Olympic Tennis (Olympic Programme 1988)	Browse Other Pages Homepage A Viewpoint on the Game How It Began A Viewpoint on the Game 2 A Viewpoint on the Game 3 Concentration; Practice Condition, Physical and Mental Keep Your Eye on the Ball Footwork and Weight Control Women's Tennis The Grips The Service The Drive The Chop and the Slice The Volley The Subtle Shots Courage Your Opponent's Weaknesses General Tactics Outside Conditions Pressure on Your Opponent Doubles and Mixed Doubles The Coaching Job Legendary Tennis Players Olympic Tennis Does Youth Rule Tennis Hall of Fame Amateurism to Open Tennis Some Defects in Tennis Doping Olympic Review Technology and Sport The Slice Service Flat Serve The American Twist The Drive The Backhand Drive Drive - The Main Uses The Volley Net Position The Volley Position The Overhead Smash The Half-Volley The Drop Shot The Mechanics of the Slice The Main Uses of a Slice The Grips Doubles and Mixed Doubles To Open the Court Doubles In Europe and US Legendary Tennis Players (1940's) Questions in Australian Tennis History of Australian Tennis History of Australian Tennis 2 History of Australian Tennis Players Women's Tennis in Australia Australian Tennis: Nature Ages of Tennis Players The Careers of Women Players
	(1988) Two new sports will appear on the programme for the 1988 Olympic Games : Tennis and Table Tennis. Below the Presidents of these International Federations have given their comments. We would like to thank the Presidents here. The decision of the IOC to readmit tennis to the programme of the Olympic Games offers a new opportunity to promote and develop the game and a chance to re-establish an old tradition. It will do much to encourage participation in tennis at all levels and to increase public interest in our sport in many communities. We have a long history of association with the Olympic movement. Tennis, as a popular individual sport of the late nineteenth century, was on the programme of the first modern Olympic Games at Athens in 1896-where the first champions were J. P. Boland (Great Britain) in singles and Boland and Fritz Thraun (Germany) in doubles-and thereafter was a part of all subsequent Olympics up to the Paris Games of 1924. There were some impressive achievements in the Olympic tennis competitions. In Paris in 1900 Charlotte Cooper, who had been Wimbledon Champion in 1895, 1896 and 1898, gained the distinction of being the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport. She won a singles gold medal and then joined R. F. Doherty, another Wimbledon Champion, to take the mixed doubles event. Only men’s events were held when the Games were staged at St. Louis in 1904 but in London in 1908 and Stockholm in 1912 there were indoor and outdoor tournaments for both men and women. Women’s doubles was added to the list of events in 1920 at Antwerp and there were five events again in Paris in 1924. The International Tennis Federation (then the International Lawn Tennis Federation) withdrew from the 1928 Games after criticising the arrangements for staging the tennis tournament in Paris. That dispute was a matter for regret as the 1924 event had attracted a strong international entry. There were 92 players in the men’s singles, 36 in the women’s singles, 16 in the women’s doubles and 16 mixed doubles Those who played included Jean Borotra, Henri Cachet, René Lacoste, Vincent Richards, Helen Wills, Kitty McKane and Lili de Alvarez, but all five gold medals went to the United States. The ITF, which was founded in 1913, now has 72 full member nations, with voting rights, and 37 associate members. Tennis is played by men and women in almost every country in the world. According to our researches there are at least 100 million tennis players competing on a regular basis in clubs and privately. We hope that this universality will enable us to make a strong contribution to the Olympic movement. Home