Olympic qualification underway as Wong and Wang seal Asian Games glory

Hong Kong’s Coleman Wong and Wang Xiyu of China, P.R. have become the first players to all but seal their qualification for the 2028 Olympic Tennis Event in Los Angeles after triumphing at the Asian Games.

Wong and Wang won the gold medal matches in men’s and women’s singles respectively to lift regional silverware at the Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan – and take a big step towards securing their Olympic ticket.

For context, the Asian, African, Pan-American and Pacific Games are part of the Olympic qualification pathway.

The men’s and women’s singles winners from all four regional Games will seal a World Tennis Place at the 2028 Olympics provided they are within the Top 500 of the singles rankings – on the rankings cut-off date of 12 June 2028. 

At the last Olympic Games in Paris in 2024, regional champions needed to be within the Top 400. The change instigated by World Tennis ahead of the 2028 Games has widened opportunity and given players around the world a bigger chance to chase their dreams of competing at the Olympics.

The other criterion is that the quota of four athletes per nation has not already been filled by direct acceptance – automatic qualification will be based on those ATP and WTA singles rankings of 12 June 2028. 

Wong is currently ranked No. 101 in the ATP Rankings and is the highest-ranked men's player from Hong Kong, while Wang is fourth-highest ranked women's player from China, P.R. in the WTA Rankings. She is currently ranked No. 85.

Competing at LA 2028 would represent an Olympic debut for Wong, who reached a career-high No. 11 in the World Tennis Tour boys’ rankings and won two Junior Grand Slam doubles titles.

He has since won World Tennis Tour and ATP Challenger titles, making history for his nation in the process, while his journey during the 2022 grass-court season was documented in a behind-the-scenes World Tennis video.

Wang, meanwhile, is a former junior world No. 1 having won the US Open girls’ singles title in 2018. She has won a string of World Tennis Tour titles since, including three this year, and competed in the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event through direct acceptance.

Both players have received financial assistance in the form of Grand Slam Player Grants through the World Tennis-operated Grand Slam Player Development Programme.

This development programme is financed by the Grand Slams, but it is World Tennis modelling which determines the players selected for support. It aims to provide players from underrepresented nations with greater access to competitive pathways.

Looking at regional Games qualification ahead of Paris 2024, Zheng Qinwen, who proceeded to win women’s singles gold in the French capital, and Zhang Zhizhen – both of China, P.R. – were the singles winners at the 2023 Asian Games.

While both players would also have qualified directly through their singles ranking, someone like Laura Pigossi of Brazil was indebted to the regional Games qualification pathway.

Pigossi, who won bronze in the women's doubles at Tokyo 2020, reached Paris 2024 solely through winning the women's singles event at the 2023 Pan-American Games. 

In total, six World Tennis Places will be available at the LA 2028 Olympic Tennis Event in both the men’s and women’s draw. Four of those places are reserved for regional champions.

The other two are given to former Olympic gold medallists or Grand Slam champions who do not qualify automatically. Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Tennis Event via this route.

When and where are the remaining Regional Games?

Pan-American Games, 23 July-8 August 2027, Lima, Peru

Pacific Games, 24 July-7 August 2027, Pirae, Tahiti

African Games, 27 August-10 September 2027, Cairo, Egypt