page_title: Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics
section_title: ITF places
hierarchical_section_title: Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics / Qualification / ITF places
caption_attribution_description: Nicolas Massu at their first-round match of the 2007 Australian Open.
context_page_description: Tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 10 to August 17 at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre. The DecoTurf surface rendered the event a hardcourt tournament.
  The women's singles event proved notable for being one of only two Olympiads — and the first since 1908 — in which all tennis medalists were from the same country, Russia.
  The men's singles featured the first time an Olympic tennis player had medaled in consecutive Olympiads since the 1920 games, while the men's doubles gave Switzerland its first medal in the event. The doubles also returned Switzerland and the United States to the medals stand for the first time since the 1988 re-introduction of the sport.
context_section_description: ITF places, ostensibly a form of wild card, were awarded to six players in both the men and women's singles, with one further place dispensed in the women's competition after Stephanie Vogt, entering via the Tripartite Commission, withdrew. The four official criteria for ITF place consideration were world ranking (no numeric specification), whether the country was represented in the tennis event, the number of players on site, and geographical location. However, there was some flexibility to these regulations: ITF president Ricci Bitti stated that it was his intention for the ITF places to grant opportunities to young players and players from under-represented countries, and to reward players who had competed diligently for their nation in the Davis or Fed Cup, or whom were former medalists.
  The ITF places were announced on July 30. Sun Peng was originally the only Chinese man to enter the men's singles, and did so through the ITF places. Accompanying Sun were multiple Grand Slam doubles titlists Max Mirnyi and Jonas Björkman (who was retiring at the end of the year), nascent stars such as Kei Nishikori and Kevin Anderson, and defending champion Nicolás Massú. In the women's singles, the ITF places went to Alicia Molik, a bronze medalist in 2004, and Chan Yung-jan, a young player, with the remaining spots going to Mariya Koryttseva, Nuria Llagostera Vives, Ayumi Morita, Selima Sfar (a veteran Fed Cup player), and Tamarine Tanasugarn, who gained the retrospective place.
caption: Nicolás Massú from Chile, who was the defending champion.
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