Graf, Murray, Massu & Co .: Our 7 tennis highlights from the Olympic Games - Part 1
Since tennis officially became an Olympic sport again in 1988, some memorable moments have occurred around the medal awarding in the "white sport". tennisnet.com lists the seven biggest highlights in our opinion. Part one presents places 7 to 4.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Jul 20, 2021, 06:01 pm
Even at the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, tennis was an Olympic sport. Back then, the Briton John Pius Boland won the men's gold medal. Whereby the golden one is actually not entirely correct, as no gold medals were awarded at the games in 1896 and 1900. The winner was given the silver, the second-placed had to be content with bronze and the third-placed - there was also no small final back then - got nothing at all. The women did not play their first Olympic tournament until 1900. There, too, Charlotte Cooper, a British woman, was the first woman to triumph.
Until 1924, medals in tennis continued to be awarded - but then there was a long pause. After two trial runs in 1968 and 1984, our favorite sport was only included in the regular program again in 1988. So 2021 will be the ninth Olympic tennis tournament of the quasi new modern era. And in the eight previous tournaments there were many, many highlights and memorable moments that we don't want to withhold from you - we have selected the seven most impressive for you. It starts with places 7 to 4:
7th place:2012 - Andy Murray wins gold in singles at Wimbledon: At the "normal" Wimbledon tournament in 2012, Murray had to bow to eight-time champion Roger Federer in the final. At the Olympic tournament at the same venue, however, the Briton impressively returned the favor to the Swiss. Murray clearly won 6: 2, 6: 1 and 6: 4 against a tired Federer who had previously fought down Juan Martin del Potro in the semifinals 19:17 in the third set, and then summed up with delight: “That was by far the best Week of my tennis career. "
6th place : 2004 - double gold for Nicolas Massu in Athens: Dominic Thiem's current coach not only wrote Chilean tennis history in 2004 in the Greek capital. Up to this point, Massu had never made it past the third round in a Grand Slam tournament. And the top 10 in the world rankings were not yet an issue for the man from Vina del Mar. In Athens, however, the South American struck twice. First he won gold in the doubles competition with his compatriot Fernando Gonzalez, only to triumph in the singles one day later. Today Massu is considered a national hero in Chile.
5th place : 2008 - Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka win gold together in Beijing: In the individual competition of the Olympic tennis tournament in Beijing in 2008, Roger Federer suffered a surprising defeat in the quarter-finals against the American James Blake. In doubles, however, things went much better for the Swiss with his compatriot Stan Wawrinka. The two confederates, who achieved their great triumphs mainly in individual competitions, took greats like the Indians Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, as well as the brothers Bob and Mike Bryan from the tournament. The final triumph against the Swedes Simon Aspelin and Thomas Johansson was almost entirely a matter of form.
4th place:1992 - Boris Becker and Michael Stich win gold for Germany: Michael Stich and Boris Becker were big competitors at the time. In 1991, the emotions at the Wimbledon final between the two Germans really boiled up. The tabloid media did the rest to stylize the sporting argument into a personal conflict between the two Grand Slam champions. Nonetheless, Niki Pilic managed to unite the two for the task of Olympic gold. With success: Becker and Stich defeated the South African pairing Wayne Ferreira and Piet Norval in four sets in the final in Barcelona and showed that you don't have to be best friends to achieve a big goal.
Tomorrow the medal ranks on our Olympic highlights list will follow. Stay tuned!