Tennis players at the Olympics, from Djokovic to Williams

Full-time tennis professionals have been allowed to compete at the Olympics since 1988. Since then, some of the sport’s best-known players have gone for gold on the Olympic stage.

Here’s a look at how some of tennis’ biggest stars have fared at the Summer Games.

Men’s

Andre Agassi: A former world No. 1 player, Agassi was the first man to complete the career Golden Slam (win all four Slam tournaments and an Olympic gold medal). The Las Vegas native achieved the feat by winning gold for the United States in men’s singles at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.

Novak Djokovic: The Serbian superstar has accomplished just about everything in tennis, but he’s still missing an Olympic gold medal. Of all the men’s and women’s tennis players in the Open era (since 1968) who have won at least 20 Grand Slam titles, Djokovic is the only one never to win gold at the Olympics in either singles or doubles. Djokovic won bronze in men’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games.

Roger Federer: Federer spent 237 consecutive weeks at No. 1, by far the longest streak at the top of the ATP rankings. But he has never occupied the top spot on the Olympic podium in men’s singles. The Switzerland native won silver in men’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics and gold in men’s doubles with Stan Wawrinka at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Rafael Nadal: The Spaniard has several notches on his belt of career accomplishments, including two Olympic gold medals. Nadal won gold in men’s singles at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and gold in men’s doubles with Marc Lopez at the 2016 Rio Games.

Pete Sampras: While Sampras has 14 career major singles championships, he never won the French Open. The clay surface at Roland Garros was Sampras’ Kryptonite. The Washington, D.C., native made his only appearance at the Olympics in 1992 and failed to medal. Tennis at the 1992 Barcelona Games was held on clay.

Women’s

Chris Evert: Tennis’ “Ice Maiden” won 18 career major singles championships, including a record seven French Open titles. But capturing Olympic gold was about the only career accomplishment that evaded the Florida native. Evert represented the United States at the 1988 Seoul Summer Games but failed to medal.

Steffi Graf: While Agassi was the first man to complete the career Golden Slam, his wife, Graf, is the only player, man or woman, to achieve it in a single year. Graf won the gold medal in women’s singles while representing her native West Germany at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, capping one of the most dominant years in sports history.

Martina Navratilova: The Czech-American won 18 major singles championships, 31 major doubles championships and 10 major mixed doubles championships, for a combined career count of 59 major titles. That’s the most in the Open era. But Navratilova never won Olympic gold. She along with Lisa Raymond represented the United States in women’s doubles at the 2004 Athens Olympics, but they failed to medal.

Naomi Osaka: Born in Japan, Osaka is the first Asian player to hold the world No. 1 ranking in singles. But the four-time Grand Slam singles champion has yet to win an Olympic medal. Osaka, representing Japan in women’s singles, advanced to the third round at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games before losing to eventual silver medalist Marketa Vondrousova.

Serena Williams: The four-time Olympic gold medalist has won more Grand Slam titles (23) than any other woman in the Open era. Williams is also the only player to achieve a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles play. Williams won gold in women’s singles and women’s doubles at the 2012 London Olympics. She and older sister Venus have won a total of three women’s doubles Olympic gold medals (2000, ’08 and ’12).

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