Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/560492
ITFWORLD SUMMER 2015 5 www.itftennis.com OLYMPICS: 5-21 AUGUST 2016 OLYMPIC TENNIS: 6-14 AUGUST 2016 PARALYMPICS: 7-18 SEPTEMBER 2016 PARALYMPIC TENNIS: 9-16 SEPTEMBER 2016 VENUE: OLYMPIC TENNIS CENTRE, BARRA OLYMPIC PARK COURTS: 10 MATCH COURTS INCLUDING 3 SHOW COURTS, 6 PRACTICE COURTS SURFACE: HARD COURT KEY FACTS will be GreenSet Grand Prix Cushion. On 10-12 December the Olympic Tennis Centre will become the first venue in the Barra Olympic Park to host a test event, and the event will be the Brazil Masters, showcasing Brazil's leading professional, junior, senior, and wheelchair players. During the Paralympics, the venue will host wheelchair tennis and five-a-side football. The Olympic Tennis Centre will leave a strong legacy for tennis in Brazil, becoming part of the Olympic Training Centre after the Games and providing a top-level venue for major tennis events in the future. Mixed doubles was reintroduced to the Olympics with great success at London 2012 and remains for Rio 2016 alongside the men's and women's singles and doubles events. Mixed doubles will keep its third set match tiebreak, but a tiebreak final set will be introduced for the other disciplines, replacing the advantage set used previously. Hawk-Eye will be used on all three main show courts. There will be two sessions of play on Centre Court for the first five days, starting at 10.45am and 6.45pm. Play on all other courts will be in one session beginning at 11am for these five days. From day six, play on all match courts will begin at 12 noon for one session. The Olympic men's doubles gold medal match is scheduled for Friday 12 August, women's singles for Saturday 13 August, and men's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles gold medal matches for Sunday 14 August. PHILIP WILKINSON, INTERNATIONAL MEDIA MANAGER FOR RIO 2016, GIVES ITFWORLD HIS VIEW FROM THE GROUND. "With one year to go until the biggest sporting event in the world comes to South America for the first time, Rio de Janeiro is a city in transformation. Alongside the sporting venues, transport and infrastructure are being upgraded ready to host the best athletes in the world. The tennis test event in December will be the first to be held in the Olympic Park, which lies in the Barra region to the west of Rio and will be the heart of the Games. It will be a special moment on the journey to Rio 2016. "At the Rio 2016 organising committee we are moving fast from the planning to execution phase of the project. In the next 12 months we will deliver 44 test events, sell 7.5 million tickets, select and train 70,000 volunteers, expand our education programme that has already reached 177,000 children, launch the cultural programme, and prepare the venues to receive all 42 Olympic and 23 Paralympic sport disciplines. Prior to the Games the Olympic Torch Relay will see the Olympic flame journey across all Brazilian States, including some 250 cities and towns. "Rio is on time and on track to deliver excellent Games with top class sport. In keeping with Brazilian tradition, the Games will be infused with a party spirit to provide everyone involved with many memorable celebrations." The tennis centre under construction in June