Competing on the men’s side, world No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia will continue his attempt for the “golden slam,” which consists of wins at all for majors plus the Olympic gold medal. He already has won the first three majors of the year (Australian and French Opens and Wimbledon). The feat has been accomplished over one calendar year by only one player in history: Steffi Graf in 1988. The other two major names in men’s tennis — Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal — both are skipping the Olympics because of injuries.
Along with Djokovic, world No. 2 Daniil Medvedev (Russia), No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece) and No. 5 Alexander Zverev (Germany) all will be playing.
On the women’s side, Serena Williams also has declined to participate in the Olympic tennis tournament, while Coco Gauff will miss the event after testing positive for coronavirus. But world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and No. 2 Naomi Osaka — who had the honor to light the Olympic cauldron during the Opening Ceremony —will play.
Frances Tiafoe is the highest-ranked American men’s player going to Tokyo at No. 52 in the latest ATP rankings, while No. 15 Jennifer Brady is the highest-ranked American woman.
Olympic tennis commentators for NBC networks include: Mary Carillo, Ryan Burr, Jason Knapp (play-by-play), Darren Cahill (analyst), Chanda Rubin (analyst), Brad Gilbert (analyst), Rennae Stubbs (studio analyst), Trenni Kusnierek (reporter)
The following are the Olympic tennis events including dates, start times, and TV networks. All times Eastern.
Monday, July 26, 2021
Men’s Singles, Second Round
Women’s Singles, Second Round
Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Second RoundOlympic tennis matches — Monday, July 26 — Women’s Singles
2:00 AM ET: (3) Aryna Sabalenka vs. Donna Vekic — Centre Court
2:00 AM ET: Ajla Tomljanovic vs. (4) Elina Svitolina — Court 2
2:00 AM ET: (5) Karolina Pliskova vs. Carla Suarez Navarro — Court 3
2:00 AM ET: (6) Iga Swiatek vs. Paula Badosa — Court 4
Olympic tennis matches — Monday, July 26 — Men’s Singles
2:00 AM ET: Sumit Nagal vs. (2) Daniil Medvedev — Court 1
4:00 AM ET: (1) Novak Djokovic vs. Jan-Lennard Struff — Centre Court
4:00 AM ET: (6) Pablo Carreno Busta vs. Marin Cilic — Court 1
4:00 AM ET: Dominik Koepfer vs. Max Purcell — Court 2
Olympic tennis matches — Monday, July 26 — Women’s Doubles
2:00 AM ET: (3) Kiki Bertens & Demi Schuurs vs. Elena Vesnina & Veronika Kudermetova — Court 6
3:30 AM ET: Raluca Olaru & Monica Niculescu vs. Samantha Stosur & Ellen Perez — Court 5
4:00 AM ET: Yi-Fan Xu & Zhaoxuan Yang vs. (6) Ashleigh Barty & Storm Sanders — Court 3
Olympic tennis matches — Monday, July 26 — Men’s Doubles
2:00 AM ET: Ben McLachlan & Kei Nishikori vs. (7) Jamie Murray & Neal Skupski — Court 7
2:30 AM ET: (8) Wesley Koolhof & Jean-Julien Rojer vs. Marcus Daniell & Michael Venus — Court 8
3:30 AM ET: Oliver Marach & Philipp Oswald vs. (3) Juan Sebastian Cabal & Robert Farah — Court 7
4:00 AM ET: (1) Nikola Mektic & Mate Pavic vs. Lorenzo Musetti & Lorenzo Sonego — Court 4
10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
Men’s Singles, Second Round
Women’s Singles, Third Round
Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Quarterfinals
Tuesday, July 27, 2021
Men’s Singles, Second Round
Women’s Singles, Third Round
Men’s and Women’s Doubles, Quarterfinals10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
Men’s Singles, Third Round
Women’s Singles and Doubles, Quarterfinals
Men’s Doubles, Semifinals
Mixed Doubles, First Round
Wednesday, July 28, 2021
Men’s Singles, Third Round
Women’s Singles and Doubles, Quarterfinals
Men’s Doubles, Semifinals
Mixed Doubles, First Round10:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
Men’s Singles and Mixed, Quarterfinals
Women’s Singles and Doubles, Semifinals
Thursday, July 29, 2021
Men’s Singles and Mixed, Quarterfinals
Women’s Singles and Doubles, Semifinals11:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
Men’s Singles and Mixed, Semifinals
Men’s Doubles, Final
Friday, July 30, 2021
Men’s Doubles Final
Men’s Doubles Bronze Medal
Men’s Singles Semifinals
Mixed Doubles Semifinals11:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
Women’s Singles Final
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal
Women’s Singles Bronze Medal
Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal
Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal
Saturday, July 31, 2021
Women’s Singles Final
Women’s Singles Bronze Medal
Men’s Singles Bronze Medal
Women’s Doubles Bronze Medal
Mixed Doubles Bronze Medal11:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m. on Olympic Channel: Home of Team USA
Men’s Singles Final
Women’s Doubles Final
Mixed Doubles Final
Sunday, August 1, 2021
Men’s Singles Final
Women’s Doubles Final
Mixed Doubles Final