The 2020 Tokyo Olympics was postponed to 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In the piece we look at what happened at the tennis events associated with this edition of the Olympics.
The Olympic Games without the high-status tennis tournament will not be a triumph. This international tournament welcomes both renowned & underdog participants from qualified nations to grace different events.
Additionally, ever since tennis was reinstated as a medal sport in the Olympics in 1988, there have been outstanding performances from many competitors.
This year’s Summer Olympic tournament was held in Tokyo’s Ariake Indoor Tennis Park, Koto, Tokyo, Japan, from Saturday the 24th of July, 2020. to Sunday the 1st of August. This was the tournament’s 18th edition in the Olympics.
Conversely, the event was somewhat strange because of the short time frame, missing notable figures, and a “no-spectator” attendance. Moreover, there were a few walkovers awarded during the tournament.
The 9-day tennis tournament saw five events held by 191 competitors from the 42 qualified nations. The five events comprised six rounds in the singles, five rounds in the doubles, and four rounds in mixed doubles.
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Table of Content
The tennis events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics were as follows:
Day 1
Men’s Singles, Men’s doubles, Women’s singles, and Women’s doubles
On day one, there were four events held across different tennis Courts. This was the first round/round of 64 for the Women’s & Men’s singles and the round of 32 for the Men’s & Women’s doubles). The events were held in the Center Court and Court 1 to Court 11.
Day 2
Men’s Singles, Men’s doubles, Women’s singles, and Women’s doubles
On day two, there were also four events held across different Courts. These games were a continuation of day one events. This was a continuation of the first round/round of 64 for the Women’s & Men’s singles and the round of 32 for the Men’s & Women’s doubles).
The events were also held in the Center Court and Court 1 to Court 11.
Day 3
Men’s Singles, Men’s doubles, Women’s singles, and Women’s doubles
There were four events held across different Courts on day three. This was the second round/round of 32 for the Women’s & Men’s singles and the second round/round of 16 for the Men’s doubles & Women’s doubles). The events were held in the Center Court and Court 1 to Court 8.
Day 4
Men’s Singles, Men’s doubles, Women’s singles, and Women’s doubles
Day 4 saw the second round/round of 32 for the Men’s Singles & Men’s doubles continue. Third round/round of 16 for the Women’s singles & second round for Women’s doubles). The events were held in the Center Court and Court 1 to Court 7.
Day 5
Men’s Singles, Men’s doubles Quarterfinals, Women’s singles Quarterfinals, Women’s doubles Quarterfinals, and Mixed doubles
The third round/round of 16 for the Men’s Singles, Women’s singles Quarterfinals, Men’s doubles Quarterfinals, & Women’s doubles Quarterfinals, and the first round/round of 16 mixed doubles were held on day 5 in the Center Court and Court 1 to Court 6.
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Day 6
Men’s singles Quarterfinals, Men’s doubles Semifinals, Women’s singles Semifinals, Women’s doubles Semifinals, and Mixed doubles Quarterfinals
On day six, we saw five events held across four different hard courts. The Men’s singles Quarterfinals were held in the Center Court & Court 1, the Men’s double’s semifinal held in Court 2 & 3, the Women’s singles semifinals held in the Center Court, Women’s doubles semifinals held in Court 3, and the Mixed doubles Quarterfinals held in the Center Court & Court 2.
Day 7
Men’s singles Semifinal, Men’s doubles Gold Medal & Bronze Medal Matches and Mixed doubles Quarterfinals
On this day, there were three events held across two venues. These included; The Men’s singles semifinal in the Center Court, the Men’s doubles gold medal match in the Center Court, the Men’s doubles bronze medal match in Court 1, and the Mixed doubles semifinal in Court 1.
Day 8
Men’s singles Bronze Medal Match, Women’s singles Bronze Medal & Gold Medal Match, Women’s doubles Bronze Medal Match, and Mixed doubles Bronze Medal Match
On day 8, there were four events held across two venues. These included; The Men’s singles Bronze medal match in the Center Court, the Women’s singles Gold medal match in the Center Court, the Women’s singles Bronze medal match in the Center Court, Women’s doubles Bronze medal match in Court 1, and Mixed doubles Bronze medal match in Court 1.
Day 9: Last Day of the Tennis Tournament.
Men’s singles Gold Medal Match, Women’s doubles Gold Medal Match, and Mixed doubles Gold Medal Match
The last day of the tennis tournament saw the culmination of all the other remaining major events at the Center Court.
There was the Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match, Women’s doubles Gold Medal Match, and Mixed doubles Gold Medal Match.
Performances from the Tennis Medal Winners
Men’s Singles
Alexander Zverev from Germany defeated Karen Khachanov from Russia 6-3, 6-1 to take home the Gold medal in the men’s singles. Karen Khachanov received the Silver medal after defeating Pablo Carreno Busta in the semis 6-3, 6-3.
On the other hand, Spain’s Carreno Busta received the Bronze medal after defeating a star-studded and the crowd’s favourite Novak Djokovic, from Serbia 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
Men’s Doubles
In the Gold Medal finals, it was an all Croatia affair. Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic beat Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6 [10 – 6]. Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig beat Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus from New Zealand 6-2, 6-2 to reach the finals.
Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus won the bronze medal after defeating Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren from the USA 7-6 [7 – 3], 6-2.
Women’s Singles
Belinda Bencic from Switzerland received the gold medal after beating her competitor Marketa Vondrousova from Czech 7–5, 2–6, 6–3 in the finals. Marketa Vondrousova (silver medalist) had initially beaten Elina Svitolina from Ukraine 3-6, 1-6 in the semis to reach the finals.
Elina Svitolina, on the other hand, won the Bronze medal after beating Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan 1–6, 7–6(7–5), 6–4.
Women’s Doubles
In the Women’s double, Kateřina Siniaková and Barbora Krejčíková from Czech Republic defeated Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland. 7-5, 6-1 to receive the gold medal.
Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic defeated Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani from Brazil 7-5, 6-3 to reach the finals.
Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani won bronze after defeating Elena Vesnina and Veronika Kudermetova from Russian Olympic Committee 4-6, 6-4 [11 – 9].
Mixed Doubles
It was an all-Russian affair after Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova &Andrey Rublev defeated Elena Vesnina &Aslan Karatsev 6–3, 6–7 to take home the gold medal in the Mixed double finals.
Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev had previously defeated Novak Djokovic and Nina Stojanovic from Serbia 7-6 [7 – 4], 7-5 in the semifinals. Ashleigh Barty and John Peers from Australia easily won the bronze medal by a walkover after their competitors Nina Stojanović & Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Bronze medal match.
Reason: Novak Djokovic cited a shoulder injury forcing him and Nina Stojanović to withdraw from the bronze medal match.
World-class Tennis Players who Missed the Tournament (With Reasons)
Many top-class superstars missed the one in a million open tournament either due to unavoidable or avoidable circumstances.
Here are the names of your favourite five tennis players who either withdrew from the tournament or chose not to attend the event.
- Roger Federer: Knee Injury
- Rafael Nadal: Semifinal defeat by Novak Djokovic at the French Opens
- Dominic Thiem: Wrist injury
- Serena Williams: No clear reason stated
- Madison Keys: No clear reason stated
Controversies
There were a few controversies witnessed in the just concluded 2020 summer Olympics. But let’s look at the two noticeable ones.
The Djokovic Shock
The disappointing exit and shock defeat of the highly-rated Novak Djokovic by Pablo Carreno Busta from the Men’s singles Bronze medal match. Djokovic furiously left the tennis court a man in disbelief.
That’s not all he went ahead to throw his racket to the stands. Fortunately, there were very few spectators at the event.
Djokovic Withdrawal from the Bronze Medal Match
The withdrawing of world-class athletes during the tournament.
Top athletes like Andy Murray who withdrew from the men’s singles because of a right shoulder quad injury.