There will be five tennis events in London 2012.  Men and women will compete in singles and doubles tournaments and, for the first time since the 1924 Games in Paris, mixed doubles makes its return to the Olympic program.

Tennis will be played at the All-England Lawn Tennis Club, better known as Wimbledon.  The venue also played host to the Olympic tennis tournament in 1908.  

London 2012 Storylines:
Once again, participation by the world's top players will be encouraged by the awarding of ATP and WTA world ranking points.  The winners of the Olympic singles tournaments will earn slightly fewer points than are given to the winners of the Masters/Premier tournaments on tour.

The Championships at Wimbledon will end just 20 days prior to the start of the Olympic tournaments.  The grass courts will be immediately reseeded following the Grand Slam event to be in suitable playing condition for the Games.  

Since 1963 all players competing at the Wimbledon Championships have been required to wear white clothing.  This tradition will not be enforced at the Games, with players permitted to wear their national colours.  

The mixed doubles tournament could produce some very unique partnerships as all entries will created from those athletes already on-site at the Games.  Americans Andy Roddick and Serena Williams have tweeted about the possibility of playing together.  

Canada's Outlook:
Canada's lone Olympic tennis medal is the gold won by Daniel Nestor and Sébastien Lareau in Sydney 2000.  Lareau has since retired, but Nestor remains one of the world's top doubles players.  London 2012 would be his fifth Olympic appearance.  It remains to be seen who would be his partner.

Twenty-year-old Milos Raonic exploded onto the international scene at the Australian Open in 2011, becoming the first Canadian to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam since 1999.  He then became the first Canadian to win an ATP World Tour title in 16 years.  Starting the year ranked 156th, he had moved up to the mid-20s by May.  He finished off the year by being named the ATP's Newcomer of the Year.  Raonic started 2012 in spectacular fashion by winning the ATP Chennai Open in India for his second career title.

Another 20-year-old, Rebecca Marino, became Canada's top female player in 2011, breaking into the top-50 in the world rankings.

Other International Athletes to Follow:

MEN

Rafael Nadal - Spain

• Won the men's singles gold in Beijing 2008, becoming the first Spaniard to be crowned Olympic Champion in tennis
• As of February 2012 he has won 10 Grand Slam titles, including two at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010

Roger Federer – Switzerland

• An Olympic medal in singles is the only award missing from his resumé; he did win doubles gold in Beijing 2008 with partner Stanislas Wawrinka
• As of February 2012 he owns a record 16 Grand Slam singles titles, including six at Wimbledon (2003-2007, 2009)

Andy Murray – Great Britain

• Will be dealing with extreme pressure to win on home soil because no British man has won at Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, the longest home losing streak of the four Grand Slams
• Aorangi Picnic Terrace behind Court No. 1 at Wimbledon, where crowds gather to watch matches on a large screen, is sometimes now referred to as "Mount Murray" or "Murray Mound"

Novak Djokovic – Serbia

• Won the men's singles bronze medal in Beijing 2008
• As of February 2012 he has won five Grand Slam titles, including one at Wimbledon (2011)
• Enjoyed a 41-match unbeaten streak in 2011

WOMEN

Serena and Venus Williams – United States

• Partnered to win doubles gold in Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008; Venus also won gold in Sydney 2000, giving her more Olympic gold medals than any other female tennis player
• As of February 2012 they had won 20 Grand Slam singles titles between them, including Serena's four and Venus' five at Wimbledon

Maria Sharapova – Russia

• Tennis' glamour girl won her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 2004 when she was just 17-years-old
• Would make her Olympic debut in London 2012 after a torn rotator cuff made her unable to compete in Beijing 2008