Enthusiasts who troop to Beijing to watch Wimbledon and French Open champ Rafael Nadal and other tennis greats during the 29th Olympic Games will most likely view the fierce competition the stars will whip out at the Olympic Green Tennis Center from August 10-17, 2008.

The flower-shaped venue, which has been meticulously designed to provide natural ventilation for the comfort of athletes and spectators, was also the site of the Beijing 2007 ITF Pro Circuit finals.

The center's three main courts are dodecagonal, or 12-sided. Each of the sides serves as spectator stands. Gray cement walls around each of the 12 sections form 12 stands, which together look like the 12 petals of a lotus flower amidst Olympic Forest Park.

With 10 competition courts, the Olympic Green Tennis Center has a surface area of 16.68 hectares, and a building area of 2.65 has. The venue has a total capacity of 17,400 seats—10,000 seats in the main court; 4,000 seats in the No. 1 court; 2,000 seats in the No. 2 court; and 1,400 seats in the seven preliminary competition courts at the No. 2 platform.

Beijing Olympic competition format

According to the official Beijing Olympics website, all tennis competitions will be conducted in a single elimination format. Vying for honors will be 64 athletes in both men's and women's singles competitions and 32 teams in both men's and women's doubles competitions.

The best of three sets will decide all matches, except for the men's singles and doubles finals, tol be decided by the best of five sets. The tie-break (7 points) shall operate in every set, when the score reaches six games all, except for the fifth set in the final of the men's singles and doubles events and the third set in all other matches, where an advantage set will be played.

• Singles: Sixteen players will be seeded and the remaining players will be drawn. The winner of each match will advance to the next round, with the loser eliminated. Winners of the two semifinal matches will advance to the gold medal match. The gold medal will go to the winner and the silver to the loser. Losers of the two semifinal matches will compete for the bronze medal.
• Doubles: Eight teams will be seeded and the remaining teams will be drawn. The winner of each match will advance to the next round, with the loser of each match eliminated. The winners of the two semifinal matches will advance to the gold medal match. The winner of this match will receive the gold medal; the loser, the silver.
• Draw: If there are two players/teams from the same country competing in the games, they shall be drawn in different halves of the draw. If there are three or four players from the same delegation competing in the games, they shall be drawn into different quarters of the Draw.

ITF competition rules for Beijing

Tennis competition will follow the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Rules of Tennis 2008, the Olympic Tennis Event 2008 Regulations and the Olympic Charter, in force at the time of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Pursuant to the Olympic Charter, ITF assumes the responsibility for the technical control and direction of Tennis in the Olympic Games.

• Draw ceremony: To be conducted in public by ITF; the Draw will take place on Thursday, August 7, 2008.
• Appointment of jury: Eight persons to form the Jury of Appeal, of which no more than two members shall be from the same country (region), shall be appointed by the ITF. The Jury shall settle any on-site disputes with respect to any ruling given by ITF, the Referee (where such ruling can be appealed) or any other person and with respect to an incident that maybe takes place during the Olympic tennis competition.
• Appointment of referees/umpires: The ITF will appoint the Referee and Assistant Referees for the Olympic Games. The ITF will also appoint the Chief of Umpires and the Assistant Chiefs of Umpires, as well as twenty (20) Chair Umpires and 120 Line Umpires.

Olympic tennis since 1896

Irishman John Boland traveled to Athens for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, completely unaware that he would return home with the gold medal in tennis. What was doubly ironic was that he was unaware that he would compete—he came to watch the Games.

These days, tennis in the Olympics no longer has accidental players or heroes. Some of the highest-profile athletes in the world look to bringing home medals for their country. Although used to five-star hotels and high-stakes prize money, they are ready to bunk in the Olympic Village and compete not for cash but for Olympic gold. After 1924, tennis was dropped from the Olympic program, with a raging debate over such issues as where to draw the line between amateurism and professionalism. It didn't return as a medal sport until 1988.

Today, Olympic competition includes men's and women's singles and doubles. There are no mixed doubles in current Olympic tennis, although this was an event in 1900, 1906, 1912, 1920, and 1924. Best of all, tennis has become an open event in the Olympics, not bothering anymore to distinguish between amateurs and professionals.

Acknowledgment: Material sourced from http://en.beijing2008.cn/sports/tennis/index.shtml