Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Qualification

Qualification for tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China was determined not by any form of qualifying tournament, but by the rankings maintained by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA).

Qualifying criteria

The main qualifying criteria were the ATP and WTA ranking lists as of June 9, 2008. The players entering were formally submitted by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).[1] The ATP and WTA rankings were based on performances from the previous 52 weeks,[2][3] and there were several tournaments, including the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, in the two-month period between the time of the rankings being frozen for entry, and the beginning of the tennis events at the Olympics. This led one player, Rainer Schüttler, who rose the ATP rankings considerably in that time period, to successfully seek arbitration on the matter and gain entry. Another player, Tamarine Tanasugarn who was outside the ranking places that could qualify on July 9, but re-entered them, like Schuettler, gained entry; although she did so through the Tripartite Commission Invitation places after Stephanie Vogt withdrew.[4]

Each National Olympic Committee (NOC) could enter 6 men and 6 women athletes, with a maximum of 4 entries in the individual events, and 2 pairs in the doubles events.[1] This resulted in several high-ranked players being unable to enter, despite players of lower-rank being able to. For example, Vera Zvonareva, world number 13, would not have been entered had all the Russian players ahead of her done so, and world number 21, Nadia Petrova, was unable to participate (the top four Russian women players were all in the world's top eight). In the men's, a notably high-ranked player who could not gain entry was world number 20 Fernando Verdasco of Spain. However, any player in the world's top 56 was eligible, and NOC's had the option to enter players of a lower rank.[1] Athletes were able to compete in both single and doubles events.

Singles:

  • 56 players directly qualified for the singles event based on the recognised World Ranking of 9 June 2008. Any player qualified for the singles event was automatically eligible for entry in the doubles event.
  • 2 Invitation places in each singles event were allocated by the Tripartite Commission.
  • 6 final qualification places in the singles event were allocated by the ITF based on the recognised World Ranking and the continental/NOC representation.[1]

Doubles:

  • 10 players directly qualified for the doubles event based on the recognised World Ranking of 9 June 2008.
  • Final qualification places were allocated by the ITF to doubles players based on the recognised World Ranking and the continental/NOC representation, until a total of 86 places have been allocated.[1]

The ITF places were allocated by the ITF, based on recognized world ranking and continental/NOC participation.[1]

Summary

A total of 48 nations were represented by at least one player in either the men's singles, women's singles, men's doubles, or women's doubles.

NationMenWomenTotal
SinglesDoublesSinglesDoubles
 Argentina4412(1)6
 Australia24(2)34(1)8
 Austria12(1)13
 Bahamas12(1)2
 Belarus124(2)5
 Belgium222
 Brazil22(2)4
 Bulgaria11
 Canada22(1)3
 Chile222
 China3244(1)8
 Chinese Taipei112(1)3
 Croatia11
 Czech Republic44(2)44(1)11
 Denmark11
 Ecuador11
 El Salvador11
 Estonia222
 Finland11
 France44(1)34(1)9
 Germany222
 Great Britain12(1)2
 Greece12(1)2
 Hungary12(1)2
 India2(2)12(1)4
 Israel2(2)224
 Italy3244(1)8
 Japan1223
 Latvia11
 New Zealand11
 Poland2(2)24(2)6
 Romania112
 Russia4444(1)9
 Serbia22(1)14
 Slovakia122(1)4
 South Africa12(1)2
 South Korea11
 Spain4444(1)9
 Sweden34(1)15
 Switzerland2222(1)5
 Thailand11
 Togo11
 Tunisia11
 Ukraine444
 United States34(2)34(2)10
 Uzbekistan11
 Venezuela11
 Zimbabwe11
Total: 48 NOCs6464(22)6464(20)170
  • Number in brackets = players participating only in doubles

Qualifiers

Men's singles

No. Rank Player NOC
World Ranking
1 1 Roger Federer  Switzerland
2 2 Rafael Nadal  Spain
3 3 Novak Djoković  Serbia
4 4 Nikolay Davydenko  Russia
5 5 David Ferrer  Spain
6 Andy Roddick[5]  United States
6 7 James Blake  United States
7 8 David Nalbandian  Argentina
8 9 Stanislas Wawrinka  Switzerland
10 Richard Gasquet[6]  France
9 11 Andy Murray  Great Britain
10 12 Tomáš Berdych  Czech Republic
11 13 Nicolás Almagro  Spain
14 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga[7][8]  France
12 15 Fernando González  Chile
13 16 Radek Štěpánek  Czech Republic
14 17 Paul-Henri Mathieu  France
15 18 Mikhail Youzhny  Russia
16 19 Tommy Robredo  Spain
20 Fernando Verdasco  Spain
17 21 Juan Mónaco  Argentina
22 Ivo Karlović  Croatia
23 Marcos Baghdatis[9][10]  Cyprus
24 Juan Carlos Ferrero  Spain
18 25 Jarkko Nieminen  Finland
26 Carlos Moyá  Spain
27 Ivan Ljubičić  Croatia
19 28 Gilles Simon  France
20 29 Dmitry Tursunov  Russia
21 30 Lleyton Hewitt  Australia
22 31 Andreas Seppi  Italy
23 32 Gaël Monfils  France
33 Feliciano López  Spain
24 34 Igor Andreev  Russia
25 35 Michaël Llodra[7][8]  France
36 Mardy Fish[11]  United States
37 Tommy Haas[12]  Germany
26 38 Nicolas Kiefer  Germany
27 39 Janko Tipsarević  Serbia
40 Philipp Kohlschreiber  Germany
28 41 Sam Querrey  United States
29 42 Robin Söderling  Sweden
43 Julien Benneteau  France
44 Mario Ančić[10]  Croatia
45 Juan Ignacio Chela[4]  Argentina
46 Nicolas Mahut  France
30 47 Simone Bolelli  Italy
31 48 Guillermo Cañas  Argentina
32 49 Agustín Calleri[4]  Argentina
50 José Acasuso  Argentina
33 51 Ernests Gulbis  Latvia
52 Fabrice Santoro  France
34 53 Steve Darcis  Belgium
54 Marcel Granollers  Spain
35 55 Lee Hyung-Taik  South Korea
36 56 Marin Čilić  Croatia
57 Marc Gicquel  France
37 58 Potito Starace  Italy
38 59 Robby Ginepri  United States
60 Sébastien Grosjean  France
61 Eduardo Schwank  Argentina
62 Robin Haase[8]  Netherlands
39 63 Nicolás Lapentti  Ecuador
64 Juan Martín del Potro  Argentina
65 Dudi Sela [10][13][14]  Israel
66 Denis Gremelmayr[10]  Germany
40 67 Olivier Rochus  Belgium
41 68 Thomaz Bellucci  Brazil
42 69 Thomas Johansson  Sweden
70 Albert Montañés  Spain
43 70PR(289) Dominik Hrbatý  Slovakia
44 71 Ivo Minář  Czech Republic
45 72 Victor Hănescu  Romania
46 73 Lu Yen-Hsun  Chinese Taipei
74 Stefan Koubek[8]  Austria
47 75 Marcos Daniel  Brazil
76 Marat Safin  Russia
77 Florent Serra  France
78 Igor Kunitsyn  Russia
48 79 Chris Guccione[8]  Australia
80 Santiago Ventura  Spain
49 81 Jürgen Melzer[8]  Austria
50 82 Jiří Vaněk[10]  Czech Republic
83 Michael Berrer  Germany
84 John Isner  United States
85 Evgeny Korolev  Russia
86 Arnaud Clément  France
87 Martín Vassallo Argüello  Argentina
88 Donald Young  United States
51 89 Rainer Schüttler[10]  Germany
52 90 Frank Dancevic[10]  Canada
53 248 Frédéric Niemeyer[10][15]  Canada
54 570 Zeng Shao-Xuan[15]  China
55 605 Yu Xinyuan[15]  China
56 936 Devin Mullings[15]  Bahamas
ITF Places
57 98 Kevin Anderson  South Africa
58 103 Kei Nishikori  Japan
59 128 Jonas Björkman  Sweden
60 131 Nicolás Massú  Chile
61 300 Max Mirnyi  Belarus
62 489 Sun Peng  China
Tripartite Commission Invitation
63 438 Komlavi Loglo  Togo
64 447 Rafael Arevalo  El Salvador

PR Protected/Special Ranking

Rankings as at 9 June 2008

Schüttler entry controversy

On August 4, 2008, German player Rainer Schüttler was granted an exceptional entry into the tournament, despite not having qualified under the original criteria, after having taken his campaign to play at the games to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Schuettler, who was an alternate for Denis Gremelmayr, was ranked outside the qualifying places on June 9, when the players entered for the Games, based upon the ATP rankings of that date, were announced by the ITF. Schüttler then went on to the 2008 Wimbledon Championships, where he reached the semi-finals, elevating his ranking from No. 94 to No. 31 in the world.[16] Germany had received one place in the men's singles, based upon the rankings of June 9, although several players withdrew before the Games. Schüttler was subsequently selected by the German Olympic Committee (Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund, DOS), in spite of the regulations set out by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), under which he was designated as an alternate. On August 3, Schüttler took his case to CAS, who the next day ruled in his favour, saying that it was in compliance with the ITF's rules, and asserting that there was an understanding that the decision over which player could be entered would be delegated to the relevant National Olympic Committee. The ITF delivered a hostile response to the decision by CAS, claiming the DOS was ignorant, and admonishing Schüttler's actions — "While recognising the German NOC may not understand how professional tennis works, there is no excuse for Mr Schuettler, who is prepared to take a place earned by his compatriot Denis Gremelmayr and of next alternate Michael Berrer."[17]

Women's singles

No. Rank Player NOC
World Ranking
1 Ana Ivanovic[18]  Serbia
2 Maria Sharapova[10][19]  Russia
1 3 Jelena Janković  Serbia
2 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova  Russia
3 5 Elena Dementieva  Russia
4 6 Serena Williams  United States
5 7 Venus Williams  United States
8 Anna Chakvetadze[20]  Russia
6 9 Dinara Safina[20]  Russia
10 Marion Bartoli[21]  France
7 11 Daniela Hantuchová  Slovakia
8 12 Patty Schnyder  Switzerland
9 13 Vera Zvonareva[10]  Russia
10 14 Agnieszka Radwańska  Poland
11 15 Ágnes Szávay  Hungary
12 16 Victoria Azarenka  Belarus
13 17 Alizé Cornet  France
14 18 Francesca Schiavone  Italy
15 19 Nicole Vaidišová  Czech Republic
20 Tatiana Golovin  France
21 Nadia Petrova  Russia
16 22 Flavia Pennetta  Italy
23 Maria Kirilenko  Russia
24 Katarina Srebotnik [22]  Slovenia
17 25 Shahar Pe'er  Israel
26 Lindsay Davenport[23]  United States
18 27 Virginie Razzano  France
27PR(NR) Mary Pierce[8]  France
19 28 Sybille Bammer  Austria
20 29 Alona Bondarenko  Ukraine
30 Amélie Mauresmo[8]  France
21 31 Dominika Cibulková  Slovakia
22 32 Caroline Wozniacki  Denmark
23 33 Sania Mirza  India
24 34 Kaia Kanepi  Estonia
25 35 Anabel Medina Garrigues  Spain
26 35PR(153) Mara Santangelo[8]  Italy
27 36 Olga Govortsova  Belarus
28 36PR(162) Samantha Stosur  Australia
29 37 Eleni Daniilidou  Greece
30 38 Ai Sugiyama  Japan
39 Karin Knapp[8]  Italy
31 40 Tsvetana Pironkova  Bulgaria
32 41 Casey Dellacqua  Australia
33 42 Gisela Dulko  Argentina
34 43 Yan Zi  China
44 Elena Vesnina  Russia
35 45 Li Na  China
46 Alisa Kleybanova  Russia
36 47 Lucie Šafářová  Czech Republic
37 48 Iveta Benešová  Czech Republic
38 49 Carla Suárez Navarro  Spain
39 50PR(158) Milagros Sequera  Venezuela
40 50 Peng Shuai  China
41 51 Klára Zakopalová  Czech Republic
52 Petra Cetkovská  Czech Republic
53 Michaëlla Krajicek[8]  Netherlands
42 54 Akgul Amanmuradova  Uzbekistan
55 Tamira Paszek[10]  Austria
43 56 Pauline Parmentier[8]  France
44 57 Sofia Arvidsson  Sweden
58 Vera Dushevina  Russia
59 Aravane Rezaï  France
60 Petra Kvitová  Czech Republic
45 60PR(133) Zheng Jie  China
46 61 Sara Errani  Italy
62 Ekaterina Makarova  Russia
47 63 Tatiana Perebiynis  Ukraine
48 64 Marina Erakovic  New Zealand
49 65 Marta Domachowska  Poland
50 66 Sorana Cîrstea  Romania
51 67 Timea Bacsinszky  Switzerland
52 69 Kateryna Bondarenko[8]  Ukraine
70 Anastasia Rodionova  Russia
72 Edina Gallovits  Romania
73 Akiko Morigami  Japan
74 Ashley Harkleroad  United States
53 75 Jill Craybas[10]  United States
54 101 Maret Ani[15]  Estonia
55 120 Tzipora Obziler[15]  Israel
56 140 María José Martínez Sánchez[15]  Spain
ITF Places
57 68 Mariya Koryttseva  Ukraine
58 71 Chan Yung-Jan  Chinese Taipei
59 89 Tamarine Tanasugarn[4]  Thailand
60 102 Nuria Llagostera Vives  Spain
61 105 Ayumi Morita  Japan
62 115 Alicia Molik  Australia
63 159 Selima Sfar  Tunisia
Tripartite Commission Invitation
227 Stephanie Vogt[4][24]  Liechtenstein
64 NR Cara Black  Zimbabwe

PR Protected/Special Rankings

Rankings as at 9 June 2008

Men's doubles

No. Rank Player A Rank Player B NOC
World Ranking
1 1Bob Bryan 1Mike Bryan  United States
2 3Daniel Nestor Frédéric Niemeyer^  Canada
3 4Nenad Zimonjić Novak Djoković^  Serbia
4 5Mark Knowles Devin Mullings^  Bahamas
5 6Pavel Vízner Martin Damm  Czech Republic
6 7Jonathan Erlich 7Andy Ram  Israel
7 9Simon Aspelin Thomas Johansson^  Sweden
8 10Julian Knowle Jürgen Melzer^  Austria
ITF Places
9 Guillermo Cañas^ David Nalbandian^  Argentina
10 Agustín Calleri^ Juan Mónaco^  Argentina
11 Paul Hanley Jordan Kerr  Australia
12 Chris Guccione^ Lleyton Hewitt^  Australia
13 Steve Darcis^ Olivier Rochus^  Belgium
14 Marcelo Melo André Sá  Brazil
15 Fernando González^ Nicolás Massú^  Chile
16 Zeng Shao-Xuan^ Yu Xinyuan^  China
Marin Čilić^[18] Ivan Ljubičić  Croatia
17 Tomáš Berdych^ Radek Štěpánek^  Czech Republic
18 Arnaud Clément Michaël Llodra^  France
19 Gilles Simon^[8] Gaël Monfils^  France
20 Nicolas Kiefer^ Rainer Schüttler^  Germany
21 Andy Murray^ Jamie Murray  Great Britain
22 Mahesh Bhupathi Leander Paes  India
23 Simone Bolelli^ Andreas Seppi^  Italy
24 Mariusz Fyrstenberg Marcin Matkowski  Poland
25 Igor Andreev^ Nikolay Davydenko^  Russia
26 Jeff Coetzee Kevin Anderson^[10]  South Africa
27 Nicolás Almagro^ David Ferrer^  Spain
28 Rafael Nadal^ Tommy Robredo^  Spain
29 Jonas Björkman^ Robin Söderling^  Sweden
30 Roger Federer^ Stanislas Wawrinka^  Switzerland
31 James Blake^ Sam Querrey^  United States
32 Dmitry Tursunov^[18] Mikhail Youzhny^  Russia

^ Players have also qualified to the singles tournament

Women's doubles

No. Rank Player A Rank Player B NOC
World Ranking
1Cara Black^[25]  Zimbabwe
1 1Liezel Huber Lindsay Davenport  United States
2 3Ai Sugiyama^ Ayumi Morita^  Japan
4Katarina Srebotnik[22]  Slovenia
5Květa Peschke  Czech Republic
3 6Rennae Stubbs Samantha Stosur^  Australia
4 7Chuang Chia-Jung 8Chan Yung-Jan^  Chinese Taipei
5 9Victoria Azarenka^ Tatiana Poutchek  Belarus
6 10Dinara Safina^ Svetlana Kuznetsova^  Russia
ITF Places
7 Gisela Dulko^ Betina Jozami  Argentina
8 Casey Dellacqua^ Alicia Molik^  Australia
9 Olga Govortsova^ Darya Kustova  Belarus
10 Yan Zi^ Zheng Jie^  China
11 Sun Tiantian Peng Shuai^  China
12 Nicole Vaidišová^ Iveta Benešová^  Czech Republic
13 Petra Kvitová Lucie Šafářová^  Czech Republic
14 Maret Ani^ Kaia Kanepi^  Estonia
15 Pauline Parmentier^[8] Tatiana Golovin  France
16 Virginie Razzano^ Alizé Cornet^  France
17 Eleni Daniilidou^ Anna Gerasimou  Greece
18 Ágnes Szávay^ Gréta Arn  Hungary
19 Sania Mirza^ Sunitha Rao  India
20 Shahar Pe'er^ Tzipora Obziler^  Israel
21 Mara Santangelo^ Roberta Vinci  Italy
22 Flavia Pennetta^ Francesca Schiavone^  Italy
23 Agnieszka Radwańska^ Marta Domachowska^  Poland
24 Klaudia Jans Alicja Rosolska  Poland
25 Elena Vesnina Vera Zvonareva^  Russia
26 Daniela Hantuchová^ Janette Husárová  Slovakia
27 Anabel Medina Garrigues^ Virginia Ruano Pascual  Spain
28 Nuria Llagostera Vives^ María José Martínez Sánchez^  Spain
29 Patty Schnyder^ Emmanuelle Gagliardi  Switzerland
30 Alona Bondarenko^ Kateryna Bondarenko^  Ukraine
31 Mariya Koryttseva^ Tatiana Perebiynis^  Ukraine
32 Serena Williams^ Venus Williams^  United States

^ Players have also qualified to the singles tournament

References

  1. "IOC Qualification System Summary - Men and Women" (PDF). ITF. 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  2. "VIII.ATP RANKINGS" (PDF). ITF. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  3. "RANKINGS" (PDF). WTA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-06-25. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  4. Changes to Beijing entry list Jul 28
  5. Roddick to defend Washington title and skip Olympics
  6. Gasquet pulls out
  7. "Tsonga pulls out of French Olympic squad". Archived from the original on 2012-04-01. Retrieved 2019-05-01.
  8. Changes to Beijing entry list Jul 21
  9. Baghdatis out of games with wrist injury
  10. Changes to entry list Aug 6
  11. Mardy Fish joins Roddick in skipping Beijing Games
  12. Haas to skip Olympic Games (in German)
  13. Sela loses in first round, then slams OCI
  14. Sela, whose participation in the Olympics was not approved by the Olympic Committee of Israel, was invited by the ITF to join the petition to CAS of the Belgian players Darcis and Rochus, but he declined the offer and decided to play in the Countrywide Classic in Los Angeles and the following tournaments in Washington (Countrywide Classic draw).
  15. A player who withdraws after August 2 is replaced by the highest ranked doubles-only player
  16. "Rainer Schuettler ranking history". ATP. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  17. "Schuettler wins Olympic decision". ITF. 2008-08-04. Retrieved 2008-08-04.
  18. Ivanovic pulled out with a right thumb injury
  19. Injured Sharapova out of Olympics
  20. Safina to replace Chakvetadze Archived 2011-09-29 at the Wayback Machine
  21. France pick Pierce for Beijing tennis
  22. Srebotnik decided not to take part of Olympics
  23. Davenport withdrew on Friday from the Olympics because of a lingering right knee injury.
  24. Steffi Vogt will not participate in Beijing Archived 2010-02-03 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
  25. Zimbabwe doesn't have another player in the WTA ranking beside Cara Black
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