Tennis was an original Olympic sport and even included women’s tennis as early as 1900, however in 1924 it was dropped. That absence would last over 60 years as it didn’t return until 1988. It has remained ever since and added mixed doubles in London. Tennis will be contested at the Olympic Tennis Center, a brand new set of courts constructed just for this occasion. Qualification was based on the rankings by the WTA and ATP and limited to four per country.
The Team:
This year’s team is made up of 11 athletes, five men and six women. The Williams’ sisters are the only veterans on the team with Venus Williams making her fifth straight appearance and Serena Williams making her fourth total as she missed 2004. Venus is the oldest member of the team at 36 while Madison Keys is the youngest at 21.
Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.
US Tennis Association
Men:
Brian Baker – Singles and Doubles
Steve Johnson – Singles and Doubles
Denis Kudla – Singles
Jack Sock – Singles and Doubles
Rajeev Ram – Doubles
Women:
Madison Keys – Singles
Sloane Stephens – Singles
Serena Williams^ – Singles and Doubles
Venus Williams**** – Singles and Doubles
Bethanie Mattek-Sands – Doubles
Coco Vandeweghe – Doubles
**** – Was on team in 2012 (London), 2008 (Beijing), 2004 (Athens), and 2000 (Sydney)
^ – Was on team in 2012, 2008, and 2000
Format:
First of all you might have noticed that there was no Americans listed as mixed doubles. This is not because the Americans won’t be competing in mixed doubles, just because the teams won’t be announced until sometime during the Olympics.
Singles competitions will be a six-round tournament (64 competitors), doubles is a five-round tournament (32 competitors) and mixed doubles is a four-round tournament (16 competitors). The matches are best-of-three sets, the finals for men’s singles is best-of-five sets. There are no tiebreakers in the final sets of matches.
Schedule:
All Times ET – Schedules for each day will be set the day before
Saturday, August 6th
10 AM – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles – First Round
Sunday, August 7th
10 AM – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles – First Round
Monday, August 8th
10 AM – Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles – Second Round
Tuesday, August 9th
10 AM – Men’s Singles – Second Round, Women’s Singles – Third Round, Men’s Doubles – Quarterfinals, Women’s Doubles – Second Round and Quarterfinals
Wednesday, August 10th
10 AM – Men’s Singles – Third Round, Women’s Singles – Quarterfinals, Men’s Doubles – Semifinals, Women’s Doubles – Quarterfinals, Mixed Doubles – First Round
Thursday, August 11th
11 AM – Men’s Singles – Quarterfinals, Women’s Singles – Semifinals, Women’s Doubles – Semifinals, Mixed Doubles – Quarterfinals
Friday, August 12th
11 AM – Men’s Singles – Semifinals, Men’s Doubles – Bronze/Final, Mixed Doubles – Semifinals
Saturday, August 13th
11 AM – Men’s Singles – Bronze, Women’s Singles – Bronze/Final, Women’s Doubles – Bronze, Mixed Doubles – Bronze
Sunday, August 14th
11 AM – Men’s Singles – Final, Women’s Doubles – Final, Mixed Doubles – Final
Past Results:
Serena and Venus have each won four golds for the US and no other medals. Serena took both women’s singles and doubles home from London as she won doubles with Venus. The US has won 20 golds, most overall, but is second to Great Britain in total medals with 36 to their 44. Of course since tennis came back to the Olympics in 1988 the US leads Great Britain 21-3, so that total of 44 is based on the early years. The US also won gold in men’s doubles in 2012 as they took three of the five gold medals available and grabbed a bronze in mixed doubles.
