Overview
Tennis at the Tokyo Games will comprise five medal events:
- Men’s Singles
- Men’s Doubles
- Women’s Singles
- Women’s Doubles
- Mixed Doubles
The Olympic tennis competition uses a tournament bracket format.
Matches:
- Each tennis match is best two-out-of-three sets.
Sets:
- Each set (with the exception of the third set in doubles) is first to six games (win by two). If tied at 6 games all, a tiebreak will be held (more below).
Games:
- Games must be won by two points
- Points are awarded as follows:
- Zero points: Love
- First point: 15
- Second point: 30
- Third point: 40
- Fourth point: Game
- If tied at 40-40, score is referred to as “deuce.” When the score reaches deuce, one player or team will need to win at least two points in a row to win the game.
Men’s/Women’s Singles
- Single-elimination tournament with a 64-person draw (six rounds), played on hard courts
- Every match (men’s and women’s) is best-of-three sets (the men’s final is no longer best-of-five sets)
- A tiebreak (first to seven points, win by two) is played if the score reaches six-all in any set, including the final set
- Semifinal losers compete against each other for the bronze medal, while semifinal winners face each other for the gold medal
- The average set takes about 40 minutes and the average match takes about an hour and 40 minutes
- A blowout set can take 20-30 minutes and a very close set can take 60-70 minutes
Men’s/Women’s Doubles
- Single-elimination tournament with a 32-team draw (five rounds), played on hard courts
- Every match is best-of-three sets, however, a tiebreak (first to 10 points, win by two) is played instead of a full third set (in past Olympics, a full third set was played for men’s and women’s doubles)
- Semifinal losers compete against each other for the bronze medal, while semifinal winners face each other for the gold medal
- The average set takes about 35 minutes and the average match takes about an hour and 20 minutes
- A blowout set can take about 20 minutes and a very close set can take 50-60 minutes
- The third-set tiebreak takes about 15 minutes
Mixed Doubles
- Single-elimination tournament with a 16-team draw (four rounds), played on hard courts
- Each team is comprised of one man and one woman
- Every match is best-of-three sets, however, a tiebreak (first to 10 points, win by two) is played instead of a full third set
- Semifinal losers compete against each other for the bronze medal, while semifinal winners face each other for the gold medal
- The average set takes about 35 minutes and the average match takes about an hour and 20 minutes
- A blowout set can take about 20 minutes and a very close set can take 50-60 minutes
- The third-set tiebreak takes about 15 minutes