Grand Slam (tennis)

The four Grand Slam tennis tournaments, also called the Majors[1] , are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open, played in that order. Currently, both the Australian Open and the US Open are played on hard courts, while the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon is played on grass. The "Grand Slam" is the winning of all four Major tournaments in a single year[2][3][4][5][6]; however, it has also been used for many years now to refer to any of the major tournaments.[7] Though technically incorrect, since a "Grand Slam" is a collective achievement, rather than a single event, this term is now used by the major tournaments themselves.

The Open Era of tennis began in 1968 when the Major tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete. Wimbledon, the first of the Majors, began in 1877, followed by the US Open (1881), the French Open (1891), and the Australian Open (1905). Beginning in 1905 and continuing to the present day, all four majors have been played yearly, with the exception of the 1st and 2nd World Wars and 1986 for the Australian Open. The Australian Open is the 1st Major of the year (January), followed by the French Open (May–June), Wimbledon (June–July), and US Open (August–September).

Both the US Open and the Australian Open also feature night matches played under the lights. The US Open was the first to feature night matches and also features the most night matches of any Major. The US Open is the only Major to have a tie-breaker in the 5th set of Men's Singles' play, whereas in all the other Majors players play out the 5th set (until one player leads by 2 games).

A singles player or doubles team that wins all four Major tournaments consecutively is said to have achieved the "Grand Slam". If the player or team wins all four consecutively, but not in the same calendar year, it is called a "Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam".[citation needed] Winning all four at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Grand Slam". Winning the four Majors and a gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics has been called a "Golden Slam" since 1988,[8] when Steffi Graf became the only person to accomplish that feat in a single calendar year. Andre Agassi, and Rafael Nadal have accomplished a "Career Golden Slam", winning all five events but not in the same calendar year, while Roger Federer has achieved a Career Grand Slam, winning all four Majors but not in the same year.[9]

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