India Tennis Record: Known for Doubles, Only Bronze Won in Singles at Olympics

After 1924 Olympics when N. Polly became the first woman to join Indian Olympic Contingent in any Sports, the next Tennis squad joined Indian Olympic Contingent after 64 years in 1988 Olympics. 2024 Olympics saw early exits. While India’s only World Class Singles player Vijay Amritraj failed to make an impact in Singles at Olympics, the best for a Doubles team has been 4th place finish by India’s most popular and successful Men’s Doubles team in one of their 5 Olympics together. Ironically, the only Olympic medal was won in Men’s Singles by 7-time Olympian Leander Paes, whom the world respects for his achievements in Men’s and Mixed Doubles.

Indian Tennis Schedule at 2016 Olympics
Indian History at Summer Olympics: Performances in Every Olympics
History of All Sports Played at Olympics by India
Indian Medals In Olympics: When and Who Got It!!

Statistics

1. 1924: 6 (5 Men, 1 Woman, 4 events
2.  1988: 3 Men, 2 Events
3. 1992: 2 Men, 2 events
4. 1996: 2 Men, 2 events
5. 2000: 4 (2 Men, 2 Women), 3 events
6. 2004: 2 Men, 1 event
7. 2008: 4 (2 Men, 2 Women), 3 events
8. 2012: 6 (4 Men, 2 Women), 4 events
9. 2016: 6 (4 Men, 2 Women), 3 events
10. 2020: 3 (1 Man, 2 Women), 2 events
11. 2024: 3 (3 Men), 2 events

Events for Indians

1. Men’s Singles: 1924 (4), 1988 (2), 1992 (2), 1996 (BRONZE), 2000, 2020, 2024
2. Women’s Singles: 1924 (1), 2008, 2012, 2016
3. Men’s Doubles: 1924 (2), 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 (2), 2016, 2024
4. Women’s Doubles: 2000, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020
5. Mixed Doubles: 1924, 2012, 2016

Maximum Participation at Olympics
Men

• 7 Leander Paes (1992-2016)
• 5 Mahesh Bhupathi (1996-2012)
• 3 Rohan Bopanna (2012, 2016, 2024)
• 2 Sumit Nagal (2020, 2024)
• 1 Athar Ali Fyzee, Sydney Jacob, Mohammed Sleem, S. M. Hadi, Donald Rutnam (1924), Zeeshan Ali, Vijay Amritraj (1988), Ramesh Krishnan (1992), Jagadeesan Vishnuvardhan (2012), Sriram Balaji (2024)

Women

• 4 Sania Mirza (2008-2020)
• 1 N. Polley (1924), Manisha Malhotra, Nirupama Vaidyanathan (2000), Sunitha Rao (2008), Rushmi Chakravarthi (2012), Prarthana Thombare (2016), Ankita Raina (2020)

1924: 6 players, 4 events

• Athar Ali Fyzee (40 year): Round 2 Men’s Singles
• Sydney Jacob (44 year): Quarterfinals in Men’s Singles, Round 2 in Mixed Doubles with Polley, Round 1 in Men’s Doubles with Sleem
• Mohammed Sleem (32 years): Round 3 in Men’s Singles, Round 1 in Men’s Doubles with Jacob
• S. M. Hadi (24 year): Round 2 in Men’s Singles, Quarterfinals in Men’s Doubles with Rutnam
• Donald Rutnam (21 year): Quarterfinals in Men’s Doubles with Hadi
• N. Polley (Female): Round 3 in Women’s Singles, Round 2 in Mixed Doubles with Jacob

1988: 3 Men for 2 Events

• Zeeshan Ali: Round 3 Men’s Singles
• Vijay Amritraj (34 years): Round 1 Men’s Singles
• Vijay Amritraj / Anand Amritraj: Round 3 Men’s Doubles

1992: 2 Men for two events

• Ramesh Krishnan: Men’s Singles
• Leander Paes: Men’s Singles
• Ramesh Krishnan/Leander Paes: 5th Men’s Doubles

1996: 2 men in 2 events
In his second appearance, Leander Paes achieved the miracle result of winning an Olympic medal in Men’s Singles. It required World’s top player Andre Agassi to stop him from entering the Olympics finals, still he successfully grabbed the Bronze medal.

• Leander Paes / Mahesh Bhupathi Quarterfinals in Men’s Doubles
• Leander Paes: Bronze in Men’s Singles
  • 1st round: Def Richey Reneberg (USA) 6-7 7-6 1-0 retired
  • 2nd round: Def Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela) 6-2 6-3
  • 3rd round: Def Thomas Enqvist (Sweden) 7-5 7-6
  • Quarter Finals: Def Renzo Furlan (Italy) 6-1 7-5
  • Semi Finals: Lost to Andre Agassi (United States) 6-7 3-6
  • Bronze Medal: Def Fernando Meligeni (Brazil) 3-6 6-2 6-4

2000: 4 in 3 events

• Leander Paes: Round 1 Men’s Singles
• Mahesh Bhupathi / Paes: 9th in Men’s Doubles
• Manisha Malhotra / Nirupama Vaidyanathan: 17th in Women’s Doubles

2004: 2 men for 1 event
Paes / Bhupathi: 4th in Men’s Doubles (Lost Bronze medal match)

2008: 4 in 3 events

• Mahesh Bhupathi / Paes: 5th Men’s Doubles
• Sania Mirza: 33rd Women’s Singles
• Sania Mirza / Sunitha Rao: 9th Women’s Doubles

2012: 6 (4 Men, 2 Women), 4 events

• Jagadeesan Vishnuvardhan and Somdev Devvarman: Round 1 Men’s Singles
• Rohan Bopanna / Mahesh Bhupathi: Round 3 Men’s Doubles
• Paes / Jagadeesan Vishnuvardhan: Round 3 Men’s Doubles
• Sania Mirza/Paes: 5th in Mixed Doubles
• Sania Mirza / Rushmi Chakravarthi: 17th Women’s Doubles

2016: 4 (2 Men, 2 Women), 3 events

• Men’s Doubles: Rohan Bopanna / Leander Paes lost in 1st Round 4-6, 6-7 to Polish pair
• Women’s Doubles: Sania Mirza / Prarthana Thombare lost in 1st round lose 6-7 5-7 7-5 to Chinese pair
• Mixed Doubles: Rohan Bopanna / Sania Mirza

Performance in other Olympics: 2020, 2024