The International Tennis Federation (ITF) on Wednesday announced the introduction of six Continental Qualification places for both the men’s and women’s singles events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Tennis Event.
The new qualification places have already been approved by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as part of the Tokyo 2020 Qualification System for tennis.
More details about the qualification system will be released by the IOC in the coming weeks.
The 2020 Olympic Tennis Event will once again feature five disciplines, namely the men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, and mixed doubles.
Each singles draw will comprise 64 players, with a maximum of four players per country.
There will be 56 direct acceptances as at previous Games, and eight ITF places, including the six Continental Qualification places.
For the first time in Olympic history, players will have a chance to earn their place in the Olympic Tennis Event.
This will be through success at one of the regional multi-sport games, including the 2018 Asian Games and 2019 African and Pan American Games.
In addition, one place will be awarded to the highest-ranked man and woman in both Europe and Oceania from a country not yet represented in singles.
The following will qualify for a Continental Qualification place provided their ranking is within the Top 300 on the singles rankings of 8 June 2020.
In addition, qualification will be actualised if the quota for that nation has not yet been filled by four direct acceptances:
| Continent | Qualification Route | Quota Place | Quota per gender |
| North & South America | 2019 Pan American Games,Lima, Peru | Singles winner and runner up | 2 |
| Asia | 2018 Asian GamesJakarta and Palembang, Indonesia | Singles winner | 1 |
| Africa | 2019 African GamesLusaka, Zambia | Singles winner | 1 |
| Europe | Universality Place | Highest ranked athlete on the Singles Rankings that is from an NOC not yet represented in singles | 1 |
| Oceania | Universality Place | Highest ranked athlete on the Singles Rankings that is from an NOC not yet represented in singles | 1 |
Speaking on the qualification system, ITF President David Haggerty said the introduction of Continental Qualification places is a significant and positive change.
“We believe this will help strengthen participation in these important regional games, and will provide opportunities for additional countries to contest the Olympic Tennis Event.
“This initiative forms part of our commitment under the ITF2024 strategy to secure mutually beneficial partnerships, and we look forward to working with our Regional Associations to ensure successful implementation.”
Tennis was a part of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
The first woman to win an Olympic medal in any sport was tennis player Charlotte Cooper of Great Britain at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris.
After the 1924 Paris Games, tennis withdrew from the Olympics, but it returned as a demonstration event at 1984 Los Angeles and as a full medal sport at 1988 Seoul.
Fifty-six nations took part in the Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event, with Andy Murray of Great Britain and Monica Puig of Puerto Rico winning the singles gold medals.
