LONDON 2012 OLYMPICS


The tennis event of the 30th Olympiad, to be staged in London, will be held on the lawns of The All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon, for nine days from Saturday 28th July to Sunday 5th August 2012. The event is organised by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), working closely with the International Tennis Federation, on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Tennis has long been associated with the modern Olympic Games, reaching back to the beginning when the game was one of nine sports being contested. Tennis continued to be a contesting sport up until after the games of 1924, when the International Tennis Federation could not reach agreement with the IOC over the amateur question and general management of the tournament, which resulted in tennis being side-lined for 64 years until 1988.

General

  • The Olympic Games tennis in 2012 will be held at the All England Club. 
  • The 2012 Championships ends on Sunday 8 July. The Olympics Games tennis 2012 starts on Saturday 28 July.
  • The Club, then at Worple Road, was the venue for the Olympic Tennis in 1908.

The Event

  • 172 players (86 men, 86 women)
  • Five medal events - men’s and women’s singles (64 draws) and men’s and women’s doubles (32 draws) , mixed doubles (16 draw - last held in1924).
  • All matches will be the best of three sets with the exception of the men’s singles final, which will be the best of five sets.  All mixed doubles matches will be resolved by a first-to-10 tie-break if they reach one set all.
  • The Championships 2012 ends on Sunday 8 July.

Management

  • London 2012 will run the competition. 
  • The All England Club will provide the venue and a number of essential staff, such as courts and maintenance.
  • The draw will take place at the Club on Thursday 26 July 2012.
  • The playing schedule can be found on the London 2012 official site.

Courts

  • 12 courts will be used for matches: Centre, No.1, No.2, 18, 14, (TV courts) 7, 11, 12, 14-19.
  • 7 courts will be used for practice: Courts 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10.
  • The Aorangi practice courts will not be used by the Games.
  • Play will commence at 11.30am on the outside courts, and noon on Centre and No.1 Court for all days except Saturday 4 August, when the women’s singles final will begin at 2pm, followed by the men’s doubles final. On Sunday 5 August, the mixed doubles final will begin at noon, followed by the men’s singles final and women’s doubles final.

Court preparation 

  • Responsibility for preparation of the grass courts will remain with the Club’s Head Groundsman Eddie Seaward and his team.
  • Despite the short time between The Championships and the Olympic Games, the Club is completely confident that the courts will continue to play to the usual high standards experienced at The Championships.
  • Presentation: the grass seed will be pre-germinated and the courts are expected to be returned to the same condition before The Championships.  Given the short time, however, the grass will not be as deeply rooted as for The Championships meaning that the wear properties may be marginally less robust.  This will have no effect on the quality of the playing surface.

Ballboys/girls

  • Ballboys and Ballgirls will be recruited via the Young Games Maker process. 
  • Aged 16/17 and from the London Boroughs of Merton and Wandsworth.
  • Balls will be supplied by Slazenger.

Clothing

  • Players can wear coloured clothing.

Branding

  • On-site dressing/branding will be arranged in accordance with London 2012 guidelines.

Ticketing

  • All ticketing will be handled by London 2012. Do not contact the All England Club Ticket Office.
  • Residents outside the UK and designated European countries will need to apply for tickets through their local National Olympic Committee, National Paralympic Committee or Authorised Ticket Reseller from 2011.

    More information about tickets for London 2012

Catering

  • The catering contract is awarded by London 2012 and the caterers are likely to use existing AELTC facilities.

Match Officials

  • Match and technical officials will be recruited via the regular ITF channels.

Travelling to Wimbledon during the Olympics