| Tennis at the 1896 Summer Olympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Date | 8–11 April 1896 |
| Edition | 1st |
| Surface | Red clay |
| Location | Athens Lawn Tennis Club |
| Champions | |
| Men's singles | |
 John Boland (GBR) | |
| Men's doubles | |
 John Boland /Friedrich Traun (ZZX) | |
At the1896 Summer Olympics, twotennis events were contested, both for men. They began on 9 April and continued on 8 April, 10 April, and 11 April.[1] 13 or 15 competitors from six nations, including sevenGreeks, took part in the tennis competition. Many of the doubles teams were of mixed nationality, including all three medalist pairs. None of the leading players of the time such as Wimbledon champion Harold Mahony, U.S champion Robert Wrenn, William Larned or Wilfred Baddeley participated. To strengthen the field, the organization added sportsmen from other Olympic events, including weightlifterMomčilo Tapavica, hammer throwerGeorge S. Robertson and 800-metres runnersEdwin Flack andFriedrich Traun.[2]
| Date | 8 April | 9 April | 10 April | 11 April |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday |
| Men's singles | Round 1 | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Final |
| Men's doubles | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | — | Final |
These medals are retroactively assigned by theInternational Olympic Committee; at the time, winners were given a silver medal and runners-up bronze medals. Athletes coming third received no award.
The silver-medal winning doubles team of Kasdaglis and Petrokokkinos appears in the IOC results database as a Greek team. In this regard:
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mixed team | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Great Britain | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 |  Greece | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 |  Hungary | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (4 entries) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 7 | |
Competitors fromAustralia andGermany won medals as a part of a mixed team in the doubles event.
A total of 13 tennis players from 6 nations competed at the Athens Games:
TheInternational Society of Olympic Historians lists only thirteen players; according to them, British players Frank and George Marshall did not participate. Other sources do include the Marshalls, for a total of 15 players.
