in time for Beijing, banking on even greater success there.
Right on schedule, the Chinese Fed Cup team reached the semifinals for the first time in '08. Then came the Beijing Games.
The Russian sweep of the singles medal stand (medalists Safina & Zvonareva went 4-0 vs. Chinese opponents) meant zero medals were earned there for the home nation, as Li Na lost in the Bronze Medal Match. Meanwhile, Yan & Zheng's Bronze in doubles was actually a step back (or two) from the success the Chinese had had four years earlier. China failed to win any tennis medals in 2012 or '16.
2008 Beijing SF - Rafael Nadal (ESP) def. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4-6/6-1/4-6
2008 Beijing Singles Bronze - Novak Djokovic (SRB) def. James Blake (USA) 6-3/7-6(4)
2012 London SF - Andy Murray (GBR) def. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-5/7-5
2012 London Singles Bronze - Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) def. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-5/6-4
2016 Rio 1st Round - Juan Martin del Potro (ARG) def. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-6(4)/7-6(2)
...while Novak Djokovic is a 20-time slam champ, 6-time (soon to be 7) year end singles #1, 5-time ATP World Tour Finals champ and led Serbia to a Davis Cup crown in 2010, he's managed to win just one Bronze medal in his Olympic career. He's lost to both Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray in semifinals, and to Juan Martin del Potro in back-to-back Olympic matches stretched over two Games. He's avoided a shocking medal shutout by upending James Blake (who'd defeated Roger Federer in the QF) for Bronze in '12, but remains a Gold medal away from joining the likes of Steffi Graf, Andre Agassi and Serena Williams as the only players to win singles crowns at all four slams, the Olympics and the tour championships.
He'll arrive in Tokyo for the '21 Games three-quarters of the way to a Grand Slam after wins in Melbourne, Paris and London, and with the first real shot anyone has had at matching Steffi Graf's so-far-unparalleled Golden Slam feat of 1988, an accomplishment which could perhaps cement his case in the everlasting "Greatest of All Time" debate between himself, Federer and Nadal. After at first fretting about the unusual conditions for play in Tokyo, Djokovic finally commited to the effort. History awaits, or lies in wait.
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Over the course of her Paralympics history, Dutch wheelchair tennis legend Esther Vergeer did what she did pretty much everywhere during her career: win just about everything. In all, she won more medals (8) and more Golds (7) than any other tennis player in the Games' history, sweeping the singles and doubles three times (2000, '04 and '12).
Vergeer lost just one match in her Paralympic career, in the '08 Beijing Gold match (w/ Jiske Griffioen) vs. another all-Dutch duo, Korie Homan & Sharon Walraven.
Vergeer's final competition was at the '12 Games in London, as she retired in early 2013 as arguably (or maybe not) the most dominant athlete in any sport ever, ending her career on a 470-match singles winning streak.
Still, more than eight years later, she still awaits a call from Newport regarding her Hall of Fame enshrinement.
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In 2012 in London, Japan's Shingo Kunieda defended his '08 Beijing Gold to become the only back-to-back men's wheelchair singles champion in Paralympics history. Having also won Gold in '04 in the men's doubles, he's won five total Paralympic medals (w/ 2 Bronze in doubles).
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Dutch world #1 Jiske Griffieon swept the singles and doubles at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, replicating countrywoman Vergeer's three-time feat (even defeating the same woman -- another Netherlands-born star, Aniek van Koot -- that Vergeer did in the '12 singles final). Griffioen had won the '12 singles Bronze in London, having lost to Vergeer in the semis.
Three of the four women's singles semifinalists hailed from the Netherlands.
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In the inaugural Paralympics wheelchair tennis competition in 1992 in Barcelona, the Netherlands' Monique van den Bosch and the U.S.'s Randy Snow both swept the singles and doubles Golds in their respective competitions.
Beginning what would be a tradition in Paralympic women's tennis, it was an all-Dutch final as van den Bosch defeated countrywoman Chantal Vandierendonck, then the two joined forces to win the doubles. The now-married Kalkman-van den Bosch would repeat with Vandierendonck as doubles champion in '96 in Atlanta, and pick up Silver in singles. She'd previously won a Silver in the singles in the '88 (Seoul) demonstration event (Vandierendonck won Gold), as well as a Gold and Bronze in the 1984 "Summer Paralympics" in New York in WC table tennis.
Kalkman was inducted into the Int'l Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017, three years after Vandierendonck had also been enshrined in Newport.
Snow won a Bronze in wheelchair basketball at the '96 Paralympics, and was the first Paralympian inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame. Having died in 2009, Snow was posthumously inducted into the Int'l Tennis Hall of Fame in 2012.
===============================================
Dutch women have dominated the Paralympic medal stand, winning all 21 Gold medals handed out in the women's competition since the inaugural events in 1992.
The seven singles Golds have been split up between Vergeer (4), van den Bosch (1), Maaike Smit (1) and Griffioen (1). The fourteen doubles Golds have been won by five different all-Dutch duos, including two back-to-back winners in Kalkman-van den Bosch/Vandierendonck (1992/96) and Smit/Vergeer (2000/04).
===============================================
Aussie David Hall leads all men's Paralympic tennis players with six total medals from 1996-2004. Hall won singles Gold in Sydney in '00, as well as three Silvers ('96/'00 MD, '04 MS) and two Bronze ('96 MS/'04 MD).
Hall received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his 2000 Gold medal. He was inducted into the Int'l Tennis Hall of Fame in 2015.
===============================================
Aniek Van Koot, though she's been ranked #1 and won 21 (3s/18d) slam titles, has often lived in the shadow of other contemporaries. The Dutch woman has a similar history in the Paralympics, reaching two singles finals (2012 and '16) but losing to a pair of players who swept both the singles and doubles competitions. She won a doubles Gold with one of her conquerors (Griffioen '16), but lost to the other (Vergeer '12) in another (w/ Griffioen) Gold medal doubles match.
===============================================
While current wheelchair #1 Diede de Groot *could* one day have her eye on some of the slam records of countrywoman (and mentor) Vergeer, she's got a *long* way to go when it comes to challenging her Paralympic glory. The young Dutch woman has (so far) won just one medal, a doubles Silver in 2016 (w/ van Koot) as a 19-year old in Rio.
"Diede the Great," now with 22 total slam wins (11s/11d), nearly picked up an additional medal at the Rio Games, coming in 4th Place in singles after losing the Bronze match to Yui Kamiji. That result gave the only Paralympics medal won to date by the 25-time slam champ (8s/17d) from Japan, who'll play the host in Tokyo this summer.
===============================================
*WOMEN'S SINGLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Steffi Graf, West Germany
1992 Jennifer Capriati, USA
1996 Lindsay Davenport, USA
2000 Venus Williams, USA
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne, Belgium
2008 Elena Dementieva, Russia
2012 Serena Williams, USA
2016 Monica Puig, Puerto Rico
[SILVER]
1988 Gabriela Sabatini, Argentina
1992 Steffi Graf, Germany
1996 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
2000 Elena Dementieva, Russia
2004 Amelie Mauresmo, France
2008 Dinara Safina, Russia
2012 Maria Sharapova, Russia
2016 Angelique Kerber, Germany
[BRONZE]
1988 Manuela Maleeva, Bulgaria & Zina Garrison, USA
1992 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain & Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
1996 Jana Novotna, Czech Republic
2000 Monica Seles, USA
2004 Alicia Molik, Australia
2008 Vera Zvonareva, Russia
2012 Victoria Azarenka, Belarus
2016 Petra Kvitova, Czech Republic
*MEN'S SINGLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Miloslav Mecir, Czechoslovakia
1992 Marc Rosset, Switzerland
1996 Andre Agassi, USA
2000 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Russia
2004 Nicolas Massu, Chile
2008 Rafael Nadal, Spain
2012 Andy Murray, Great Britain
2016 Andy Murray, Great Britain
[SILVER]
1988 Tim Mayotte, USA
1992 Jordi Arrese, Spain
1996 Sergi Bruguera, Spain
2000 Tommy Haas, Germany
2004 Mardy Fish, USA
2008 Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
2012 Roger Federer, Switzerland
2016 Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
[BRONZE]
1988 Stefan Edberg, Sweden & Brad Gilbert, USA
1992 Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia & Andrei Cherkasov, Unified Team
1996 Leander Paes, India
2000 Arnaud di Pasquale, France
2004 Fernando Gonzalez, Chile
2008 Novak Djokovic, Serbia
2012 Juan Martin del Potro, Argentina
2016 Kei Nishikori, Japan
*WOMEN'S DOUBLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Pam Shriver / Zina Garrison, USA
1992 Mary Joe Fernandez / Gigi Fernandez, USA
1996 Mary Joe Fernandez / Gigi Fernandez, USA
2000 Serena Williams / Venus Williams, USA
2004 Li Ting / Sun Tiantian, China
2008 Serena Williams / Venus Williams, USA
2012 Serena Williams / Venus Williams, USA
2016 Ekaterina Makarova / Elena Vesnina, Russia
[SILVER]
1988 Jana Novotna / Helena Sukova, Czechoslovakia
1992 Conchita Martinez / Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
1996 Jana Novotna / Helena Sukova, Czech Republic
2000 Kristie Boogert / Miriam Oremans, The Netherlands
2004 Conchita Martinez / Virginia Ruano-Pascual, Spain
2008 Anabel Medina-Garrigues / Virginia Ruano-Pascual, Spain
2012 Andrea Hlavackova / Lucie Hradecka, Czech Republic
2016 Timea Bacsinszky / Martina Hingis, Switzerland
[BRONZE]
1988 Steffi Graf / Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, West Germany
1988 Liz Smylie / Wendy Turnbull, Australia
1992 Natalia Zvereva / Leila Meskhi, Unified Team
1992 Rachel McQuillan / Nicole Provis, Australia
1996 Conchita Martinez / Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Spain
2000 Els Callens / Dominique van Roost, Belgium
2004 Paola Suarez / Patricia Tarabini, Argentina
2008 Yan Zi / Zheng Jie, China
2012 Maria Kirilenko / Nadia Petrova, Russia
2016 Lucie Safarova / Barbora Strycova, Czech Republic
*MEN'S DOUBLES MEDALISTS, since 1988*
[GOLD]
1988 Ken Flach / Robert Seguso, USA
1992 Boris Becker / Michael Stich, Germany
1996 Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde, Australia
2000 Sebastien Lareau / Daniel Nestor, Canada
2004 Fernando Gonzalez / Nicolas Massu, Chile
2008 Roger Federer / Stan Wawrinka, Switzerland
2012 Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, USA
2016 Marc Lopez / Rafael Nadal, Spain
[SILVER]
1988 Emilio Sanchez / Sergio Casal, Spain
1992 Wayne Ferreira / Piet Noval, South Africa
1996 Neil Broad / Tim Henman, Great Britain
2000 Todd Woodbridge / Mark Woodforde, Australia
2004 Rainer Schuettler / Nicolas Kiefer, Germany
2008 Simon Aspelin / Thomas Johansson, Sweden
2012 Michael Llodra / Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, France
2016 Florin Mergea / Horia Tecau, Romania
[BRONZE]
1988 Stefan Edberg / Anders Jarryd, Sweden
1988 Miloslav Mecir / Milan Srejber, Czechoslovakia
1992 Goran Ivanisevic / Goran Prpic, Croatia
1992 Javier Frana / Christian Carlos Miniussi, Argentina
1996 Marc-Kevin Goellner / David Prinosil, Germany
2000 Alex Corretja / Albert Costa, Spain
2004 Mario Ancic / Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia
2008 Bob Bryan / Mike Bryan, USA
2012 Julien Benneteau / Richard Gasquet, France
2016 Steve Johnson / Jack Sock, USA
*MIXED DOUBLES MEDALISTS, since 2012*
[GOLD]
2012 Victoria Azarenka / Max Mirnyi, Belarus
2016 Bethanie Mattek-Sands / Jack Sock, USA
[SILVER]
2012 Laura Robson / Andy Murray, Great Britain
2016 Venus Williams / Rajeev Ram, USA
[BRONZE]
2012 Lisa Raymond / Mike Bryan, USA
2016 Lucie Hradecka / Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic
*GOLD MEDAL MATCHES - women's singles*
1988 Steffi Graf/FRG d. Gabriela Sabatini/ARG 6-3,6-3
1992 Jennifer Capriati/USA d. Steffi Graf/GER 3-6,6-3,6-4
1996 Lindsay Davenport/USA d. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario/ESP 7-6,6-2
2000 Venus Williams/USA d. Elena Dementieva/RUS 6-2,6-4
2004 Justine Henin-H./BEL d. Amelie Mauresmo/FRA 6-3,6-3
2008 Elena Dementieva/RUS d. Dinara Safina/RUS 3-6,7-5,6-3
2012 Serena Williams/USA d. Maria Sharapova/RUS 6-0,6-1
2016 Monica Puig/PUR d. Angelique Kerber/GER 6-4,4-6,6-1
[BRONZE MEDAL MATCH]
1996 Jana Novotna/CZE d. Mary Joe Fernandez/USA 7-5,6-4
2000 Monica Seles/USA d. Jelena Dokic/AUS 6-1,6-4
2004 Alicia Molik/AUS d. Anastasia Myskina/RUS 6-3,6-4
2008 Vera Zvonareva/RUS d. Li Na/CHN 6-0,7-5
2012 Victoria Azarenka/BLR d. Maria Kirilenko/RUS 6-3,6-4
2016 Petra Kvitova/CZE d. Madison Keys/USA 7-5,2-6,6-2
*ALL-TIME OLYMPIC TENNIS MEDALS*
5...Venus Williams, USA
5...Kitty McKane, GBR
4...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
4...Serena Williams, USA
*MULTIPLE OLYMPIC MEDALS, since 1988; #-active in 2021*
5...Serena Williams, USA #
4...Venus Williams, USA #
4...Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, ESP
3...Mike Bryan, USA
3...Mary Joe Fernandez, USA
3...Fernando Gonzalez, CHI
3...Steffi Graf, FRG/GER
3...Conchita Martinez, ESP
3...Andy Murray, GBR #
3...Rafael Nadal, ESP #
3...Jana Novotna, TCH/CZE
2...Victoria Azarenka, BLR #
2...Bob Bryan, USA
2...Juan Martin del Potro, ARG #
2...Elena Dementieva, RUS
2...Roger Federer, SUI #
2...Gigi Fernandez, USA
2...Zina Garrison, USA
2...Lucie Hradecka, CZE #
2...Goran Ivanisevic, CRO
2...Nicolas Massu, CHI
2...Miloslav Mecir, TCH
2...Virginia Ruano Pascual, ESP
2...Jack Sock, USA #
2...Helena Sukova, TCH/CZE
2...Todd Woodbridge, AUS
2...Mark Woodforde, AUS
-
[other actives w/ 1 medal]
Novak Djokovic, SRB
Richard Gasquet, FRA
Steve Johnson, USA
Angelique Kerber, GER
Petra Kvitova, CZE
Marc Lopez, ESP
Bethanie Mattek-Sands, USA
Florin Mergea, ROU
Kei Nishikori, JPN
Monica Puig, PUR
Rajeev Ram, USA
Laura Robson, GBR
Jack Sock, USA
Horia Tecau, ROU
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, FRA
Elena Vesnina, RUS
Stan Wawrinka, SUI
Vera Zvonareva, RUS
*OLYMPIC TENNIS #1 SEEDS, w/ result*
[women]
1984 (demonstration) Kathy Horvath, USA (QF)
1988 Steffi Graf, FRG (Gold)
1992 Steffi Graf, GER (Silver)
1996 Monica Seles, USA (QF)
2000 Lindsay Davenport, USA (2nd Rd - w/d)
2004 Justine Henin-Hardenne, BEL (Gold)
2008 Ana Ivanovic, SRB (w/d)
2012 Victoria Azarenka, BLR (Bronze)
2016 Serena Williams, USA (3rd Rd.)
2021 Ash Barty, AUS
[men]
1984 (demonstration) Jimmy Arias, USA (SF)
1988 Stefan Edberg, SWE (Bronze)
1992 Jim Courier, USA (3rd Rd.)
1996 Andre Agassi, USA (Gold)
2000 Marat Safin, RUS (1st Rd.)
2004 Roger Federer, SUI (2nd Rd.)
2008 Roger Federer, SUI (QF)
2012 Roger Federer, SUI (Silver)
2016 Novak Djokovic, SRB (1st Rd.)
2021 Novak Djokovic, SRB
*WOMEN'S PARALYMPIC SINGLES MEDALISTS*
[GOLD]
1992 Monique Van den Bosch, NED
1996 Maaike Smit, NED
2000 Esther Vergeer, NED
2004 Esther Vergeer, NED
2008 Esther Vergeer, NED
2012 Esther Vergeer ,NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen, NED
[SILVER]
1992 Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
1996 Monique Kalkman-Van den Bosch, NED
2000 Sharon Walraven, NED
2004 Sonja Peters, NED
2008 Korie Homan, NED
2012 Aniek Van Koot, NED
2016 Aniek Van Koot, NED
[BRONZE]
1992 Regina Isecke, GER
1996 Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
2000 Maaike Smit, NED
2004 Daniela Di Toro, AUS
2008 Florence Gravellier, FRA
2012 Jiske Griffioen, NED
2016 Yui Kamiji, JPN
*WOMEN'S PARALYMPIC DOUBLES MEDALISTS*
[GOLD]
1992 Monique Van den Bosch / Chantal Vandierendonck, NED
1996 Chantal Vandierendonck / Monique Kalkman-V., NED
2000 Maaike Smit / Esther Vergeer, NED
2004 Maaike Smit / Esther Vergeer, NED
2008 Korie Homan / Sharon Walraven, NED
2012 Marjolein Buis / Esther Vergeer, NED
2016 Jiske Griffioen / Aniek van Koot, NED
[SILVER]
1992 Nancy Olson / Lynn Seidemann, USA
1996 Hope Lewellen / Nancy Olson, USA
2000 Branka Pupovac / Daniela Di Toro, AUS
2004 Sakhorn Khanthasit / Ratana Techamaneewat, THA
2008 Jiske Griffioen / Esther Vergeer, NED
2012 Jiske Griffioen / Aniek van Koot, NED
2016 Marjolein Buis / Diede de Groot, NED
[BRONZE]
1992 Oristelle Marx / Arlette Racineux, FRA
1996 Oristelle Marx / Arlette Racineux, FRA
2000 Christine Otterbach / Petra Sax-Scharl, GER
2004 Karin Suter-Erath / Sandra Kalt, SUI
2008 Florence Gravellier / Arlette Racineux, FRA
2012 Lucy Shuker / Jordanne Whiley, GBR
2016 Lucy Shuker / Jordanne Whiley, GBR
All for now.
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