Tennis

The four events

Men (two events): Singles, doubles

Women (two events): Singles, doubles

The format

Direct elimination (best of three sets, except for the final for men's singles and doubles, which is best of five sets).

Bronze medal match between beaten semi-finalists. Sixty four players, with 16 seeds for singles, 32 teams, with eight seeds for doubles.

Milestones

1874: The first rules of tennis are established by Walter Clopton Wingfield of Britain.

1877: First Wimbledon tournament, won by Britain's Spencer Gore.

1881: First US Open.

1900: Britain's Charlotte Cooper is the first women's Olympic champion in Paris.

1905: First Australian Open.

1925: First French Open, the fourth of the Grand Slam events.

1927: Following a conflict between the International tennis federation and the IOC concerning professionals at the Games, tennis disappears from the Olympic agenda until 1988 in Seoul.

1969: For the second time after 1962, Aussie Rod Laver wins all four legs of the Grand Slam in a single year. Don Budge (USA) accomplished the same feat in 1938.

1968: Creation of the professional circuit and ATP rankings.

1973: Introduction of the tie-break.

Stars

Rod Laver (Australia): Mr Grand Slam. The only player to win two Grand Slams, in 1962 and 1969. The left-handed ace won 11 Slams in total and five Davis Cup titles between 1959 and 1973.

Martina Navratilova (United States): The Queen of Wimbledon. The American (born in Czechoslovakia) won 18 Grand Slam single's titles (though Margaret Smith Court 24, Steffi Graf, 22, and Helen Wills Moody, 19, all won more), half of which were at Wimbledon. In total, she won 59 Grand Slam titles including doubles and mixed doubles, the last of which was at the US Open in 2006 (with Bob Bryan), at the age of 49. Also holds the record with 167 tournament wins in singles.

Pete Sampras (United States): Pistol Pete. Record holder winning 14 Grand Slams between 1990 and 2002, including 7 Wimbledon titles. Willie Renshaw also won 7 Wimbledon titles, but the competition was weaker in the 1880's. Won five Masters' tournaments and two Davis Cups in a glorious career.