Women to watch:
Lead by Samantha Stosur, the Australians are surging as they eye Olympic medals at the home of strawberries and cream. Dual Olympian Stosur held up the 2011 US Open Crown and created history, becoming the first Australian woman to win a grand slam singles title in 31 years. The 2010 French Open runner-up bowed out of the 2011 Wimbledon singles tournament early, but joined with Sabine Lasicki of Germany to be runner-up in the doubles.
Also showing good form, Slovakian born Jarmila Gadjsova has been playing for Australia since 2009 and has broken into the top 50 singles and is currently ranked 34th in the world in the doubles.
Men to watch:
Australia’s male ranks received a valuable boost in 2011 when teenager Bernard Tomic reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Tomic was the youngest man to do so since Boris Becker in 1986. He backed up his supreme form by making the 4th round of the 2012 Australian Open before going down to Roger Federer. With the world at his feet, Australia has high hopes for the young player, especially looking forward to his return back to the Wimbledon grass in 2012.
Australia’s Matthew Ebden will be looking to make a push further up the ranks in 2012 to ensure he secures a spot in London as he sits just outside the top 70. The Commonwealth Games bronze medallist made his first Australian Open in 2012 where he bowed out in the 2nd round to Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
There's something about Wimbledon:
Australia enjoys an illustrious history at Wimbledon. Norman Brookes was the first Australian to claim a Wimbledon singles crown in 1907, and the most recent champion is Lleyton Hewitt who won the title in 2002. Other great Australians to triumph at Wimbledon include Rod Laver (1961, 1962, 1968, 1969), John Newcombe (1967, 1970, 1971), Pat Cash (1987), Margaret Court (1963, 1965, 1970) and Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1971, 1980).
In 2012 the French Open and Wimbledon will be perfect lead-in tournaments for the Australians to build momentum into the London Games.
TENNIS FORMAT
There will be five events in the London 2012 tennis competition, with mixed doubles being added to the existing program of men’s and women’s singles and doubles.
The Olympic tennis competition involves single-elimination tournaments for each of the five events. All matches are played to tie-break sets except for the final set of the match. All matches are best-of-three sets, except for the men's singles and doubles finals, which are best-of-five.
In all events, the semi-final winners play to decide the gold and silver medals, and the semi-final losers play for bronze.
QUALIFICATION AND SELECTION
It is anticipated that Australia will send four male and four female athletes to the London Olympic Games. This is the maximum number a country can enter, based on world rankings and tour points.
For all the Nomination and Selection documentation click here>>>
AUSTRALIAN OLYMPIC HISTORY
Edwin Flack was the first Australian Olympian, Australian medallist and the first tennis player to win an Olympic medal. Among others, Flack won a bronze medal in the men’s doubles event at the Athens Olympic Games in 1896. It was not until the Games returned to Athens in 2004 that Alicia Molik became the first Australian tennis player to win a singles medal.
Molik’s bronze medal capped a rush of Australian medals that stemmed from 1988 (when tennis was reintroduced following a hiatus from 1924). Led by The Woodies who won gold in 1996 and silver in 2000, Australia medalled in doubles at four straight Olympics.
In Beijing the doubles combination of Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione were the highest finishing Aussies, bowing out in the quarter finals.
To read more about Australia’s Olympic history in tennis, click here>>>