History of Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles

A detailed look at Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles with additional information about the career of each of the more famous players.

Tennis was first included in a Summer Olympic sport in the 1896 Olympic Games, which was held in Athens, Greece. In the first Olympic Games, only two tournaments were played: men's singles and men's doubles. Women were not allowed to compete in singles and mixed doubles events untill the next Olympic Games in 1900, held in Paris, France. Tennis was not included in the official Olympic program from 1928 and 1984. It was re-included as a medal sport in 1988.

Men's singles have been held a total of 15 times at the history of the Olympics. An interesting fact about the history of men's tennis medalists in men's singles is that only one player has been able to win the event twice. The famous English player, Andy Murray is the only one who has won two Gold medals in men's singles and more impressive is that he won two back to back gold medals in the 2012 and the 2016 Olympic Games, the first one of which was against Roger Federer.

If you consider the doubles events as well, Reginald Doherty (three gold and one bronzes) is the all-time record holder among men for the most Olympic medals in tennis. Vincent Richards (USA), Andy Murray (Great Britain), Laurence Doherty (Great Britain) and Charles Winslow (South Africa) are all second with 3 medals each.

Among all the countries that won Gold medals in the history of the men's singles, 5 have been won by the Great Britain. The United States has won 3 gold medals and at third is South Africa with 2 medals. Five countries (Spain, Chile, Russia, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia) have won one Gold Medal. In the following article we will have a brief look at all the winners in the list of the Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles.

Everything about the Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles

In this part of our article on the Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles we will have a look at each of the 15 Olympic Games which included the event.

1896 (Athens)

The first Olympic Games in our article on the Olympic tennis medalists in men's singles is the 1896 Olympics at Athens, Greece. Based on different sources 13 to 15 players from six countries participated in the first ever men's singles event, 7 of them were from Greece. Another interesting fact was that in that year's event, winners were not given a gold, but a silver medal. The runners-ups were given a bronze medal and there were no medals for the third place. So the records of the event were later retroactively assigned by the International Olympic Committee.

At the final of the men's singles event John Pius Boland of the Great Britain defeated Dionysios Kasdaglis of Greece to write his name in the history of tennis at the summer Olympics. Momčilo Tapavica from Hungary and Konstantinos Paspatis of Greece finished at the third place.

Interesting facts:

The first ever gold medal winner in men's singles, John Pius Boland was in fact more of a politician than an athlete. He even became a member of parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
Boland did not even planned to participate at the Olympics. The story goes that he was visiting his friend, Thrasyvoulos Manos in Athens during the Olympics and it was Manos who registered Boland's name for the events. Boland ended up winning the single's title while the two friends won the doubles together as well.
Silver medalist, Momčilo Tapavica was a well-known architect. Among his notable works from this period are the German Embassy and National Bank in Cetinje, and the building of Boka Hotel in Herceg Novi.

1900 (Paris)

A total of 26 players from 4 nations competed at the Paris Games which were played at the Cercle des Sports de l'Île de Puteaux. At the men's singles, Laurence Doherty of Great Britain won the gold medal. His opponent at the final was his compatriot, Harold Mahony. Two other players from the UK, Reginald Doherty and Arthur Norris jointly won the Bronze Medal.

Interesting facts:

Gold medal winner, Laurence Doherty was the younger brother of that year's bronze winner, Reginald Doherty.
Five years after winning the silver medal at the Olympics, Harold Mahony was killed in a bicycling accident while descending a steep hill. He was 38 years old at the time of his death.
With a total of 4 medals (3 golds and one bronze), Reginald Doherty is the most accomplished player in the history of tennis at the summer Olympics.

1904 (St. Louis)

All the four medal winners of this year's singles event were from the United States. It was not extraordinary though, because 43 of the 45 participants were from the USA, while the other two were from the Great Britain. The Gold Medal went to Beals Wright who defeated Robert LeRoy in the final. Alphonzo Bell and Edgar Leonard won the bronze medal.

Interesting Facts:

Silver medal winner, Robert LeRoy was 19 years old when he played at the Olympics. He also won the silver medal of the doubles event that year.
Alphonzo Bell was a very famous oil multi-millionaire, real estate developer and philanthropist. He came from a family with historical ties with the city of Los Angles. His daughter, Minnewa married US president, Franklin Roosevelt's son, Elliott.

1908 (London)

Overall, 50 tennis players (Men and Women) participated in this year's events. Men's events were contested, with men's singles, doubles and indoor men's singles. At the final of the men's singles, Josiah Ritchie of Great Britain defeated Otto Froitzheim of Germany and won the Gold Medal. Another player from Britain, Gilberforce Eaves won the Bronze Medal.

Interesting facts:

Josiah Ritchie won a total of three medals in that years events. A Gold in Men's Singles, a Silver in Men's Doubles and Bronze medal in Men's Indoor Singles. He was the last player from Britain to win an Olympic medal in singles until Andy Murray won the Gold medal in the 2012 games.
Josiah Ritchie authored two books, one about tennis and the other about table tennis.
Silver winner, Otto Froitzheim played many sports in his teenage years including athletics, swimming, ice skating, football and tennis.
Froitzheim had a very eventful life during the two World Wars. He was a prisoner at the First World War He later joined the Police department in Berlin and had his life endangered once again after refusing to join the SA during the World War two. However, he was saved by his tennis background as Hermann Göring was a fan of his skills.

1912 (Stockholm)

82 tennis players (69 men and 13 women) from 14 countries participated in the 1912 Olympic Games. In the men's singles event the Gold Medal went to Charles Winslow of South Africa who defeated his compatriot, Harold Kitson in the final. Oscar Kreuzer of Germany won the Bronze Medal.

Interesting Facts:

Charles Winslow won two Gold medals in that year's Olympics: the men's singles and the doubles.
Winslow's father and son were both professional cricket players.
Harold Kitson was Charles Winslow's partner in the men's doubles event that year and the two won the Gold medal. It was a different story in the men's singles as Winslow defeated Kitson to win the event.
Bronze medal winner, Oscar Kreuzer was also a very famous rugby player who played many caps for Germany national rugby team.
Kreuzer was a prisoner during the World War one. He was playing a semi-final game at Pittsburg by the time the World War I broke out. On his way back to Germany, their boat was attacked near Gibraltar by a British warship. They were placed in a prison in Gibraltar for several months before being sent to detention camps in England.

1920 (Antwerp)

75 tennis players (52 men and 23 women) from 14 nations played at this year's events. At the men's singles Louis Raymond of South Africa won the Gold after beating Ichiya Kumagae of Japan 7–5, 4–6, 5–7, 4–6 in the final. The Bronze Medal went to Charles Winslow of the South Africa who had won the Gold medal in the 1912 Olympics. It was the second Olympic Games in a row at which South Africans shone in tennis.

Interesting facts:

Ichiya Kumagae was the first Japanese ever to win a medal at the Olympics. He won two silver medals in that year's events, one in men's singles and the other in men's doubles.
Kumagae authored two books on tennis, one of them was a manual which was published in 1951.

1924 (Paris)

124 tennis players from 27 countries participated in the Paris Olympic Games. In the final of men's singles - Vincent Richards of the United States defeated Henri Cochet of France to win the Gold Medal. Umberto De Morpurgo of Italy won the Bronze medal.

Interesting facts:

Vincent Richards is one of only two American male tennis players to win the gold medal in both singles and doubles (the other player was Beals Wright who achieved the feat in the 1904 Olympics). He was also the first ever prominent tennis player to turn pro in 1927.
Silver medal winner, Henri Cochet was one of the four great French players who dominated the Tennis World in the 20s. The group was famously nicknamed the Four Musketeers.
Cochet was a World War 2 captive and was not allowed to leave France. As a result he did not play at any international tournaments until after the World Cup.

From 1928 to 1984 Tennis was not included at the Olympic Games

1988 (Seoul)

We continue our article on the Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles with the 1988 Olympics at Seoul South Korea.

At this years events, Tennis was re-included in the Summer Olympic Games, having been left out since the 1924 Olympics in Paris. Two exceptions were the 1968 and 1984 Summer Olympics, at which Tennis was a demonstration sport. In the men's singles event, Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia won the Gold medal after beating The American Tim Mayotte in the final. The Bronze Medal went to Stefan Edberg (Sweden) and Brad Gilbert (United States)

Interesting facts:

Gold medal winner, Miloslav Mecir had a career-long rivalry with his Swedish opponents, especially Mats Wilander. He was known as the "Swede Killer" for the success that he had against Swedish players.
The Swedish Bronze winner, Stefan Edberg was a child prodigy. He famously won all four Grand Slam junior titles in 1983 to become the first and only player to achieve the Junior Grand Slam in the open era.
Another bizarre fact about Stefan Edberg is that he accidently caused the death of a linesman named Dick Wertheim with an errant serve during the 1983 US Open. The ball hit Wertheim in the groin and caused him to fall on his head.
Edberg was Roger Federer's coach from 2013 to 2015 and according to the legendary Swiss player, had a huge impact on his playing style.

1992 (Barcelona)

Next Olympic Games in our article on the Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles is the 1992 event at Barcelona, Spain. In the final of the men's singles Marc Rosset of Switzerland stunned the fan favorites, Jordi Arrese of Spain 7–6, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, 8–6 in a marathon of a match and won the Gold Medal. The Bronze Medal went to Andrei Cherkasov (Unified Team) and Oran Ivanisevic (Croatia)

Interesting facts:

Marc Rosset's Gold medal was a hard fought win as he defeated five title challengers, Jim Courier, Goran Ivanisevic, Wayne Ferreira, and Emilio Sánchez on his way to the final. Rosset was the greatest Swiss tennis player before the emergence of Roger Federer. He played four times against his successor and registered a 2-2 record.
Marc Rosset once escaped death when he decided to change his flight plans after a first-round loss at the US Open in September 1998. The flight he was supposed to take later crashed, killing everyone on board.
Bronze medal winner, Cherkasov was the winner of the longest best-of-three set match in tour history in 1993. He famously saved three match points in 3-hour, 54-minute quarter-final win against Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy to win the game 6–7, 7–6, 7–5.

1996 (Atlanta)

A big change in this year's competitions was that for the first time since the 1924 Olympics, a single bronze medal was awarded in each event. In the final of the men's singles event, legendary American tennis player, - Andre Agassi defeated Sergi Bruguera of Spain. The Bronze Medal went to Leander Paes of India.

Interesting facts:

After reaching the No. 1 rank for the first time in 1995, Agassi had a crisis in his personal life which affected his career as he sank to No, 141 in the ranking only two years later. Many believed his career was over, but he came back strong and enjoyed the most successful spell of his career in the following four years.
Andre Agassi dated famous American actress, Barbara Streisand for few years in the 90s although Streisand was 28 years older than him. After his break up with Streisand, Agassi married Legendary German tennis player, Stefie Graf who won the 1988 Gold medal at the Olympics. The two have been living together since 2001 and have two children.
Silver medal winner, Sergi Bruguera was also a semi-professional football player.
Bronze medal winner, Leander Paes is the first Indian and only tennis player to compete at seven Olympic Games.

2000 (Sydney)

The competition consisted of singles and doubles events for both men and women. The men's singles at the Sydney Olympics was highlighted by the emergence of the famous Russian player, Yevgeny Kafelnikov who defeated Tommy Haas of Germany. Arnaud Di Pasquale of France won the bronze medal.

Interesting facts:

Yevgeny Kafelnikov had a career as a Poker player after his retirement from tennis.
Kafelnikov's retirement from tennis is 2003 later became a huge controversy after it was rumored that he decided to retire because of ATP's desire to avoid a betting scandal considering his match in Lyon against Fernando Vicente.

2004 (Athens)

The biggest new change to year's regulation was that for the first time world ranking points were allocated to the players. In the final of men's singles Nicolas Massu of Chile won the Gold medal by defeating Mardy Fish of the United States. Another Chilean player, Fernando Gonzalez won the Bronze medal.

Interesting facts:

Gold medal winner, Nicolas Massu was nicknamed 'the Vampire' by his fans. He is the only male player to have won both the singles and doubles gold medals during the same games in modern Olympic tennis (since 1988). His two gold medals are the only ones Chile has won at the Olympics history.
Silver medal winner, Mardy fish was a semi-professional basketball and Golf Player.
Fish's father was a tennis instructor. In 1984 a Minneapolis TV station ran a profile of Fish, at the age of two, hitting tennis balls from the baseline over the net.
Another amazing fact about Mardy Fish is that he had a group of fans called The Fishheads who travel with him and cheer him on during matches.
Bronze medal winner, Fernando Gonzalez is the fourth male tennis player ever to have won each Olympic medal (gold in doubles and bronze in singles at Athens 2004, and silver in singles at Beijing 2008).

2008 (Beijing)

The 2008 Olympics was a very memorable one for Tennis fans as two of the best players of the history of the sports won their first and only Olympic medals. The legendary Spanish player, Rafael Nadal won the Gold medal after defeating the 2004 Bronze medal winner, Fernando Gonzalez of Chile. While the evergreen Serbian player, Novak Djokovic won the Bronze medal after defeating James Blake.

Interesting facts:

Rafael Nadal's uncle is the former Barcelona and Spanish national team player, Miguel Angel Nadal. Rafa himself had to choose between football and Tennis when he was 14 years old and Tennis was his immediate pick. Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo are his favorite team and player.
In 2010, Rafael Nadal featured in the music video of one of Shakira's songs named, Gypsy.
The Silver medal winner, Fernando Gonzalez was nicknamed Stone Hand for his incredible forehands.
Novak Djokovic is famous for his ability to perform impressions of other famous players. During the 2007 US Open, Djokovic did a comedic impression of Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova on the court and to the delight of the crowd.

2012 (London)

The 2012 event was the first Olympic grass court tournament since tennis was re-included as an Olympic sport. 190 players competed in five events. The men's single was a chance for the Swiss master, Roger Federer to win the Gold medal. However, he was stunned in the final by Andy Murray, who won his first of two consecutive Olympic Gold medals in London. The Bronze medal went to the Argentinian famous player, Juan Martin del Porto.

Interesting facts:

Andy Murray's Gold medal was Britain's Olympic singles gold medal in tennis since Josiah Ritchie won in 1908.
Roger Federer semi-final win against del Porto lasted 4-hour and 26 minutes. Federer won 19–17 in the third and final set to book a place in the final.
Federer was the flagbearer for Switzerland in the opening ceremony at both the Athens and Beijing Olympic Games.
In 2016, Federer was ranked No. 1 in the list for the most famous people in Switzerland, ahead of personalities such as Albert Einstein, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and novel character Heidi.

2016 (Rio de Janeiro)

The final event in our article on the Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles is the 2016 Olympics at Rio. A total of 172 players competed in five events. A change in the regulations of this year's event was that unlike previous editions of the Olympic event, it was decided that the Olympic tournaments would not offer ATP and WTA ranking points for the players.

In the men's singles final, Andy Murray wrote his name in the history books by becoming the only player, male or female to win two back-to-back Gold medal at the singles events. 2012 Bronze medal winner, Juan Martin del Porto won the silver medal this time and Kei Nishikori of Japan won the Bronze medal.

Interesting facts:

Juan Martin del Porto also had an amateur career as a footballer. His favorite teams of Boca Juniors and Juventus.
Kei Nishikori defeated fan favorites and Gold challenger, Rafael Nadal 6–2, 6–7 (1), 6–3 to win the Bronze medal. Nadal was defeated by del Porto in the semi-finals.
By winning the Bronze medal, Kei Nishikori became the first Japanese man to win an Olympic tennis medal since Ichiya Kumagae in the 1920 Summer Olympics.

A complete List of Olympic medalists in tennis

We conclude our article on the History of Olympic Tennis Medalists in men's singles with a complete List of Olympic medalists in tennis at the history of this event.

1896 (Athens)

Gold - John Pius Boland (Great Britain), Silver - Dionysios Kasdaglis (Greece) Bronze - Momčilo Tapavica (Hungary) and Konstantinos Paspatis (Greece)

1900 (Paris)

Gold - Laurence Doherty (Great Britain), Silver - Harold Mahony (Great Britain) Bronze - Reginald Doherty (Great Britain) and Arthur Norris (Great Britain)

1904 (St. Louis)

Gold - Beals Wright (United States), Silver - Robert LeRoy (United States) Bronze - Alphonzo Bell (United States) and Edgar Leonard (United States)

1908 (London)

Gold - Josiah Ritchie (Great Britain), Silver - Otto Froitzheim (Germany), Bronze - Gilberforce Eaves (Great Britain)

1912 (Stockholm)

Gold - Charles Winslow (South Africa), Silver - Harold Kitson (South Africa), Bronze - Oscar Kreuzer (Germany)

1920 (Antwerp)

Gold - Louis Raymond (South Africa), Silver - Ichiya Kumagae (Japan), Bronze - Charles Winslow (South Africa)

1924 (Paris)

Gold - Vincent Richards (United States), Silver - Henri Cochet (France), Bronze - Umberto De Morpurgo (Italy)

From 1928 to 1984 Tennis was not included at the Olympic Games

1988 (Seoul)

Gold - Miloslav Mecir (Czechoslovakia), Silver - Tim Mayotte (United States), Bronze - Stefan Edberg (Sweden) and Brad Gilbert (United States)

1992 (Barcelona)

Gold - Marc Rosset (Switzerland), Silver - Jordi Arrese (Spain), Bronze - Andrei Cherkasov (Unified Team) and oran Ivanisevic (Croatia)

1996 (Atlanta)

Gold - Andre Agassi (United States), Silver - Sergi Bruguera (Spain), Bronze - Leander Paes (India)

2000 (Sydney)

Gold - Yevgeny Kafelnikov (Russia), Silver - Tommy Haas (Germany), Bronze - Arnaud Di Pasquale (France)

2004 (Athens)

Gold - Nicolás Massú (Chile), Silver - Mardy Fish (United States), Bronze - Fernando González (Chile)

2008 (Beijing)

Gold - Rafael Nadal (Spain), Silver Fernando Gonzalez (Chile), Bronze - Novak Djokovic (Serbia)

2012 (London)

Gold - Andy Murray (Great Britain), Silver – Roger Federer (Switzerland), Bronze - Juan Martín del Potro (Argentina)

2016 (Rio de Janeiro)

Gold - Andy Murray (Great Britain), Silver - Juan Martín del Potro (Argentina), Bronze - Kei Nishikori (Japan)

So here you had it! A complete list of Olympics Tennis men's Singles Winners. Who will win the medals in this year's event? Who is the GOAT in the history of Tennis at the Summer Olympics? Please don’t hesitate to share any ideas with us.

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