Tennis at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's singles

Women's singles tennis
at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
Women's singles tennis; at the Games of the XXV Olympiad
	Gold medalist Jennifer Capriati (2004)
Venue	Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron
Dates	28 July–7 August 1992
Competitors	64 from 30 nations
Medalists
	← 1988 1996 →

Women's singles
Women's singles
Tennis at the 1992 Summer Olympics
Final
Champion	Jennifer Capriati (USA)
Runner-up	Steffi Graf (GER)
Score	3–6, 6–3, 6–4
Events

The United States' Jennifer Capriati defeated the defending gold medalist, Germany's Steffi Graf, in the final, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 to win the gold medal in Women's Singles tennis at the 1992 Summer Olympics. It was the first victory for the United States in the event since 1924, and the first medal in the event for united Germany (rather than West Germany) since 1912. The United States' Mary Joe Fernández and Spain's Arantxa Sánchez Vicario won the bronze medals. It was Spain's first medal in the women's singles.

The tournament was held from 28 July to 7 August at the Tennis de la Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona, Spain.^[1] There were 64 competitors from 30 nations, with each nation having up to 3 players.^[1]

Background

This was the seventh appearance of the women's singles tennis. A women's event was held only once during the first three Games (only men's tennis was played in 1896 and 1904), but has been held at every Olympics for which there was a tennis tournament since 1908. Tennis was not a medal sport from 1928 to 1984, though there were demonstration events in 1968 and 1984.^[1]

Germany's Steffi Graf was the defending Olympic champion (who had achieved the Golden version of the Grand Slam in 1988) and the #1 seed again in 1992. Two of her top competitors, Martina Navratilova of the United States and Monica Seles of Yugoslavia, were ineligible because they had not played in the Billie Jean King Cup. The #2 seed was home crowd favorite Arantxa Sánchez Vicario. The United States had the #3 seed and #4 seed in young phenom Jennifer Capriati and Mary Joe Fernández.^[1]

Chile, the People's Republic of China, Latvia, Madagascar, Poland, Romania, South Africa, and Switzerland each made their debut in the event; some former Soviet republics competed as the Unified Team. France and Great Britain each made their sixth appearance, tied for most among nations to that point.

Competition format

The competition was a single-elimination tournament. Unlike previous Olympic tournaments, no bronze medal match was held. All matches were best-of-three sets. The 12-point tie-breaker was used in any set, except the third, that reached 6–6.

Schedule

All times are Central European Summer Time (UTC+2)

Date	Time	Round
Tuesday, 28 July 1992 Wednesday, 29 July 1992		Round of 64
Thursday, 30 July 1992 Friday, 31 July 1992		Round of 32
Saturday, 1 August 1992		Round of 16
Monday, 3 August 1992		Quarterfinals
Wednesday, 5 August 1992	11:00	Semifinals
Friday, 7 August 1992	14:00	Final

Seeds

Steffi Graf (GER) (final, silver medalist)
Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP) (semifinals, bronze medalist)
Jennifer Capriati (USA) (champion, gold medalist)
Mary Joe Fernández (USA) (semifinals, bronze medalist)
Conchita Martínez (ESP) (quarterfinals)
Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI) (quarterfinals)
Anke Huber (GER) (quarterfinals)
Katerina Maleeva (BUL) (second round)
Jana Novotná (TCH) (first round)
Nathalie Tauziat (FRA) (second round)
Helena Suková (TCH) (second round)
Zina Garrison-Jackson (USA) (first round)
Mary Pierce (FRA) (second round)
Kimiko Date (JPN) (second round)
Julie Halard (FRA) (second round)
Sabine Appelmans (BEL) (quarterfinals)

Draw

Key

Finals

Quarterfinals					Semifinals					Final

1	Steffi Graf (GER)	6	6

16	Sabine Appelmans (BEL)	1	0
					1	Steffi Graf (GER)	6	6

					4	Mary Joe Fernández (USA)	4	2
4	Mary Joe Fernández (USA)	5	6	6

6	Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI)	7	1	0
										1	Steffi Graf (GER)	6	3	4

										3	Jennifer Capriati (USA)	3	6	6
7	Anke Huber (GER)	3	6¹

3	Jennifer Capriati (USA)	6	7
					3	Jennifer Capriati (USA)	6	3	6

					2	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	3	6	1
5	Conchita Martínez (ESP)	4	4

2	Arantxa Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	6	6

Top half

Section 1

First round					Second round					Third round				Quarterfinals

1	S Graf (GER)	6	6
LL	L Novelo (MEX)	1	1		1	S Graf (GER)	6	6
	B Schultz (NED)	7	6⁴	6		B Schultz (NED)	1	0
Q	F Li (CHN)	5	7	4						1	S Graf (GER)	6	6
	E Zardo (SUI)	2	4								Mag Maleeva (BUL)	3	4
	Mag Maleeva (BUL)	6	6			Mag Maleeva (BUL)	6	6
Q	R Simpson-Alter (CAN)	5	1		14	K Date (JPN)	2	4
14	K Date (JPN)	7	6											1	S Graf (GER)	6	6
16	S Appelmans (BEL)	6	6											16	S Appelmans (BEL)	1	0
	R McQuillan (AUS)	3	3		16	S Appelmans (BEL)	6	6
	N Provis (AUS)	6	6			N Provis (AUS)	2	1
WC	K Piccolini (ITA)	1	0							16	S Appelmans (BEL)	6	6
Alt	P Ritter (AUT)	1	6⁴							Q	E Maniokova (EUN)	1	3
Q	E Maniokova (EUN)	6	7		Q	E Maniokova (EUN)	7	4	6
	L Savchenko (LAT)	6³	2		8	K Maleeva (BUL)	6⁵	6	0
8	K Maleeva (BUL)	7	6

Section 2

First round					Second round					Third round				Quarterfinals

4	M J Fernández (USA)	6	6
Q	L-L Chen (CHN)	2	3		4	M J Fernández (USA)	6	1	12
	P Hy (CAN)	6	6			P Hy (CAN)	2	6	10
Q	D Randriantefy (MAD)	2	1							4	M J Fernández (USA)	7	6
Alt	S Gomer (GBR)	6	3	1							N Zvereva (EUN)	6⁹	1
Alt	S Smith (GBR)	2	6	6	Alt	S Smith (GBR)	1	2
	N Zvereva (EUN)	6	6			N Zvereva (EUN)	6	6
9	J Novotná (TCH)	1	0											4	M J Fernández (USA)	5	6	6
11	H Suková (TCH)	6	6											6	Man Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI)	7	1	0
Q	N Randriantefy (MAD)	0	1		11	H Suková (TCH)	6	4	3^r
Q	A Gavaldón (MEX)	6	6		Q	A Gavaldón (MEX)	4	6	5
	C Lindqvist (SWE)	4	3							Q	A Gavaldón (MEX)	0	3
WC	J Byrne (AUS)	4	6²							6	Man Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI)	6	6
	R Reggi-Concato (ITA)	6	7			R Reggi-Concato (ITA)	2	4
Q	A Vieira (BRA)	2	3		6	Man Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI)	6	6
6	Man Maleeva-Fragniere (SUI)	6	6

Bottom half

Section 3

First round					Second round					Third round				Quarterfinals

7	A Huber (GER)	6	4	6
	N Sawamatsu (JPN)	0	6	2	7	A Huber (GER)	6	6
	M Javer (GBR)	7	4	3		B Paulus (AUT)	4	1
	B Paulus (AUT)	6⁹	6	6						7	A Huber (GER)	7	7
Q	I-S Kim (KOR)	4	4							Q	N Muns-Jagerman (NED)	5	6³
Q	N Muns-Jagerman (NED)	6	6		Q	N Muns-Jagerman (NED)	7	7
Q	K Nowak (POL)	4	6¹		15	J Halard (FRA)	6³	6⁵
15	J Halard (FRA)	6	7											7	A Huber (GER)	3	6¹
13/WC	M Pierce (FRA)	7	7											3	J Capriati (USA)	6	7
	L Meskhi (EUN)	6⁵	5		13/WC	M Pierce (FRA)	6	3	8
WC	M Paz (ARG)	1	4			Y Basuki (INA)	0	6	10
	Y Basuki (INA)	6	6								Y Basuki (INA)	3	4
Alt	P Tarabini (ARG)	6	6							3	J Capriati (USA)	6	6
	M de Swardt (RSA)	4	2		Alt	P Tarabini (ARG)	4	1
WC	E Reinach (RSA)	1	0		3	J Capriati (USA)	6	6
3	J Capriati (USA)	6	6

Section 4

First round					Second round				Third round					Quarterfinals

5	C Martínez (ESP)	4	6	6
	J Wiesner (AUT)	6	1	2	5	C Martínez (ESP)	6	6
Q	P Sepúlveda (CHI)	2	3			S Cecchini (ITA)	4	3
	S Cecchini (ITA)	6	6						5	C Martínez (ESP)	6	6
LL	C Papadáki (GRE)	6	1	2						A Coetzer (RSA)	4	3
LL	A Blumberga (LAT)	4	6	6	LL	A Blumberga (LAT)	2	4
	A Coetzer (RSA)	7	6			A Coetzer (RSA)	6	6
12/WC	Z Garrison-Jackson (USA)	5	1											5	C Martínez (ESP)	4	4
10	N Tauziat (FRA)	6	6											2	A Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	6	6
WC	R Zrubáková (TCH)	3	2		10	N Tauziat (FRA)	3	2
	F Labat (ARG)	3	3		WC	B Rittner (GER)	6	6
WC	B Rittner (GER)	6	6						WC	B Rittner (GER)	6	3	1
Q	E Pampoulova (BUL)	6⁴	6⁶						2	A Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	4	6	6
Q	M Endo (JPN)	7	7		Q	M Endo (JPN)	0	1
Q	I Spîrlea (ROM)	1	3		2	A Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	6	6
2	A Sánchez Vicario (ESP)	6	6

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Singles, Women". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

ITF Olympic Site

[Olympedia-1] "Singles, Women". Olympedia. Retrieved 15 July 2021.

[1]

v t e Olympic tennis women's singles champions
Demonstration	1968: Helga Niessen (FRG) 1984: Steffi Graf (FRG)
Indoor	1908: Gwendoline Eastlake-Smith (GBR) 1912: Edith Hannam (GBR)
Outdoor	1900: Charlotte Cooper (GBR) 1908: Dorothea Chambers (GBR) 1912: Marguerite Broquedis (FRA) 1920: Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) 1924: Helen Wills (USA) 1988: Steffi Graf (FRG) 1992: Jennifer Capriati (USA) 1996: Lindsay Davenport (USA) 2000: Venus Williams (USA) 2004: Justine Henin-Hardenne (BEL) 2008: Elena Dementieva (RUS) 2012: Serena Williams (USA) 2016: Monica Puig (PUR) 2020: Belinda Bencic (SUI) 2024: Zheng Qinwen (CHN)