How Many Majors Are There In Tennis?

There are four major tournaments in professional tennis. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

The Four Grand Slam Tournaments

Tennis has four major tournaments, which are often called the Grand Slam tournaments. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. These tournaments are played on different surfaces, and they have different prize money.

The Australian Open

The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually over the last fortnight of January in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. It features men’s and women’s singles; men’s, women’s, and mixed doubles; junior’s championships; and wheelchair, legends’, and exhibition events. Prior to 1988 it was played on grass courts, but since then two types of hardcourt surfaces have been used at Melbourne Park – green reversible pyrolytic graphite composite (Rebound Ace) and blue Plexicushion (Supreme). A similar hardcourt surface known as DecoTurf is used for the US Open in New York.

The French Open

The French Open, also called Roland-Garros, is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France. The second of the four Grand Slam tournaments of the year, it is preceded by the Australian Open and followed by Wimbledon. It is the only clay court event of the year and is considered one of the most prestigious events in tennis.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon is considered the worlds’ premier tennis tournament and is one of the four grand slam tournaments. It is held annually in London, United Kingdom at the All England Club. Wimbledon is played on grass, and is the only grand slam tournament still played on this surface. The tournament is currently (as of 2019) 11 days long, with the ladies’ singles being completed first followed by the gentlemen’s singles, ladies’ doubles, gentlemen’s doubles, and finally mixed doubles.

The US Open

The US Open is one of the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world, and is the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It is played on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.

The tournament was first held in 1881, making it one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world. It was originally known as the U.S. National Singles Championships, but was renamed in 1968 when the Open Era began and professional players were allowed to compete.

Today, the US Open is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, with over 700,000 spectators attending each year. It is also one of the richest tennis tournaments, with prize money totaling over $50 million.

Some of the biggest names in tennis have won the US Open, including Roger Federer (5), Pete Sampras (5), Jimmy Connors (5), Andre Agassi (4), Rafael Nadal (4), and Serena Williams (6).

The Masters 1000 Series

There are nine Masters 1000 tournaments, which are held throughout the year in different locations around the world. They are:
-Indian Wells, California
-Miami, Florida
-Madrid, Spain
-Rome, Italy
-Montreal / Toronto, Canada
-Cincinnati, Ohio
-Shanghai, China
-Paris, France

The ATP 500 Series

The ATP 500 series is a series of tennis tournaments that form the second-highest tier of men’s tennis. The ATP 500 series includes 13 tournaments, with each tournament offering 500 ranking points to the winner.

The ATP 250 Series

There are four different levels of tennis tournaments: the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour, the ITF Futures Tour, and the ITF Pro Circuit. The highest level is the ATP Tour, which is made up of three different Series: the Masters 1000 Series, the ATP 500 Series, and the ATP 250 Series. The Masters 1000 Series is made up of tournaments that take place in Indian Wells, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Rome, Madrid, Toronto/Montreal, Cincinnati, Shanghai , and Paris. The ATP 500 Series consists of tournaments in Acapulco, Barcelona , Hamburg , Washington D.C., Beijing , Halle , Queen’s Club , and Basel . Lastly, the ATP 250 Series is made up of tournaments in Antalya , Atlanta , Chengdu , Delray Beach , Estoril , Gstaad , Hertogenbosch (s-Hertogenbosch), Istanbul , Kuala Lumpur , ‘s-Hertogenbosch (s-Hertogenbosch), Los Angeles , Lyon , Marseille
Newport ‘s-Hertogenbosch (s-Hertogenbosch), Nottingham Stuttgart ‘ s-Hertogenbosch (s-Hertogenbosch) Umag Vienna Zagreb
The next level down is the ATP Challenger Tour. Tournaments on this tour are played all over the world and offer prize money ranging from $35,000 to $150,000. players who do well on this tour can earn enough ranking points to move up to the ATP Tour.

The third level of professional tennis is made up of two Tours: the ITF Futures Tour and the ITF Pro Circuit. The Futures Tour offers prize money ranging from $10,000 to $15,000 per tournament while events on the Pro Circuit offer prize money ranging from $3,000 to $25,000 per tournament. While both Tours give players an opportunity to earn ranking points and move up in the world rankings system, most players on these Tours are trying to earn a living so they can continue playing tennis professionally.

The Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is an international team event contested between the men’s national tennis teams of countries affiliated with the International Tennis Federation (ITF). It is the largest annual international team competition in tennis, with 132 nations entered in 2019. The cup is named after Dwight F. Davis, who donated the trophy in 1900.

The competition began as a challenge between Great Britain and the United States in 1900. By 2013, 135 nations were participating in the Davis Cup on a rotational basis. France holds the record for most wins, with 32. Spain has won the second most Davis Cups, while United States has won the most ties. Australia has been successful recently, winning four times since 1999.

Great Britain, Australia and the United States are the only teams to have held all three major trophies at once: the Davis Cup, Fed Cup and Hopman Cup.

The Fed Cup

The Fed Cup is the international women’s tennis competition between teams from different countries. The tournament is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually.

The Fed Cup format consists of four rounds: a qualifying round in February, followed by a home-and-away World Group first round in April, World Group semifinals and finals also in April, and then the Fed Cup Final Four in November. The current holders are the United States, who beat France in the 2018 final.

In 2019, there will be a total of eight teams in the World Group – four from each hemisphere – playing off over two weekends in a round-robin format, with the four winning teams progressing to the semifinals. The two losing teams will be relegated to their respective zonal groups.