The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
'
Ken Flach
Kenneth Eliot Flach (May 24, 1963 – March 12, 2018) was an American doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon and two US Open), and two mixed doubles titles (Wimbledon and the French Ope ...
and
Robert Seguso
Robert Arthur Seguso (born May 1, 1963) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon, one French Open and one US Open). He also won the men's d ...
defeated
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
's
Sergio Casal
Sergio may refer to:
* Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio
* Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found
* ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass
* ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film
* ''Se ...
and
Emilio Sánchez
Emilio Ángel Sánchez Vicario (born 29 May 1965) is a Spanish former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won five Grand Slam doubles titles and the men's doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games. Sanchez is the older brother of multi ...
in the final, 6–3, 6–4, 6–7
(5–7), 6–7
(1–7), 9–7 to win the gold medal in Men's Singles
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 ...
at the
1988 Summer Olympics
The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and commonly known as Seoul 1988 ( ko, 서울 1988, Seoul Cheon gubaek palsip-pal), was an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October ...
. It was the second consecutive American victory in the event (though tennis had been
discontinued from the Olympics in the intervening 64 years) and its record-equaling third gold overall.
Czechoslovaka's
Miloslav Mečíř
Miloslav Mečíř (; born 19 May 1964) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. He won the men's singles gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games, representing Czechoslovakia, and contested two major singles finals. In 1987 he won the WCT Fina ...
and
Milan Šrejber
Milan Šrejber () (born 30 December 1963) is a former tennis player from Czechoslovakia, who represented his native country at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. There he reached the semi finals of the men's doubles competition, partnering Milos ...
and
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
's
Stefan Edberg
Stefan Bengt Edberg (; born 19 January 1966) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles between 1985 ...
and
Anders Järryd
Anders Per Järryd (; born 13 July 1961) is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. During his career he won eight Grand Slam doubles titles (three French Open, two Wimbledon, two US Open, one Australian Open), reached the world No ...
won the bronze medals. It was the first medal in the event for Spain, Sweden, and Czechoslovakia.
The tournament was held from 23 September to 1 October at the
Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center
Seoul Olympic Park Tennis Center is a tennis venue in Seoul, South Korea, located in the Olympic Park. It hosted the tennis events for the 1988 Summer Olympics and has hosted several South Korea Davis Cup team and South Korea Fed Cup team ties. ...
in
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. There were 62 players (31 pairs) from 31 nations, with the Colombian pair withdrawing.
[ Each nation had only one pair. There was no bronze-medal match.
]
Background
This was the eighth appearance of men's doubles tennis. The event has been held at every Summer Olympics where tennis has been on the program: from 1896 to 1924 and then from 1988 to the current program. A demonstration event was held in 1968.
The top seed and favorite was the American pair, Ken Flach
Kenneth Eliot Flach (May 24, 1963 – March 12, 2018) was an American doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon and two US Open), and two mixed doubles titles (Wimbledon and the French Ope ...
and Robert Seguso
Robert Arthur Seguso (born May 1, 1963) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. A doubles specialist, he won four Grand Slam men's doubles titles (two Wimbledon, one French Open and one US Open). He also won the men's d ...
, who had just won their second consecutive Wimbledon title (adding to earlier U.S. and French Open wins.
Brazil, the People's Republic of China, West Germany, Indonesia, Israel, New Zealand, Nigeria, Paraguay, South Korea, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Zimbabwe each made their debut in the event. Great Britain made its sixth appearance in the event, most of any nation.
Competition format
The competition was a single-elimination tournament. Unlike the pre-hiatus tournaments, there was no bronze-medal match. All matches were best-of-five sets. Tiebreaks were used for any set before the fifth that reached 6–6.
Schedule
All times are Korea Standard Time adjusted for daylight savings (UTC+10
UTC+10:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +10:00. This time is used in:
As standard time (year-round)
''Principal cities: Brisbane, Gold Coast, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Port Moresby, Dededo, Saipan''
North Asia
*Russia – ...
)
Seeds
Draw
Finals
Top half
Bottom half
References
ITF 1988 Summer Olympics Men's Doubles Draw
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics - Men's Doubles
Men's Doubles
Men's events at the 1988 Summer Olympics