At the

1896 Summer Olympics The 1896 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 1896, Therinoí Olympiakoí Agónes 1896), officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 1ης Ολυμπιάδας, Agónes tis 1is Ol ...

, two

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

events were contested, both for men. They began on 8 April and continued on 9 April, 10 April, and 11 April.Dates given are in the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

. Greece still used the

Julian calendar The Julian calendar, proposed by Roman consul Julius Caesar in 46 BC, was a reform of the Roman calendar. It took effect on , by edict. It was designed with the aid of Greek mathematicians and astronomers such as Sosigenes of Alexandr ...

at the time. According to that calendar, the tennis competition began on 27 March and closed on 30 March. 13 or 15 competitors from six nations, including seven

Greeks The Greeks or Hellenes (; el, Έλληνες, ''Éllines'' ) are an ethnic group and nation indigenous to the Eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea regions, namely Greece, Cyprus, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and, to a lesser extent, oth ...

, took part in the tennis competition. Many of the doubles teams were of mixed nationality, including all three medalist pairs. None of the leading players of the time such as Wimbledon champion Harold Mahony, U.S champion Robert Wrenn, William Larned or Wilfred Baddeley participated. To strengthen the field, the organization added sportsmen from other Olympic events, including weightlifter

Momčilo Tapavica Momčilo Tapavica ( sr-Cyrl, Момчило Тапавица; hu, Tapavicza Momcsilló ; 14 October 1872 – 10 January 1949) was an all-around sportsperson, competing in tennis, weightlifting, wrestling. Tapavica achieved his best result i ...

, hammer thrower

George S. Robertson Sir George Stuart Robertson (25 May 1872 in London, England – 29 January 1967 in London, England) was a British barrister, public servant, athlete, tennis player, and classical scholar. He competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athe ...

and 800-metres runners

Edwin Flack Edwin Harold Flack (5 November 1873 – 10 January 1935) was an Australian athlete and tennis player. Also known as "Teddy", he was Australia's first Olympian, being its only representative in 1896, and the first Olympic champion in the ...

and

Friedrich Traun Friedrich Adolf "Fritz" Traun (29 March 1876 – 11 July 1908) was a German athlete and tennis player. Born into a wealthy family, he participated in the 1896 Summer Olympics and won a gold medal in men's doubles. He committed suicide afte ...

Medal summary

These medals are retroactively assigned by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and runners-up bronze medals. Athletes coming third received no award.

Events

The silver-medal winning doubles team of Kasdaglis and Petrokokkinos appears in the IOC results database as a Greek team. In this regard: * Kasdaglis, a Greek national who resided in Alexandria after living in Great Britain for years, is listed as Greek in the IOC database for the singles event, but he is listed as Egyptian or British in some sources. * Petrokokkinos, who did not win a singles medal, is not identified with any nation in the IOC database, but all sources which state a nationality for Petrokokkinos list him as Greek.

Medal table

Competitors from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

won medals only as a part of a mixed team in the doubles event.

Participating nations

A total of 13 tennis players from 6 nations competed at the Athens Games: * * * * * * The

International Society of Olympic Historians The International Society of Olympic Historians (ISOH) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 with the purpose of promoting and studying the Olympic Movement and the Olympic Games. The majority of recent books on the Olympic Games have been ...

lists only thirteen players; according to them, British players Frank and George Marshall did not participate. Other sources do include the Marshalls, for a total of 15 players.

Notes

References

International Olympic Committee results database
* (Digitally available a

* (Excerpt available a

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tennis At The 1896 Summer Olympics Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics, 1896 Summer Olympics events

1896 Events January–March * January 2 – The Jameson Raid comes to an end, as Jameson surrenders to the Boers. * January 4 – Utah is admitted as the 45th U.S. state. * January 5 – An Austrian newspaper reports that Wil ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

1896 Olympics