The Olympic tennis tournament will offer continental qualification places for the first time at Tokyo 2020 ©Getty Images

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) has announced that continental qualifying berths will be on offer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Places in both the men's and women's singles will be available after approval by the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Executive Board.

For the Americas, Asia and Africa, berths can be won through the continent's regional multi-sport Games.

This will be the first time in Olympic tennis history that players will be able to earn their spots using such a route.

For Europe and Oceania, the highest ranked man and woman not already qualified will earn a place in Tokyo.

The Olympic tennis tournament has not offered continental berths before ©Getty Images
The Olympic tennis tournament has not offered continental berths before ©Getty Images

ITF President David Haggerty said: "The introduction of continental qualification places is a significant and positive change that we believe will help strengthen participation in these important regional Games, and will provide opportunities for additional nations to contest the Olympic tennis event. 

"This initiative forms part of our commitment under the ITF 2024 strategy to secure mutually beneficial partnerships, and we look forward to working with our regional associations to ensure successful implementation."

For the Americas, both the singles winners and runners-up from the Lima 2019 Pan American Games will qualify for Tokyo 2020.

The winners at the Jakarta Palembang 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia will also earn a place alongside the champions from the 2019 African Games, tipped to be held in Lusaka in Zambia.