Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics – Men's singles
November 26, 2023
The men's singles was one of two tennis events on the Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme. The sixteen entrants were seeded into a single-elimination tournament, with only thirteen or fifteen of the players actually competing. They represented six nations.[1]
This was the first appearance of the men's singles 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. Demonstration events were held in 1968 and 1984.
Under ancient Greek single-elimination tournament rules, there were no brackets as under modern single-elimination rules; instead, all participants in a round were paired off with one bye if a round had an odd number of participants left. This format could result in a semifinals round with only 3 competitors (as happened in both the 1896 wrestling and doubles tennis events, which started with 5 wrestlers/pairs: the first round had two matches, with one wrestler/pair having a bye, and the second round had only one match, with another wrestler/pair having a bye; a modern tournament would have had one match in the first round with three byes, leading to two semifinals). The organizers avoided this problem in the singles tennis by dividing the players into four groups, with each group playing a single elimination tournament and the winner of each group advancing to the semifinals.[3]
No bronze medal match was held; both semifinal losers are now considered bronze medal winners (the current medal system was not used at the time).
^"Athens 1896 Tennis Singles Men Results". Olympics.com. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
^"Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
^ ab"Singles, Men". Olympedia. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
Lampros, S.P.; Polites, N.G.; De Coubertin, Pierre; Philemon, P.J. & Anninos, C. (1897). The Olympic Games: BC 776 – AD 1896. Athens: Charles Beck. (Digitally available at [1])
Mallon, Bill & Widlund, Ture (1998). The 1896 Olympic Games. Results for All Competitors in All Events, with Commentary. Jefferson: McFarland. ISBN0-7864-0379-9. (Excerpt available at [2])
Smith, Michael Llewellyn (2004). Olympics in Athens 1896. The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games. London: Profile Books. ISBN1-86197-342-X.
ITF, 2008 Olympic Tennis Event Media Guide
November 26, 2023
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The men s singles was one of two tennis events on the Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics programme The sixteen entrants were seeded into a single elimination tournament with only thirteen or fifteen of the players actually competing They represented six nations 1 Men s singles tennisat the Games of the I OlympiadSingles final in 1896 Olympic tennisVenueNeo Phaliron VelodromeAthens Lawn Tennis ClubDatesApril 8 1896 first round April 9 1896 quarterfinals April 10 1896 semifinals April 11 1896 final Competitors13 from 6 nationsMedalistsJohn Pius Boland Great BritainDionysios Kasdaglis GreeceMomcilo Tapavica HungaryKonstantinos Paspatis Greece1900 Men s singlesTennis at the 1896 Summer OlympicsEventsSingles menDoubles menSummer Olympics 1900 Contents 1 Background 2 Competition format 3 Schedule 4 Draw 4 1 Key 4 2 Finals 5 Results summary 6 ReferencesBackground editThis was the first appearance of the men s singles 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 Demonstration events were held in 1968 and 1984 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 2 3 Competition format editUnder ancient Greek single elimination tournament rules there were no brackets as under modern single elimination rules instead all participants in a round were paired off with one bye if a round had an odd number of participants left This format could result in a semifinals round with only 3 competitors as happened in both the 1896 wrestling and doubles tennis events which started with 5 wrestlers pairs the first round had two matches with one wrestler pair having a bye and the second round had only one match with another wrestler pair having a bye a modern tournament would have had one match in the first round with three byes leading to two semifinals The organizers avoided this problem in the singles tennis by dividing the players into four groups with each group playing a single elimination tournament and the winner of each group advancing to the semifinals 3 No bronze medal match was held both semifinal losers are now considered bronze medal winners the current medal system was not used at the time Schedule editDate Time RoundGregorian JulianWednesday 8 April 1896 Wednesday 27 March 1896 Round 1Thursday 9 April 1896 Thursday 28 March 1896 Round 1 continuedQuarterfinalsFriday 10 April 1896 Friday 29 March 1896 Quarterfinals continuedSemifinalsSaturday 11 April 1896 Saturday 30 March 1896 14 00 FinalDraw editKey edit Q Qualifier WC Wild card LL Lucky loser Alt Alternate SE Special exempt PR Protected ranking ITF ITF entry JE Junior exempt w o Walkover r Retired d Defaulted SR Special ranking Finals edit The International Society of Olympic Historians gives only thirteen players according to them Frank and George Marshall did not participate First roundQuarter finalsSemi finalsFinal nbsp K Akratopoulos GRE nbsp D Kasdaglis GRE nbsp Dionysios Kasdaglis GRE nbsp J Defert FRA nbsp D Kasdaglis GRE nbsp M Tapavica HUN nbsp nbsp Momcilo Tapavica HUN nbsp Dimitris Frangopoulos GRE nbsp M Tapavica HUN nbsp George Marshall GBR nbsp Frank Marshall GBR nbsp D Kasdaglis GRE nbsp 31 nbsp JP Boland GBR nbsp 66 nbsp Evangelos Rallis GRE nbsp Demetrios Petrokokkinos GRE nbsp E Rallis GRE nbsp JP Boland GBR nbsp John Boland GBR b 626 nbsp Friedrich Traun GER 062 nbsp JP Boland GBR nbsp K Paspatis GRE nbsp nbsp Konstantinos Paspatis GRE nbsp George Robertson GBR nbsp K Paspatis GRE nbsp A Akratopoulos GRE nbsp Aristidis Akratopoulos GRE nbsp Edwin Flack AUS Results summary editRank Player Nation Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final nbsp John Pius Boland nbsp Great Britain nbsp Traun GER W 6 0 2 6 6 2 nbsp Rallis GRE W nbsp Paspatis GRE W nbsp Kasdaglis GRE W 6 3 6 1 nbsp Dionysios Kasdaglis nbsp Greece nbsp Defert FRA W nbsp K Akratopoulos GRE W nbsp Tapavica HUN W nbsp Boland GBR L 6 3 6 1 nbsp Konstantinos Paspatis nbsp Greece nbsp Robertson GBR W nbsp A Akratopoulos GRE W nbsp Boland GBR L Did not advanceMomcilo Tapavica nbsp Hungary nbsp Frangopoulos GRE W nbsp G Marshall GBR W nbsp Kasdaglis GRE L Did not advance5 Aristidis Akratopoulos nbsp Greece nbsp Flack AUS W nbsp Paspatis GRE L did not advanceKonstantinos Akratopoulos nbsp Greece Bye nbsp Kasdaglis GRE L did not advanceEvangelos Rallis nbsp Greece nbsp Petrokokkinos GRE W nbsp Boland GBR L did not advance8 J Defert nbsp France nbsp Kasdaglis GRE L did not advanceEdwin Flack nbsp Australia nbsp A Akratopoulos GRE L did not advanceDimitris Frangopoulos nbsp Greece nbsp Tapavica HUN L did not advanceGeorge S Robertson nbsp Great Britain nbsp Paspatis GRE L did not advanceFriedrich Traun nbsp Germany nbsp Boland GBR L 6 0 2 6 6 2 did not advanceDemetrios Petrokokkinos nbsp Greece nbsp Rallis GRE L did not advance Frank Marshall nbsp Great Britain nbsp G Marshall GBR L DNS did not advanceGeorge Marshall nbsp Great Britain nbsp F Marshall GBR L DNS did not advanceReferences edit Athens 1896 Tennis Singles Men Results Olympics com Retrieved 2 September 2021 Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics Olympedia Retrieved 18 December 2020 a b Singles Men Olympedia Retrieved 18 December 2020 Lampros S P Polites N G De Coubertin Pierre Philemon P J amp Anninos C 1897 The Olympic Games BC 776 AD 1896 Athens Charles Beck Digitally available at 1 Mallon Bill amp Widlund Ture 1998 The 1896 Olympic Games Results for All Competitors in All Events with Commentary Jefferson McFarland ISBN 0 7864 0379 9 Excerpt available at 2 Smith Michael Llewellyn 2004 Olympics in Athens 1896 The Invention of the Modern Olympic Games London Profile Books ISBN 1 86197 342 X ITF 2008 Olympic Tennis Event Media Guide Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics Men 27s singles amp oldid 1172835542, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
