The last 5 Olympic women’s singles tennis champions
Tennis champions Venus Williams and Steffi Graf are two of the youngest.
It’s the largest sporting event of the year, with one of the most coveted tennis titles on the line.
Olympic gold has been won by some of the greatest WTA players ever, and several of them did so when they were very young.
We examine the five modern-day stars who are the youngest to win the women’s singles title in the midst of an exciting Paris 2024 Games.
1) Jennifer Capriati – Barcelona 1992
Capriati is not just the youngest gold medallist in tennis of the modern period, having won in Barcelona in 1992, but she is also among the youngest champions in all sports.
When the teenage prodigy participated in Barcelona, she was four months past her sixteenth birthday. She defied the predictions by defeating home favorite and second seed Sanchez Vicario in the semi-final.
However, that was not as shocking as the gold medal match, in which she overcame heavy favorite and reigning champion Graf after trailing 0–1.
2) Steffi Graf – Seoul 1988
Graf’s Triple Crown is among the greatest tennis accomplishments ever, and the fact that she completed it while still a teenager just makes it more amazing.
The German entered Seoul as a heavy favorite to win the first Olympic tennis match in 64 years, having captured all four of the majors that were up for grabs in 1988.
At the age of 19 years and three months, the world number one easily overcame Gabriela Sabatini in the last four before winning the gold.
3) Lindsay Davenport – Atlanta 1996
Davenport’s victory in her home Games in 1996 served as a springboard for her career, as she went on to win three Grand Slam singles championships and rank number one in the world.
In order to win a home gold in Atlanta, the ninth seed overcame third seed Sanchez Vicario in straight sets after defeating Mary Joe Fernandez in an all-American semifinal.
In August 1996, Davenport turned 20 years old and one month old, making her the third-youngest gold medallist in modern history for women.
4) Venus Williams – Sydney 2000
After winning Wimbledon and the US Open that season, Williams’ remarkable summer was finished off by an Olympic gold medal at the Sydney 2000 Games.
The second seed, making her Olympic debut, defeated Elena Dementieva in the gold match after defeating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Monica Seles, two more legends.
The seven-time major champion was twenty-three months old during her heyday when the Games took place in September of that year.
5) Justine Henin – Athens 2004
With seven major singles titles under her belt and an Olympic gold medal twenty years ago, Belgian ace Henin has never been denied many titles.
In the women’s draw, the former world number one was ranked first and defeated Anastasia Myskina in a thrilling semifinal match before defeating Amelie Mauresmo in the championship match.
The Belgian, who was born on June 1st, was 22 years and 2 months old in August when she took home the gold in the Greek capital.
The only tennis player from India to win an Olympic medal is Leander Paes.
With the exception of the 1916 Games due to World War I, tennis was a feature of the Olympic program from its 1896 debut at the Summer Games until 1924. It was removed as a result of disagreements between the International Olympic Committee and the International Tennis Federation on what constitutes an amateur player.
The discipline was brought back to the Olympic program in 1988 as a full-medal event, after serving as a demonstration sport for a few editions. The pair with the most Olympic medals in tennis are Kathleen McKane Godfree and Venus Williams. Godfree has one gold, two silver, and two bronze, while Williams has four gold and one silver.
With four gold medals apiece, the two American sisters Serena and Venus together own the record for the most. Andy Murray is the only male player to win two gold medals in singles, while Reginald Doherty owns the record with three gold and one bronze.
There have only been three instances of gold medal defense in the Olympics: in women’s doubles (1992 and 1996), in women’s doubles (2008 and 2012) by Gigi Fernández and Mary Joe Fernández, and in men’s singles (2012 and 2016) by Andy Murray.
In the quarterfinals of the 2024 Games*, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy defeated Alexander Zverev. But the silver and bronze medallists in the women’s singles at Tokyo, Markéta Vondroušová and Elina Svitolina, have already withdrawn from this year’s tournament. Qinwen Zheng became the first tennis player from China to win the gold medal in the singles competition at the Games as a consequence.
