The Grand Slams are made up of the four major tennis tournaments:
The Championships (Wimbledon), The French Open, The US Open and The
Australian Open.
The term 'Grand Slam' originated from Don Budge's achievement
of winning all four major tournaments in 1938. The distinguished American writer Allison Danzig suggested
that like a successful bridge player, Budge had scored a 'Grand
Slam' of victories.
The phrase gained use in common parlance and now the four major tournaments are each referred to as one of the Grand Slams.
In
1989, the Grand Slams joined forces for the first time to form the
Grand Slam Committee which, among other responsibilities, administers
the Grand Slam rules.
Pete Sampras of the United States has won the most Gentlemen's Singles
Grand Slams with 14 titles (seven Wimbledons, five US Opens and two Australian
Opens), while Margaret Court of Australia has won the most Ladies'
Singles Grand Slams with 24 titles (11 Australian Opens, five French
Opens, five US Opens and three Wimbledons).
The 'Grand Slam' of winning the four events in the same year has been completed by two players in the Men's Singles — Don Budge (USA) in 1938
and Rod Laver (AUS) in 1962 and 1969. Three players have won the
Grand Slam in the Ladies' Singles — Maureen Connolly (USA) in 1953,
Margaret Smith Court (AUS) in 1970 and Steffi Graf (DDR). In
1988 Steffi Graf won all four majors and a gold medal at the Seoul Olympics to give her a 'Golden Grand Slam'.
The Tennis Masters Cup, initiated in November 2000, is co-owned
by the Grand Slams, the ITF and the ATP. It features the top eight
men in the world, according to the ATP Champions Race, including
the Grand Slam winners.
The Tennis Masters Cup
 |
The Tennis Masters Cup
The Tennis Masters Cup is held annually at the end of the year
at different venues around the world. It involves the top eight
players in the ATP rankings, as well as the top eight doubles
teams.
www.masters-cup.com |
|
