Tennis at Paris Olympics: Dates, format, eligibility rules, all you need to know

Published at :June 10, 2024 at 12:01 PM

Modified at :August 22, 2024 at 3:13 PM

(Courtesy : Getty Images)

There are specific criteria that must be followed in every sport to have names included in the list of participants.

The upcoming Paris Olympics 2024 are being eagerly anticipated and athletes from around the globe are diligently preparing to participate at this grand sporting event. The event is scheduled to take place from the 26th of July to the 11th of August.

There are specific criteria that must be followed in every sport to have names included in the list of participants. Likewise, tennis at the Paris Olympics has certain criteria.

This article will provide comprehensive details on the requirements for participating in the tennis event at the upcoming Olympics.

Inclusion of Tennis in the Olympics

At the inaugural modern Olympics held in 1896 in Athens, tennis was included as a competitive sport. However, after the 1924 Olympics, it was not featured until its full reinstatement at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Dates of Tennis event at Paris Olympics

The tennis event at the Paris Olympics will commence on the day following the inaugural session. The event is scheduled to take place from July 27, 2024, to August 4, 2024, with the medal rounds beginning on August 2nd.

Venue of Tennis event at Paris Olympics

The upcoming Olympic tennis event will be played on clay for the first time since Barcelona 1992. This marks the first instance of Olympic action being held at a Grand Slam venue since the All England Club at London 2012.

The matches are set to take place on the outdoor red clay at the Stade Roland Garros, the renowned venue that also hosts the French Open.

Format of event

The tennis event will consist of five distinct categories. Here is the list of events and the total participating players in them:

Men’s Singles: 64 players

Women’s Singles: 64 players

Men’s Doubles: 32 teams

Women’s Doubles: 32 teams

Mixed Doubles: 16 teams

Notably, Olympic participation will not result in the awarding of Hologic WTA Tour ranking points.

Eligibility of Players

After the conclusion of the French Open on Monday, June 10, 2024, the direct entries for the Olympics will be determined according to the ATP and WTA rankings.
The ITF will release the entry list for men’s and women’s singles as well as for men’s and women’s doubles on Monday, July 8, 2024.
The publication of the mixed doubles entry list will follow later in July.

Participation Requirements:

Players must have met the minimum participation criteria in the ITF’s Davis Cup or Billie Jean King Cup over the four-year Olympic cycle.
A player has to meet the criteria by being included in the ultimate nominated team and attending the tie at least twice.
One of those appearances must have taken place in either 2023 or 2024.
Players who have not fulfilled the minimum participation requirements are entitled to lodge an appeal with the ITF Olympic Committee.

Standing Requirements:

All athletes are required to maintain a favourable standing with their National Association and the ITF.

Qualifying Criteria

The primary rule states that a country is limited to entering a maximum of 12 athletes (six men and six women), to participate in five events.

Singles Qualification

A nation is permitted to designate up to four individual players. The singles draws, which will consist of 64 players, will include 56 direct acceptances, six final qualification positions allocated by the ITF, one slot for the host nation and one universality slot.
The ITF will assign the remaining qualification berths to the Pan-American Games champion (Laura Pigossi of Brazil) and runner-up (Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina), Asian Games champion (Zheng Qinwen), African Games champion (to be determined) and two previous Olympic gold medalists and/or Grand Slam champions (to be determined).
Two berths may be granted to an Olympic singles gold medalist or a Grand Slam singles champion who has not secured direct entry, provided that they hold a singles ranking within the top 400 and their country’s quota has not been fulfilled. In cases where more than two athletes meet these criteria, the positions will be awarded to the two athletes with the greatest number of titles. Should three or more athletes meet these standards and possess an equal number of titles, the two highest-ranked athletes in singles will qualify.
Notably, if France qualifies an athlete or team directly, the host nation’s place will be reassigned to the next direct entry.

Doubles Qualification

The 32-team doubles draws will consist of 31 direct acceptances and one team from the host nation. A nation is permitted to send a maximum of two teams.

Direct Acceptance places are determined in the following order:

a. Players ranked in the doubles top 10, provided their partner is ranked inside the top 300

b. Additional slots, up to the 24th Direct Acceptance team, will be assigned to the top-ranked teams based on the Combined Ranking of each team, utilizing a player’s best ranking in singles or doubles.

c. Additional teams will earn direct acceptance in the following “Singles Priority”:

i) Highest combined-ranked teams with both athletes accepted into the Singles event.

ii) Highest combined-ranked teams with one athlete accepted into the Singles event.

iii) Highest combined-ranked teams remaining in the nominations.

Mixed Doubles Qualification

The 16-team mixed doubles draws shall consist of 15 direct acceptances and one team from the Host Nation. Each nation is permitted to enter only one mixed doubles team.
The allocation of Direct Acceptance places is determined by the Combined Ranking of each team. It is a requirement that the team is composed of players who have already participated in the singles or doubles events.

Reigning Olympic Medalists

Men’s Singles

Gold: Alexander Zverev (Germany)
Silver: Karen Khachanov (Russian Olympic Committee)
Bronze: Pablo Carreño Busta (Spain)

Women’s Singles

Gold: Belinda Bencic (Switzerland)
Silver: Markéta Vondroušová (Czech Republic)
Bronze: Elina Svitolina (Ukraine)

Men’s Doubles

Gold: Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić (Croatia)
Silver: Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig (Croatia)
Bronze: Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus (New Zealand)

Women’s Doubles

Gold: Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková (Czech Republic)
Silver: Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic (Switzerland)
Bronze: Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani (Brazil)

Mixed Doubles

Gold: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev (Russian Olympic Committee)
Silver: Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev (Russian Olympic Committee)
Bronze: Ashleigh Barty and John Peers (Australia)

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