The Grand Slam is one of the highest honors in tennis. But for people far from this sport, it may not be entirely clear what it is. In our article we will tell you where the concept came from. Grand Slam how it is received, what is the difference between career and calendar grand slams. And of course we will mention the most famous Grand Slam winners.
What are Grand Slam tournaments?
The term "Grand Slam" for tennis is not native, but borrowed. It came from the cards, namely from the "bridge". In bridge, a Grand Slam is a situation where the partners in the game ordered and took all 13 tricks. According to one of the official versions, this term was first applied to tennis in 1933.
Then the player from Australia D. Crawford won 3 of the 4 most popular competitions. He only needed to conquer the US Open and then in one season he would have collected the prizes of the four largest tournaments in just one year. The authorship of the phrase is attributed to John Kieran, a journalist from the New York Times. In his material before the final game of the championship in the United States, he wrote that if Crawford won, it would be like taking a Grand Slam playing bridge. And although Jack lost his final, the expression stuck.
There is another version, according to which the term came into wide fashion five years later with the light hand of the American writer Ellison Dantzig. He used the term "Grand Slam" to refer to Donald Budge winning all 4 major tournaments of the year.
Be that as it may, it is reliably known that by the beginning of the 1940s, the title of the owner of the Grand Slam became the most honorable among tennis players and all professional players aspired to it. high level. Winning a Grand Slam is a great achievement. If you win all the tournaments in one year, that is, win the calendar Grand Slam, then you can say with confidence: "My name is now in history."
What are the Grand Slam tournaments?
From the very beginning, in order to become the owner of the Grand Slam, you need to win 4 major tournaments that take place every season. Here they are in chronological order.
- Australian Open ( Australian Open Tennis Championships).
- French Open (Roland Garros).
- Wimbledon tournament (The Championships, Wimbledon).
- US Open Championship (US Open).
Australian Open
This is one of oldest competitions in tennis of all (although it has the fewest years of history of any Grand Slam). For the first time this championship was held back in 1905, and the city of Melbourne became the venue. In the very first championship, only 17 athletes took part in it, and the number of spectators at the final was 5 thousand people. But by the end of the century, hundreds of thousands of spectators attended the championship.
The venue until 1972 was constantly changing - they managed to visit six different cities. In addition to Melbourne, these are Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and twice the championship left the continent and was held in New Zealand.
But more often than not, Melbourne was the home of this championship, so in 1972 it was decided to make it a permanent venue - for the convenience of participants and spectators. And since 1988, the championship has been held at the Melbourne Park tennis complex.
The winners of the men's singles competition receive the Norman Brooks Cup, which takes its name from Norman Brooks, the Australian tennis player who not only won in 1911, but did much to make this championship a world-class championship.
For women, the Daphne Hirst Memorial Cup is intended, which became the champion 5 times at the turn of the 1920s - 1930s.
The game takes place on a hard court.
Roland Garros
Competitions that take place in Paris in late spring - early summer. A clay court is used in the Roland Garros tennis complex, from which the French championship got its second name. The tournament has been held since 1891. Initially, it was held only for French tennis players and players of French tennis clubs. At the same time, the first winner was the Englishman H. Briggs, about whom nothing but his name is known. This tournament received international status in 1925.
It was with Roland Garros that the widespread use of clay courts began, many even consider it to be the birthplace of this kind of tennis.
Wimbledon
Played in Wimbledon, UK since 1877 international tournament, which almost immediately became the leading tennis competition in the world. It is considered very honorable to become the winner of Wimbledon - this is perhaps the most important prize among all other Grand Slam competitions.
Competitions in Wimbledon are carried out on a grass court. It takes place in late June - early July. At the moment, this is the only Grand Slam tournament that takes place on the most traditional of all types of court - grass.
Curiously, the ground at Wimbledon was originally used by the All England Croquet Club. In 1875, this club decided to allocate part of the grounds for other popular games, including the already well-known badminton and the recently invented and growing popularity of lawn tennis. The popularity of tennis was such that two years later the name of the club was expanded to "All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club". And in 1888, croquet completely disappeared from the name and returned only in 1899, having already taken second place after lawn tennis.
US Open
This tournament has been held since 1881, but initially only Americans could participate in it. It is considered a rather difficult tournament, although perhaps the least respected among all Grand Slam tournaments. It is played on a hard court.
The championship received its current name in 1968. Held in New York, at the local National Tennis Center. It is held in two weeks, at the turn of summer and autumn time.
Grand Slam winners
There are two main ways to win a Grand Slam in tennis.
The main and most honorary is called the “calendar Grand Slam. It can be obtained by winning all 4 main tournaments in one year. This is a difficult and serious achievement that few athletes have managed to achieve.
The men's calendar Grand Slam winners are:
- D. Budge in 1938;
- R. Laver twice, in 1962 and 1969.
Among women, calendar-type Grand Slam winners are:
- M. Connolly in 1963;
- M. Smith Court in 1970;
- S. Graff in 1988
Steffi Graff is also the first in history (and at the moment this achievement has not been repeated by anyone) the owner of the calendar Golden Helmet, which means that she also won the Olympics in one season.
There is also a definition of a career Grand Slam - the title that one who has won all Grand Slam tournaments, but in different seasons, has. And if this person also won the Olympics in some year, then he can get the title of another career Golden Slam.
Most different Grand Slam tournaments have been won among men by Rafael Nadal with 17 wins and Margaret Court with 24 wins. Close to her is Serena Williams, who is currently continuing her career, with 23 Grand Slam victories.
The term "Grand Slam" originally refers to the achievement when a player wins all 4 majors in one calendar year in one of 5 events: men's or women's singles, men's or women's doubles, and mixed doubles.
Australian Open Tennis
The first Major of the year, held annually at the end of January in Melbourne, Australia. It was first held in 1905 and was called the Australasian Championship, and 22 years later it was renamed the Australian Championship. In 1969, the tournament received its current name and the status of "open", which allowed everyone to take part in it, including professionals. After that, the Australian Open is traditionally the first Grand Slam tournament of the year for tennis players. Until 1988, the competition was played on grass, after which green hard (Rebound Ace) was used until 2007, and since 2008 blue hard (Plexicushion). In terms of attendance, the Australian Open is second only to the US Open. In addition, for the first time for the Grand Slam tournaments, matches were held under the roof here due to rain or excessive heat. Retractable roofs have been installed in 3 major arenas: Rod Laver Arena, Hysens Arena and the newly renovated Margaret Court Arena. Russian Marat Safin in 2005 played match points in the semifinal match against Roger Federer, and later won the final match.
Roland Garros
The French Open is held annually for two weeks in late May/early June at the Roland Garros Tennis Center in Paris, France. Named after French pilot Roland Garros, the tournament is the premier sand tennis event and the second Grand Slam of the year. With slow clay rebounds and five-set no-tiebreak matches in the final set of the men's competition, this tournament is considered the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world. The tournament was first held in 1891, international status was given to it in 1925, and professional players have been eligible to take part in it since 1968. Two Russians became the winners of this tournament in their history - Yevgeny Kafelnikov (1996) and Anastasia Myskina (2004).
US Open
The US Open is a modern version of one of the oldest tennis tournaments, held since 1881. In 1887, it was the last fourth Grand Slam of the year. The tournament is held annually at the end of August and lasts 2 weeks. The main tournament consists of 5 categories: men's and women's singles, men's and women's doubles, mixed doubles. Since 1978, competitions have been played on acrylic hard courts at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park in New York City. US Open belongs non-profit organization United States Tennis Association, all proceeds from ticket sales go to the promotion of tennis in the United States. In addition, the tournament is different in that tiebreaks can be played in every set, including the fifth (in the other three Grand Slam tournaments, tiebreaks are not played in the last set - 5m for men and 3m for women)
Tennis tournaments The Grand Slam is the most prestigious in tennis. The term "Grand Slam" originated in 33. One of the commentators accidentally mentioned that if the Australian tennis player manages to win in the fourth major tournament in a row, he will make a Grand Slam (poker). Since that time, this expression has stuck. The winners of the four most important tournaments of the tennis season began to be considered the owners of the Grand Slam.
Grand slam tournaments 2018.
At the moment, the Grand Slam tournaments are:
- Australian Open. (held in January - February)
- French Open. "Roland Garros (held in May - June)
- Wimbledon tournament (held in June - July)
- Us Open. (held in August - September).
Australian and American tournaments are held on hard surfaces. The French Open is played on clay courts. The Wimbledon tournament is played on grass.
The main court of the Australian Tournament is called Rod Laver Arena.
The main arena, Rolland Garos, is named after the President of the Tennis Federation, Philippe Chatrier.
The first court of the US Championship is named after Arthur Ashe.
Center Court is the main court at Wimbledon.
Grand Slam winners.
In the history of professional tennis, only five athletes have managed to win a Grand Slam:
- Donald Budge
- Rod Lavero
- Maureen Connolly
- Margaret Court
- Steffi Graf
Singles Grand Slam champions.
Australians Adrian Quist (13 wins) and Margaret Court (22 wins) have the most wins in the Australian tournament.
The most titled French Open tennis players are Rafael Nadal (10 wins) and Chris Evert (7 wins).
Roger Federer of Switzerland (8 wins) and Martina Navratilova (9 wins) have won the most Wimbledon finals.
US Open record holder women's category is an American Mallory. She has 8 victorious finals. Among men, most wins in singles tournaments and Bill Tilden (8 wins).
Roger Federer has the most wins in all men's Grand Slam tournaments. At the moment he has 19 wins. The Swiss has not finished his career yet and still has a good chance of winning one of the tournaments. Among women, Margaret Court has the most victories in single tournaments (24 victories).
At the end of the season among the best tennis players the final tournament is held. It is attended by 8 best male and female tennis players. It is not included in the Grand Slam, although it is not inferior to its tournaments in terms of prestige.
| Nationality, Name and Surname, year of birth (and death) | Total | Australia | France | Wimbledon | USA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swiss Roger Federer(Roger Federer), born in 1981 | 20 | 6 | 1 | 8 | 5 |
| Hispanic Rafael Nadal(Rafael Nadal), born in 1986 | 19 | 1 | 12 | 2 | 4 |
| Serb Novak Djokovic(Novak Djokovic), born in 1987 | 16 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 3 |
| American Pete Campras(Pete Sampras), born in 1971 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 |
| Australian Roy Emerson(Roy Emerson), born in 1936 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Australian Rod Laver(Rod Laver), born in 1938 | 11/8 | 3 | 2/1 | 4/4 | 2/3 |
| Swede Bjorn Borg(Björn Borg), born in 1956 | 11 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| American Bill Tilden(Bill Tilden), 1893-1953 | 10/4 | – | 0/2 | 3 | 7 /2 |
| Englishman Fred Perry(Fred Perry), 1909-1995 | 8/2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3/2 |
| Australian Ken Rosewall(Ken Rosewall), born in 1934 | 8/15 | 4 | 2/8 | 0/5 | 2/2 |
| American Jimmy Connors(Jimmy Connors), born in 1952 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 5 |
| Czech Ivan Lendl(Ivan Lendl), born in 1960 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| American Andre Agassi(Andre Agassi), born in 1970 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| American Richard Sears(Richard Sears), 1861-1943 | 7 | – | – | 0 | 7 |
| Englishman William Renshaw(William Renshaw), 1861-1904 | 7 | – | – | 7 | – |
| American William Larned(William Larned), 1872-1926 | 7 | – | – | – | 7 |
| Frenchman Henri Cochet(Henri Cochet), 1901-1987 | 7/1 | – | 4/1 | 2 | 1 |
| Frenchman Rene Lacoste(René Lacoste), 1904-1996 | 7 | – | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Australian John Newcomb(John Newcombe), born in 1944 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| American John McEnroe(John McEnroe), born in 1959 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Swede Mats Wilander(Mats Wilander), born in 1964 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Englishman Lawrence Docherty(Laurence Doherty), 1875-1919 | 6 | – | – | 5 | 1 |
| Australian Tony Wilding(Tony Wilding), 1883-1915 | 6 | 2 | – | 4 | – |
| Australian Jack Crawford(Jack Crawford), 1908-1991 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| American Don Budge(Don Budge), 1915-2000 | 6/4 | 1 | 1/1 | 2/1 | 2/2 |
| Swede Stefan Edberg(Stefan Edberg), born in 1966 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| German Boris Becker(Boris Becker), born in 1967 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Australian Frank Sedgeman(Frank Sedgman), born in 1927 | 5/3 | 2 | 0/1 | 1/2 | 2 |
Note. After the slash, the won professional majors are indicated (more on them below).
| Nationality, Name and Surname, year of birth (death) | Total | Australia | France | Wimbledon | USA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Margaret Court(Margaret Court), born in 1942 | 24 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
| American Serena Williams(Serena Williams), born in 1981 | 23 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 7 |
| German Steffi Graf(Steffi Graf), born in 1969 | 22 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 |
| American Helen Wills Moody(Helen Wills Moody), 1905-1998 | 19 | – | 4 | 8 | 7 |
| American Chris Evert(Chris Evert), born in 1954 | 18 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 6 |
| American Martina Navratilova(Martina Navratilova), born in 1956 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 4 |
| American Billie Jean King(Billie Jean King), born in 1943 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 |
| American Monica Seles(Monica Seles), born in 1973 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| American Maureen Connolly(Maureen Connolly), 1934-1969 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Frenchwoman Susan Lenglen(Suzanne Lenglen), 1899-1938 | 8 | – | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| American Molla Buerstedt Mallory(Molla Bjurstedt Mallory), 1884-1959 | 8 | – | – | 0 | 8 |
| Brazilian Maria Bueno(Maria Bueno), 1939-2018 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| Australian Yvonne Goolagong(Evonne Goolagong), born in 1951 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Belgian Justine Henin(Justine Henin), born in 1982 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 |
| Englishwoman Dorothea Lambert(Dorothea Lambert), 1878-1960 | 7 | – | – | 7 | – |
| American Venus Williams(Venus Williams), born in 1980 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| Australian Nancy Winn-Bolton(Nancye Wynne Bolton), 1916-2001 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| American Louise Braf-Clapp(Louise Brough Clapp), 1923-2014 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| American Margaret Osborne-Dupon(Margaret Osborne duPont), 1918-2012 | 6 | – | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| American Doris Hart(Doris Hart), 1925-2015 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Englishwoman Blanche Bingley-Gilliard(Blanche Bingley Hillyard), 1863-1946 | 6 | – | – | 6 | – |
The proposed lists give a general picture of the victories of the greatest players in the majors in the history of tennis, but I would like to warn that it is not correct to compare their achievements (ranking) and even more so to evaluate who is the greatest in the history of tennis based on these statistics. And that's why.
Firstly, if the modern galaxy of players regularly participate in the Australian Open, then at one time, due to the remoteness of the Green Continent, not all tennis players deprive its championship of attention, and, accordingly, representatives Australian tennis have not visited or visited sporadically Europe and North America. The winners of the first tournaments: Wimbledon and the US National Championship did not leave their countries either. It is in men: the Englishman William Renshaw and the American William Larned, and another American Richard Sears only once attended the Wimbledon tournament in 1884. At the same time, each of them has 7 titles. For women: Englishwomen Dorothea Lambert and Blanche Bingley-Gilliard (7 and 6 titles respectively) ( author's note - In the tables, non-participation in the championships is indicated by a dash "-").
And even in the Open Era, some tennis stars ignored the Australian Open. So the American Chris Evert at the peak of her career ignored him 6 times in a row, the Czech Martina Navratilova - 4 times, the Swede Bjorn Borg arrived only once (1974), the American Jimmy Connors twice (1974, 1975). And the 4-time winner of this championship, the American Andre Agassi, played it for the first time only at the age of 24.
The non-participation of high-class tennis players in some majors, on the one hand, reduced the intensity of competition and allowed the title to be won, perhaps not by the strongest player (for example, in 1976, when the Australian Mark Edmondson became the champion, his position in the ranking was only 212), and on the other hand - did not replenish the collection of trophies of picky celebrities.
Secondly, in the first decades of the 20th century, the champion title was played out in the so-called "Challenge Round" - last year's champion defended his title by playing just one match with a player who reached the final through the entire tournament bracket. And thus, it was much more physically difficult for a tired applicant to overcome current champion. Therefore, before the cancellation of the “Challenge Round”, many tennis players had an unbeaten championship streak for several years.
Thirdly, during the two World Wars, some of the majors were not held: the Australian Championship (1941-1945), the French Championship (1915-1919; 1941-1945), the Wimbledon tournament (1915-1918; 1940-1945). Because of this, the tennis players of those times had a shorter playing career compared to the players of the post-war periods. So they have fewer titles.
Fourthly, since the beginning of the 30s of the last century, the transition of leading amateur tennis players to professionals has intensified. The International Tennis Federation, which is the governing body of amateur tennis, banned the participation of professionals in tournaments held under its auspices. As a result, many tennis players were deprived of the opportunity to participate in Grand Slam tournaments. True, they had alternative professional majors: US Pro Tennis Championships (since 1926), French Pro Championship (since 1930), Wembley Championships (since 1934) ( note by author - The number of wins on them is presented through a slash "/"). And if we take into account these victories, then the most eminent tennis player will be Australian Ken Rosewall - 23 titles, followed by two-time Grand Slam holder Australian Rod Laver - 19 titles and only the third Swiss Roger Federer with 18 titles.
The absence of such professional tennis players as Americans Vincent Richards, Ellsworth Vines, Bill Tilden, Don Budge, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Pancho Segura, Pancho Gonzalez, Englishman Fred Perry, Australians Frank Sedgman, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver at Grand Slam tournaments and others certainly reduced the level of competition.
I do not presume to state unequivocally that in those days the level of skill among professionals was higher than among amateurs, but I will give a number of arguments.
In the early years open era» It was tennis players with professional experience who became the winners at the Grand Slam tournaments:
- French Open (since 1968): Ken Rosewall (1968), Rod Laver (1969)
- Wimbledon (since 1968): Rod Laver (1968, 1969)
- US Open (since 1968): Rod Laver (1969), Ken Rosewall (1970)
- Australian Open (since 1969): Rod Laver (1969), Ken Rosewall (1971, 1972)
An attempt to rank players based on merit was made in 2012 by the well-known cable TV channel Tennis Channel. Their ranking includes the 100 greatest players of all time, and it is combined for both sexes (men and women). More about this project and the reactions of some respected tennis analysts to it
Tennis is a dynamic competition that, from the beginning of its existence, to today, has taken an accelerated pace in development and popularity. In 1975 tennis tournaments attracted a small number of people. It was the first tennis tournament in which a total of 22 athletes took part. But today tennis is one of the most famous sports. Every day more and more people want to take part in tennis tournaments. Today, a large number of tournament competitions are held. The Grand Slams are considered to be the largest championship tournaments.