Tennis

  1. Home
  2. Sports
  3. Tennis

Olympic Tennis Explained

By Jeff Cooper, About.com

THE COMPETITION

The four Olympic tennis events will each be standard single-elimination draws. Men's and women's singles will each have 64 players, and men's and women's doubles will each have 32 teams. The singles draws will each have 16 seeds, the doubles 8. If two players from the same nation are competing, then they will be drawn in different halves of the draw; if three or four, then different quarters. All matches will be played to the best of three sets, except the men's singles and doubles finals, which will be best-of-five. All third or fifth sets will be played out (until a player wins six or more games by a margin of two or more), and all other sets will be decided by tie-breaks if they reach 6-6.

EQUIPMENT

The only noteworthy equipment for Olympic tennis will be the courts. The ITF and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) have chosen DecoTurf II as the surface for the seventeen match and practice courts, all of which will have night lighting. DecoTurf is a multi-layered, cushioned hard-court surface also used for the 2004 games and at other major events like the US Open.

The Centre Court will seat 10,000; Show Court 1, 4000; Show Court 2, 2000; and the outer courts, 200 each.

All matches will use Wilson's US Open ball.

GOLD, SILVER, AND BRONZE

The winners of the finals in each event will receive the gold medal; the runners-up, the silver. The losers of the semifinals will play for the bronze medal.

Back to Olympic Tennis Central

Explore Tennis

About.com Special Features

Learn to Pitch

Strike out the competition with these step-by-step pictorials. More >

Introduction to Pilates

Learning Pilates fundamentals can help you get the most out of your exercise regime. More >

Tennis

  1. Home
  2. Sports
  3. Tennis
  4. Pro Tours and Players
  5. Olympics
  6. 2008 Olympic Tennis Explained - Draws Rules Court Surface and Medals

©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.

All rights reserved.