Tennis

Tennis, originally lawn tennis, was invented by Major Walter Wingfield, a British army officer, in 1873. The original name was “sphairistike”. However, tennis variants are much older than that. Court tennis or royal tennis, real tennis or jeu de paume, was known to have been played in the Middle Ages.

Tennis was contested at every Olympic Games from Athinai 1896 through Paris 1924 as a regular medal sport. It was then discontinued, although it was on the schedule as a demonstration sport in Ciudad de México 1968 and Los Angeles 1984. The reasons for dropping tennis as an Olympic sport were probably two: 1) the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was upset that many of the top tennis players, though considered amateurs, infringed upon its strict definition of amateurism; and 2) the tennis establishment, especially in Great Britain, was concerned that the Olympic events might become more important than Wimbledon, and did not wish that to occur.

Tennis returned to the Olympics as a full medal sport at Seoul 1988, as it became possible for full-scale professionals to compete at the Olympics, with no other restrictions. Still, not all top players attend the Olympic Games, as they consider it of lesser importance, or find it interfering with their preparation for the US Open Grand Slam tournament, which is usually held near the same time period. At the Olympics, men and women compete in both singles and doubles, and a mixed doubles event was added back to the programme in London 2012, for the first time with Olympic status since 1924.

Tennis has also been part of the programme of the Youth Summer Olympics since its inaugural Singapore 2010 edition, with events for boys and girls. As of 2024, the Olympic medal table is topped by the United States, with 41 medals and 21 golds, and Great Britain, with 43 medals and 17 golds. Sisters Venus Williams and Serena Williams lead the gold medal count, both with four golds. Venus Williams has also won a total of five medals at the Olympics, the same number as Britain’s Kitty McKane. On the men’s side, British player Reggie Doherty is the only tennis player with three Olympic gold medals. He also leads the overall male medal count, with four medals, the same as his compatriot Charles Dixon and Sweden’s Gunnar Setterwall.

The governing body of the sport is the International Tennis Federation (ITF), originally known as the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) until 1977, which was founded on 1 March 1913, in Paris, France, with 15 founding members: Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. As of January 2026, the ITF has 214 affiliated member nations. The ITF intends to change its name to World Tennis during the year 2026, as was voted in the governing body’s annual general meeting on 16 October 2025.