Tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics

The tennis tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place at the Olympic Tennis Centre from August 6 to August 14. Players competed on a fast hardcourt surface, which is used in many tournaments in North America to make things fair for all players.

A total of 199 players took part in five different events: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles, which was held for the second time in a row. The events were organized by the Brazilian Olympic Committee and the International Tennis Federation, and were part of the tours for both the Association of Tennis Professionals and the Women's Tennis Association.

This was the fifteenth time tennis was part of the Olympics, not counting the two times it was only a demonstration sport. In 2016, players did not earn ranking points for their performance, which was different from earlier Olympic tournaments.

Summary

Serena Williams was the defending champion in the women's singles, but she lost to Elina Svitolina in the third round. Unseeded Puerto Rican Monica Puig won the gold medal, defeating Germany's world number two Angelique Kerber in the final, 6–4, 4–6, 6–1. This marked Puerto Rico's first ever Olympic gold medal and made Puig her country's first ever female medalist.

In the men's singles, British flagbearer Andy Murray was the defending champion from the London tournament at Wimbledon, while Novak Djokovic was the number one seed. Murray defended his title, defeating Argentina's Juan Martín del Potro in the final, 7–5, 4–6, 6–2, 7–5. With the victory, Murray became the first player, male or female, to win singles gold at two consecutive Olympics.

Serena and Venus Williams were the two-time defending champions in the women's doubles, but they lost in the first round. Russian duo Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina won the gold medal.

In the men's doubles, French duo Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut lost in the first round. Spaniards Marc López and Rafael Nadal won the gold medal.

American pair Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jack Sock won the gold medal in the mixed doubles tournament.

Medal summary

Events

Medal table

Qualification

For the singles events, the best 56 players from the world rankings on June 6, 2016, could join the Olympics. But, only four players from the same country could compete. This meant that some top players might miss out if their country already had four players, giving chances to good players from other countries. The remaining spots were chosen by a special committee to include many different nations, with the last two spots given to players from smaller countries.

In doubles, 24 teams could join based on their rankings, with a limit of two teams per country. Top ten ranked pairs could secure their spot if they had a partner. The other teams were chosen by the same special committee.

Players needed to have been ready to play for their country in big team events in some of the years between 2013 and 2016, with at least one of those years being 2015 or 2016.

Competition format

The tennis competition at the Olympic Games used a single-elimination format. The men's and women's singles had 64 players each, meaning six rounds total. Doubles had 32 players with five rounds, and mixed doubles had 16 players with four rounds. Players who reached the semifinals were guaranteed a chance to compete for a medal, and the two losers of the semifinals played a match for the bronze medal.

All matches were the best of three sets, except the men's singles final, which was the best of five sets. A tie break was used in every set, including the final set, which was a new rule for the Olympics. In mixed doubles, the third set was a special 10-point match tie-break.

Schedule

Singles seeds

Men's singles

Some players got special invitations to join the men's singles event. These included players from Georgia, Japan twice, Slovakia, Italy, and Moldova. Others came from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Barbados through a special Tripartite Commission invitation.

Some top players who were supposed to compete couldn’t join because of health reasons or concerns about safety.

Women's singles

Players in the women's singles also received special invitations. They came from Colombia, Slovenia, Poland, China, Brazil, and Tunisia. Two more players from Paraguay and Liechtenstein joined through the Tripartite Commission invitation.

Like the men, some top women players couldn’t participate because of health issues.

Doubles seeds

Men's doubles

Some players were invited to join the men's doubles event by the ITF. These included pairs from the Czech Republic, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Slovakia, Ukraine, Mexico, and Thailand.

Women's doubles

Some players were invited to join the women's doubles event by the ITF. These included pairs from Canada, Japan, Ukraine, Romania, Hungary, China, Brazil, and Poland.

Mixed doubles