Nearly all the top men's and women's players are expected in Sydney, far different from the years when tennis's high-sheen professionalism and the Olympic Games' erstwhile amateurism did not blend comfortably. Tennis fell from the Olympic program after 1924 amid turmoil over such issues as where to draw the line between amateurism and professionalism, and it didn't return as a medal sport until 1988. Today, Olympic competition includes men's and women's singles and men's and women's doubles.

The competition
The courts at the Tennis Centre in Sydney Olympic Park are surfaced with Rebound Ace, a synthetic, rubberised hardcourt surface. The surface offers medium ball speed and is intended to suit both baseline players and serve-and-volley exponents without giving either an advantage.

As with most tournaments, Olympic tennis is a knock-out competition — one loss and you're out. All matches except the finals are played to best of three sets except the men's singles and doubles finals, which are best-of-five. In all four divisions, the semifinals winners play to decide the gold and silver medals, and the semifinals losers play for the bronze.