Tennis at the 1924 Summer Olympics

The 1924 Olympic Tennis Tournament was held from July 13 to 20, with the participation of 124 athletes (89 men and 35 women) from 27 countries. On the eve of its start, during the Wimbledon tournament in London , it turned out that the favorite of the Olympics, Suzanne Langlen , the Olympic champion of Antwerp and the five-time winner of Wimbledon, who was supposed to take the Olympic oath on behalf of the athletes at the opening ceremony, would not be able to participate in the Games because of recent jaundice. After the forced departure, Langlen Wimbledon was won by the mistress of the court Kitty McCain , who beat the American Helen Wills in the quarterfinals. In the men's tournament of the Olympics, one of the main favorites, American Bill Tilden , was also absent, and in his absence, the main contenders for the medals were the hosts of the competitions, “musketeers” Rene Lacoste , Henri Cochet , Jean Borotra and Jacques Bruyon .

In the semi-finals of the women's singles tournament, a sensation occurred: a native of Marseille, a Greek by birth Didi Vlasto , beat the freshly baked champion Wimbledon McCain. In the final, however, Vlasto was not able to compete on equal terms with Wills and easily lost with a score of 6-2, 6-2. In the final of women's couples, as well as shortly before at Wimbledon, the American women Wills and Whiteman met the English women McCain and Covell . The result of the match was the same as in London: the Americans managed to snatch victory with a score of 7-5, 8-6, although in both sets they lost in games 2-5.

In the finals of mixed pairs , two American tandems met. Hazel Whiteman's partner, R. Norris Williams , severely injured his ankle before the finals and thought about abandoning the match, but Whiteman persuaded him to play, and Williams stood for the whole match, almost without leaving a beat and beating only balls flying from him to stride distance. Nevertheless, Whiteman managed to play for two, and they defeated Vincent Richards and Marion Jessup with a score of 6-2, 6-3.

Richards rehabilitated in the men's singles, where 97 athletes participated, including all “musketeers”. In the final, he was opposed by Henri Cochet, but the American managed to defeat the local favorite in five sets - 6-4, 6-4, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2. In the men's doubles, Richards and Caucher met again in the final, and again the American turned out to be stronger, beating paired with Frank Hunter Caucher and Jacques Brunion with a score of 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.

As a result, the Americans won gold medals in all five types of competitions. On account of Wills, Whiteman and Richards were two gold medals, and Richards also added to the victory in the men's singles and doubles also silver in the mixed. Henri Kaucher won silver medals in men's singles and doubles. Two medals - silver and bronze - are also on the account of Kathleen McCain.

The leadership of the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) , dissatisfied with the organization of the tennis tournament of the Paris Olympics, further put forward the IOC ultimatum with a number of requirements that were not satisfied. Moreover, the IOC put forward a counterclaim to recognize the Olympic tennis tournament as the World Tennis Championship and to cancel the Wimbledon tournament in the Olympic years. For its part, the ILTF refused to fulfill these conditions. As a result, tennis was excluded from the Olympics program for the next Olympic Games.

• Medalists of the 1924 Summer Olympics on the ITF website
• Tennis at the 1924 Summer Olympics in the Sports Reference database
• Patricia Henry Yeomans. Hazel Wightman and Helen Wills: Tennis at the 1924 Paris Olympic Games // Journal of Olympic History. - 2003. - Vol. 11, No. 2 . - P. 19-23.