Tennis Grand Slams – what are they and why are there only four of them? (2024)

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The first Wimbledon Championships were held in 1877 with play in one category only – the Gentlemen’s singles. Players had to pay a guinea to enter, and it was won by Spencer Gore, an Old Harrovian.

Since its inaugural championships Wimbledon has become a Major or Grand Slam event alongside three other prestigious Grand Slam events. This raises some questions, such as:

• Why are there only four Grand Slam events?
• Why are they called Grand Slams?

This article will seek to address these questions and unravel some of the mysteries of Grand Slam tennis.

What are the Grand Slam events?

They are the four most important professional tennis tournaments held annually in different countries and on different surfaces. They are the most important because they offer the highest prize money, the most ranking points and gain the highest attendances and television audiences.

Wimbledon is the oldest event which started in 1877, the US National Championships started in 1881, the French Championships in 1891 and Australian Championships in 1905.

The Australian Open is the held in January each year on hard courts in Melbourne. The final is played at the Rod Laver arena named to commemorate Australia’s most decorated male tennis player who won the tennis Grand Slam on two occasions in the 1960s. The second event is the French Open, or Roland-Garros, played in May/June. It is often seen as being the hardest event to win as the clay surface suits a certain type of player. Clay acts to slow the tennis ball more than on other surfaces so it does not favour hard hitting players with big services.Rafael Nadal, with a game based on endurance through producing long rallies and playing passing shots to win, is the most successful player at the French Open with 14 titles.

Wimbledon is held in June/July and is the most traditional of events, insisting on white clothing for all players, having the Royal Box as a key feature and serving strawberries with cream. The US Open is the final event held in August/September at Flushing Meadows on hard courts and it offers the highest prize money.

A quick history lesson

Wimbledon is the oldest event which started in 1877, the US National Championships started in 1881, the French Championships in 1891 and Australian Championships in 1905. In 1968, the latter 3 became ‘Open’ championships when professionals were permitted to enter. These events existed in isolation until 1925 when they were categorised as the four ‘Official Championships’ as they were the four most prestigious events. These events were restricted to players who held amateur status.

This categorisation stemmed from the formation of the International Lawn Tennis Federation in 1913 with tennis federations from Great Britain, France, Australasia, Austria, Belgium, Spain, and Switzerland. They initially had three World Championship events – grass court (Wimbledon), hard court (France) and covered court (different venues). However, it was only the grass court championships at Wimbledon that was attracting the top players. So, as tennis was booming in the US and Australia it was decided that these three countries, along with France, should host the four Official Championships. However, the term ‘Grand Slam’ was not coined until the 1930s.

Why Grand Slams?

The four Grand Slam events are the only men’s and women’s tennis events where the draw involves 128 players, meaning the champion must win seven matches of either five sets for men or three sets for women. The term ‘Grand Slam’ was first used in golf where it described Bobby Jones’ achievement in 1930 of winning all four major championships. In turn, this term was taken from the card game of contract bridge and refers to a hand of cards that is rare and particularly difficult to achieve.

Strangely, in tennis the Grand Slam can refer to the individual events, whilst in golf it refers exclusively to someone who wins all four major titles in a calendar year. Tennis players can win a Grand Slam in singles, doubles, and wheelchair events. The tennis Grand Slam is very rare in singles and has only been won by two men, Don Budge and Ron Laver twice, and three women, Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, and Steffi Graf most recently in 1988. Both Serena Williams (2003, 2015) and Novak Djokovic (2016) have held all four singles titles simultaneously, but not in the same year – this is referred to as a non-calendar year Grand Slam and is more common. In 2021, British wheelchair doubles players, Alfie Hewitt and Gordon Reid, achieved the Grand Slam.

In golf, Bobby Jones remains the only player to achieve the Grand Slam. However, in 2000/2001 Tiger Woods won four majors consecutively, but it is not recognised as a Grand Slam because they were not won in the same calendar year. It is referred to as the Tiger Slam.