The ITF today announced the provisional list of singles and doubles entries for the Rio 2016 Olympic Tennis Event at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Barra Olympic Park on 6-14 August. Fifty-one countries will compete in this year’s event.

Andy Murray (GBR) and Serena Williams (USA) will defend their London 2012 singles titles, while Bob and Mike Bryan (USA), and Venus and Serena Williams (USA) will defend their doubles titles. Entries for the mixed doubles will be confirmed on site during the Olympic Tennis Event.

Sixty-four players will contest both the men’s and women’s singles. Entries for both events are a combination of direct acceptances and final qualification places based on the singles world rankings of 6 June, plus two Tripartite Commission Invitation Places.

Thirty-two teams will contest both the men’s and women’s doubles, with entries a combination of direct acceptances and final qualification places. Entries are based on the combined world rankings of each team on 6 June, with each player using the better of their singles and doubles world ranking. Any player ranked in the doubles Top 10 on 6 June was eligible for direct acceptance with a partner of any ranking.

There is a limit of four singles players per gender per country. Nations were also able to nominate up to two doubles teams per event, with a maximum of six players per gender per country in total.

Entries are also subject to players being in good standing with their National Association and meeting the minimum participation requirements in Davis Cup and Fed Cup. The ITF Olympic Committee will discuss any outstanding men’s appeals on Friday 15 July on behalf of any player who still has the opportunity to compete in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas ties on 15-17 July.

Entries for the 16-team mixed doubles event will be determined on site from those players already participating in singles or doubles, with a maximum of two teams per country. Teams have to be nominated by their National Olympic Committee by the deadline of 9 August.

The Olympic Tennis Event will be played on hard court, with ten match courts and six practice courts, including a 10,000 -capacity centre court, and two additional show courts seating 5,000  and 3,000  spectators respectively.

The Draw for the Olympic Tennis Event will be held on site at the Olympic Tennis Centre on Thursday 4th August at 11:00 local time.

ITF President David Haggerty said: “We are delighted to welcome another outstanding field to the Olympic Tennis Event. Since the return of tennis to the Olympics in 1988, the event has continued to grow at each Games, with the current generation of players embracing this unique opportunity in our sport. We expect that the competition in each discipline will be fierce, and look forward to some memorable matches.”