What Tennis Players Need to Know About Grand Slams

There are four Grand Slam tennis tournaments each year, and they are some of the most prestigious events in the sport. If you’re a tennis player aiming to make a name for yourself, you’ll need to know all about them. Here’s what you need to know.

Introduction

A Grand Slam is one of the four most important annual tennis events. They are the only tournaments that are played on all three of the main tennis surfaces: grass, hard court, and clay. The term “Grand Slam” applies both to the individual events themselves and to winning all four events in a calendar year.

Only three players have ever won all four Grand Slams in a single year: Don Budge in 1938, Roy Emerson in 1964, and Rod Laver in 1969. They are all considered to be among the greatest tennis players of all time. Winning all four Grand Slams in a single year is often referred to as a “calendar year Grand Slam.”

The term “Grand Slam” is also used to describe any one of the four major tournaments. The four Grand Slams are:

-The Australian Open, held in Melbourne on hard courts in late January or early February
-The French Open, held in Paris on clay courts in May or June
-Wimbledon, held in London on grass courts in June or July
-The US Open, held in New York on hard courts in August or September

What is a Grand Slam?

A Grand Slam is one of the four major annual tennis tournaments—the others being the Miami Open, the Monte-Carlo Masters, and the Cincinnati Masters. The Grand Slam tournaments (also referred to as the majors) are the most important tennis events of the year, both commercially and according to ranking points.

They are Held over two weeks in late May and early June, and attract the largest television audiences of any tennis tournament outside of Wimbledon. They are also by far the biggest money-makers in tennis, with total prize money for singles at around US$42 million (nearly double that of Wimbledon).

The grand slam events are currently:
-The Australian Open – played on hard courts in Melbourne Park, Victoria
-The French Open – played on clay courts at Stade Roland Garros in Paris
-Wimbledon – played on grass courts at the All England Club in London
-The US Open – played on hard courts at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in New York City

The Four Grand Slams

The four Grand Slams are the most important tennis tournaments of the year. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Winning a Grand Slam is a very prestigious accomplishment.

The Australian Open

The Australian Open is the first of the four annual Grand Slam tournaments—the others being the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. It is held in mid-January at Melbourne Park, a sporting complex located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct. It is the largest tennis tournament in the Southern Hemisphere and Asia, largely due to the fact that many European and American players choose to compete there first after an offseason.

The tournament was first held in 1905 on grass courts at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in Melbourne. The event was not held from 1915 to 1919 due to World War I, then again from 1941 to 1945 due to World War II. The event was then once again held on an annual basis starting in 1946 at Kooyong Stadium before moving to its current home at Melbourne Park in 1988.

The Australian Open is played on hard courts and is currently the only Grand Slam tournament still played on this surface after Wimbledon switched to playing on grass in 1877 and the US Open did so in 1978. The main court at Melbourne Park is named Rod Laver Arena after one of Australia’s greatest players who won 11 Grand Slam titles including four Australian Opens (1961, 1962, 1969, 1970).

The French Open

The French Open, Roland Garros, is the second grand slam of the year and is unique in many ways. One of the most obvious distinctions is that it’s the only grand slam played on clay. It’s also the next longest tournament after Wimbledon, with matches lasting up to five sets for men and three sets for women. The French Open also has the distinction of being the only Grand Slam to have been played since its inception in 1891. Here’s what tennis players need to know about this important tournament.

Clay Courts
The clay courts at Roland Garros are made of a type of red brick known as terre battue. These courts are unique in that they slow down the ball more than any other surface, making rallies longer and points more strategic. Because of this, clay court specialists often do well at Roland Garros. Think Rafael Nadal and Chris Evert.

Slower Pace
As mentioned, the ball moves slower on clay courts which results in longer rallies and a necessarily different strategy for players. In order to win on clay, players need to be patient and build points slowly rather than going for winners early in the rally. This different pace can be frustrating for players used to faster surfaces like hard courts or grass court but it’s something that can be adjusted to with practice.

Hot Weather
Another quirk of Roland Garros is that it takes place during Paris’ springtime weather which means that temperatures can be quite hot during the day. This can make playing conditions difficult, especially for afternoon matches. Players need to be aware of this and come prepared with plenty of fluids and sunscreen.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon is the oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament in the world, and is considered by many to be the sport’s premier event. It has been played at the All England Club in London since 1877 and is the only Grand Slam tournament still played on grass. Wimbledon is also unique in that it is the only Grand Slam event that uses a challenge system instead of a qualifying system to determine who competes in the main draw.

The US Open

The United States Open Tennis Championships is a hard court tennis tournament. The tournament is the modern version of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, for which men’s singles was first played in 1881.

Since 1987, the US Open has been chronologically the fourth and final event of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, the other three being the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open. It is held annually in August and September over two weeks at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park of Queens in New York City.

What do Tennis Players Need to Know About Grand Slams?

Tennis players need to know about grand slam tournaments if they want to be the best of the best. Grand Slams are the four most important annual tennis events. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Players who win all four grand slam tournaments in a calendar year are said to have achieved a Grand Slam.

The Qualifying Process

Players must have a WTA/ATP ranking of 110 or better to enter the qualifying event for the Australian Open, French Open, or Wimbledon. For the US Open, the player must have a WTA/ATP ranking of 120 or better. To compete in qualifying, players must enter by the ranking deadline and pay a $75 entry fee. The top four seeds in each qualifying event are given byes into the first round.

The number of qualifiers varies from year to year and depends on the size of the main draw. For the Australian Open, there are 96 qualifiers; for the French Open, there are 112 qualifiers; for Wimbledon, there are 128 qualifiers; and for the US Open, there are 144 qualifiers.

Players who lose in the qualifying event can still enter the main draw by going through what is called “pre-qualifying.” This used to be called “wild cards.” To be eligible for pre-qualifying at Wimbledon, a player must have won two matches in a Satellite tournament during the previous six weeks or have won three matches in an ITF Pro Circuit tournament during that same time period.

The Main Draw

In order to be eligible to play in a Grand Slam tournament, a player must be ranked inside the top 100 in the world by the ATP or WTA. The main draw of each tournament consists of 128 players (64 for doubles), with most of the places going to direct entrants who are seeded according to their world ranking. The remaining places are filled through a qualifying competition held one week before the main draw begins. Players who win three matches in qualifying earn a place in the main draw, where they are joined by the 32 seeded players.

The Prize Money

The prize money at Grand Slam tournaments has increased dramatically over the last few decades. In 2019, the total prize money for Wimbledon was £38 million, with the men’s and women’s singles champions each taking home £2.35 million. The prize money for the US Open was even higher, at £57 million. And it’s not just the winners who benefit – all players who compete in a Grand Slam tournament receive money, even if they lose in the first round. In 2019, first-round losers at Wimbledon received £45,000 each.

Conclusion

Now that you know the ins and outs of Grand Slams, it’s time to put your knowledge to the test. See if you can predict which players will be lifting trophies at the end of this year’s majors.