Grand Slam Tennis. Major tennis tournaments. Features of these tournaments

Nationality, First and Last Name, year of birth (and death)	Total	Australia	France	Wimbledon	USA
Swiss Roger Federer(Roger Federer), born in 1981	20	6	1	8	5
Hispanic Rafael Nadal(Rafael Nadal), born in 1986	19	1	12	2	4
Serb Novak Djokovic(Novak Djokovic), born in 1987	16	7	1	5	3
American Pete Sampras(Pete Sampras), born in 1971	14	2	0	7	5
Australian Roy Emerson(Roy Emerson), born 1936	12	6	2	2	2
Australian Rod Laver(Rod Laver), born 1938	11/8	3	2/1	4/4	2/3
Swede Bjorn Borg(Björn Borg), born 1956	11	0	6	5	0
American Bill Tilden(Bill Tilden), 1893-1953	10/4	–	0/2	3	7 /2
Englishman Fred Perry(Fred Perry), 1909-1995	8/2	1	1	3	3/2
Australian Ken Rosewall(Ken Rosewall), born 1934	8/15	4	2/8	0/5	2/2
American Jimmy Connors(Jimmy Connors), born 1952	8	1	0	2	5
Czech Ivan Lendl(Ivan Lendl), born in 1960	8	2	3	0	3
American Andre Agassi(Andre Agassi), born in 1970	8	4	1	1	2
American Richard Sears(Richard Sears), 1861-1943	7	–	–	0	7
Englishman William Renshaw(William Renshaw), 1861-1904	7	–	–	7	–
American William Larned(William Larned), 1872-1926	7	–	–	–	7
Frenchman Henri Cochet(Henri Cochet), 1901-1987	7/1	–	4/1	2	1
Frenchman Rene Lacoste(René Lacoste), 1904-1996	7	–	3	2	2
Australian John Newcombe(John Newcombe), born 1944	7	2	0	3	2
American John McEnroe(John McEnroe), born 1959	7	0	0	3	4
Swede Mats Wilander(Mats Wilander), born 1964	7	3	3	0	1
Englishman Lawrence Docherty(Laurence Doherty), 1875-1919	6	–	–	5	1
Australian Tony Wilding(Tony Wilding), 1883-1915	6	2	–	4	–
Australian Jack Crawford(Jack Crawford), 1908-1991	6	4	1	1	0
American Don Budge(Don Budge), 1915-2000	6/4	1	1/1	2/1	2/2
Swede Stefan Edberg(Stefan Edberg), born 1966	6	2	0	2	2
German Boris Becker(Boris Becker), born in 1967	6	2	0	3	1
Australian Frank Sedgman(Frank Sedgman), born 1927	5/3	2	0/1	1/2	2

Note. Professional majors won are indicated after the slash (more on them below).

Nationality, First and Last Name, year of birth (death)	Total	Australia	France	Wimbledon	USA
Australian Margaret Court(Margaret Court), born 1942	24	11	5	3	5
American Serena Williams(Serena Williams), born 1981	23	7	3	7	7
German Steffi Graf(Steffi Graf), born 1969	22	4	6	7	5
American Helen Wills Moody(Helen Wills Moody), 1905-1998	19	–	4	8	7
American Chris Evert(Chris Evert), born 1954	18	2	7	3	6
American Martina Navratilova(Martina Navratilova), born 1956	18	3	2	9	4
American Billie Jean King(Billie Jean King), born 1943	12	1	1	6	4
American Monica Seles(Monica Seles), born in 1973	9	4	3	0	2
American Maureen Connolly(Maureen Connolly), 1934-1969	9	1	2	3	3
Frenchwoman Susan Lenglen(Suzanne Lenglen), 1899-1938	8	–	2	6	0
American Molla Bjurstedt Mallory(Molla Bjurstedt Mallory), 1884-1959	8	–	–	0	8
Brazilian Maria Bueno(Maria Bueno), 1939-2018	7	0	0	3	4
Australian Yvonne Goolagong(Evonne Goolagong), born 1951	7	4	1	2	0
Belgian Justine Henin(Justine Henin), born in 1982	7	1	4	0	2
Englishwoman Dorothea Lambert(Dorothea Lambert), 1878-1960	7	–	–	7	–
American Venus Williams(Venus Williams), born in 1980	7	0	0	5	2
Australian Nancy Winn-Bolton(Nancye Wynne Bolton), 1916-2001	6	6	0	0	0
American Louise Brough-Clapp(Louise Brough Clapp), 1923-2014	6	1	0	4	1
American Margaret Osborne-Dupont(Margaret Osborne duPont), 1918-2012	6	–	2	1	3
American Doris Hart(Doris Hart), 1925-2015	6	1	2	1	2
Englishwoman Blanche Bingley-Gilliard(Blanche Bingley Hillyard), 1863-1946	6	–	–	6	–

The proposed lists give a general picture of the victories of the greatest players at majors in the entire history of tennis, however, I would like to warn that it is not correct to compare their achievements (ranking), and even more so to evaluate who is greater in the entire history of tennis based on these statistics. And that's why.

Firstly, if the modern galaxy of players regularly participate in the “Australian Open”, then at one time, due to the remoteness of the “Green Continent”, not all tennis players deprived attention of its championship, and accordingly, representatives of Australian tennis did not visit or visited Europe and North America sporadically . The winners of the first tournaments: Wimbledon and the US National Championships did not leave their countries either. This is for men: Englishman William Renshaw and American William Larned, and another American Richard Sears visited the Wimbledon tournament only once in 1884. At the same time, each of them has 7 titles. Women: Englishmen Dorothea Lambert and Blanche Bingley-Gilliard (7 and 6 titles respectively) ( Author's note – In the tables, non-participation in championships is indicated by a dash “–”).

And even during the Open Era, some tennis stars ignored the Australian Open. So the American Chris Evert, at the peak of her career, ignored him 6 times in a row, the Czech Martina Navratilova - 4 times, the Swede Bjorn Borg flew only once (1974), the American Jimmy Connors twice (1974, 1975). And the 4-time winner of this championship, American Andre Agassi, played for the first time only at the age of 24.

The non-participation of high-class tennis players in some majors, on the one hand, reduced the intensity of competition and allowed perhaps not the strongest player to win the title (for example, in 1976, when the Australian Mark Edmondson became the champion, his position in the ranking was only 212), and on the other hand – did not add to the trophy collections of picky celebrities.

Secondly, in the first decades of the 20th century, the championship title was played out by the so-called “Challenge Round” - last year’s champion defended his title, playing only one match with the player who reached the final through the entire tournament bracket. And thus, it was much more physically difficult for a tired challenger to defeat the current champion. Therefore, before the cancellation of the Challenge Round, many tennis players had an unbeaten championship streak for several years.

Thirdly, during the two World Wars, some of the majors were not held: the Australian Championship (1941-1945), the French Championship (1915-1919; 1941-1945), the Wimbledon tournament (1915-1918; 1940-1945). Because of this, tennis players of those times had a shorter playing career compared to players of the post-war periods. This means they have fewer titles.

Fourthly, since the beginning of the 30s of the last century, the transition of leading amateur tennis players to professionals has intensified. The International Tennis Federation, the governing body of amateur tennis, prohibited the participation of professionals in tournaments held under its auspices. As a result, many tennis players were deprived of the opportunity to participate in Grand Slam tournaments. True, they have alternative professional majors: “US Pro Tennis Championships” (since 1926), “French Pro Championship” (since 1930), Wembley Championships (since 1934) ( Author's note – The number of victories on them is represented through a slash "/"). And if we take into account these victories, the most famous tennis player will be Australian Ken Rosewall - 23 titles, followed by two-time Grand Slam winner Australian Rod Laver - 19 titles and only third is Swiss Roger Federer with 18 titles.

The absence of such professional tennis players from the Grand Slam tournaments as Americans Vincent Richards, Ellsworth Vines, Bill Tilden, Don Budge, Bobby Riggs, Jack Kramer, Pancho Segura, Pancho Gonzalez, Englishman Fred Perry, Australians Frank Sedgman, Ken Rosewall, Rod Laver and others certainly reduced the level of competition.

I do not undertake to say unequivocally that in those days the level of skill among professionals was higher than among amateurs, but I will give a number of arguments.

In the first years of the Open Era, it was tennis players with professional experience who became winners at Grand Slam tournaments:

• French Open (since 1968): Ken Rosewall (1968), Rod Laver (1969)
• Wimbledon (since 1968): Rod Laver (1968, 1969)
• US Open (since 1968): Rod Laver (1969), Ken Rosewall (1970)
• Australian Open (since 1969): Rod Laver (1969), Ken Rosewall (1971, 1972)

An attempt to rank players based on their merits was made in 2012 by the famous cable television channel “Tennis Channel”. Their ranking includes the 100 greatest players of all time, and it is combined for both genders (men and women). Read more about this project and the reactions of some respected tennis analysts to it

The Grand Slam is one of the highest honors in tennis. But for people far from this sport, it may not be entirely clear what it is. In our article we will tell you where the concept of the Grand Slam came from, how it is obtained, and how the career and calendar Grand Slams differ. And of course we will mention the most famous Grand Slam winners.

What are Grand Slam tournaments?

The term “Grand Slam” for tennis is not native, but borrowed. It came from cards, namely from “bridge”. In bridge, a Grand Slam is a situation when the playing partners ordered and took all 13 tricks. According to one of the official versions, this term was first used in relation to tennis in 1933.

Then the player from Australia D. Crawford won 3 of the 4 most popular competitions. He only needed to conquer the US Open and then in one season he would have collected prizes from four major tournaments in just one year. The authorship of the phrase is attributed to John Kieran, a journalist from the New York Times. In his material before the final game of the championship in the United States, he wrote that if Crawford wins, it will be like hitting a grand slam while playing bridge. And although Jack lost his final, the expression stuck.

There is another version, according to which the term came into wide fashion five years later with the light hand of the American writer Ellison Danzig. He used the term "Grand Slam" when referring to Donald Budge's victories in all 4 major tournaments of the year.

Be that as it may, it is reliably known that by the beginning of the 1940s, the title of Grand Slam winner had become the most honorable among tennis players and all high-level professional players aspired to it. Winning a Grand Slam is a great achievement. If you win all the tournaments in one year, that is, win the calendar Grand Slam, then you can confidently say: “My name is now in history.”

What are the Grand Slam tournaments?

From the very beginning, in order to become the host of the Grand Slam, you need to win 4 major tournaments held every season. Here they are in chronological order.

• Australian Open Tennis Championships.
• French Open (Roland Garros).
• Wimbledon tournament (The Championships, Wimbledon).
• US Open.

Australian Open

It is one of the oldest tennis competitions of all (although it has the shortest history of any of the Grand Slams). This championship was first held back in 1905, and the city of Melbourne became the venue. In the very first championship, only 17 athletes took part, and the number of spectators at the final was 5 thousand people. But by the end of the century, the championship was attended by hundreds of thousands of spectators.

The venue was constantly changing until 1972 - they managed to visit six different cities. In addition to Melbourne, these are Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, and twice the championship left the continent and was held in New Zealand.

But most often the home of this championship was Melbourne, so in 1972 it was decided to make it a permanent venue - for the convenience of participants and spectators. And since 1988, the championship has been held at the Melbourne Park tennis complex.

The winners of the men's singles competition receive the Norman Brookes Cup, which takes its name from Norman Brookes, the Australian tennis player who not only won the title in 1911, but also contributed greatly to the championship's global status.

For women, the Cup is intended in memory of Daphne Hearst, who became the champion 5 times at the turn of the 1920s - 1930s.

The game takes place on a hard court.

Roland Garros

Competitions that take place in Paris in late spring - early summer. A clay court is used in the Roland Garros tennis complex, from which the French championship received its second name. The tournament has been held since 1891. Initially it was held only for French tennis players and players of French tennis clubs. At the same time, the first winner was the Englishman H. Briggs, about whom nothing more than his name is known. This tournament received international status in 1925.

It was with Roland Garros that the widespread use of clay courts began; many even consider it the birthplace of this type of tennis.

Wimbledon

Since 1877, the international tournament has been held in Wimbledon, Great Britain, which almost immediately became the leading tennis competition in the world. Becoming the winner of Wimbledon is considered very honorable - this is perhaps the most important prize among all other Grand Slam competitions.

Competitions at Wimbledon take place on a grass court. Takes place at the end of June – beginning of July. At the moment, this is the only Grand Slam tournament that takes place on the most traditional of all court types - grass.

Interestingly, the Wimbledon ground was originally used by the All England Croquet Club. In 1875, this club decided to allocate part of the grounds for other popular games, including the already well-known badminton and the recently invented and growingly popular lawn tennis. The growing popularity of tennis was such that within two years the club's name was expanded to the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. And in 1888, croquet completely disappeared from the name and returned only in 1899, already taking second place after lawn tennis.

US Open

This tournament has been taking place since 1881, but initially only Americans could participate in it. It is considered a fairly difficult tournament, although perhaps the least respected of all Grand Slam tournaments. It is played on a hard court.

The championship received its current name in 1968. Held in New York, at the local National Tennis Center. It is held over two weeks, at the turn of summer and autumn.

Grand Slam winners

There are two main ways to win a Grand Slam in tennis.

The main and most honorable one is called the “calendar Grand Slam.” It can be obtained by winning all 4 major tournaments in one year. This is a difficult and serious achievement that few athletes have achieved.

The winners of the calendar Grand Slam among men are:

• D. Budge in 1938;
• R. Laver twice, in 1962 and 1969.

Among women, the calendar Grand Slam winners are:

• M. Connolly in 1963;
• M. Smith Court in 1970;
• S. Graff in 1988

Steffi Graff is also the first in history (and at the moment this achievement has not been repeated by anyone) to win the calendar Golden Slam, which means that she also won the Olympics in one season.

There is also a definition of a career Grand Slam - a title held by someone who has won all Grand Slam tournaments, but in different seasons. And if this person also won the Olympics in some year, then he can receive the title of another career Golden Helmet.

The men who have won the most different Grand Slam tournaments are Rafael Nadal with 17 victories and Margaret Court with 24 victories. Close to her is Serena Williams, who is currently continuing her career and has 23 victories in Grand Slam tournaments.

Tennis is a dynamic competition that, from the beginning of its existence to today, has taken an accelerated pace in development and popularity. In 1975, tennis tournaments attracted small crowds. This was the first tennis tournament in which a total of 22 athletes took part. But today tennis is one of the most famous sports. Every day there are more and more people wanting to take part in tennis tournaments. Today, a large number of tournament competitions are held. The biggest championship tournament is the Grand Slam.

Grand slam

The biggest event in the world of tennis is the Grand Slam. It consists of four tournaments, which are held annually in France, Australia, USA and Wimbledon. Results in the Grand Slam mean a lot to all tennis players because it is the key to the professional game. The absolute victory goes to the one who wins all four tournaments of the season.

ATP Tournament

The final ATP tournament is a conditional exam that sums up the final results for the year of professional games in the men's category. This tournament is held only for the most titled athletes who have won multiple victories at Grand Slam tournaments. It is very difficult to sleep during this tournament. You need to have multiple deserved victories in tennis.

WTA tournament

This is the most exciting tournament, which is held only between the most beautiful and famous tennis players.

Davis Cup

The Davis Cup is almost on par with the Grand Slam tournaments. This is truly one of the most popular tournaments. It has the longest preparation of any tournament for athletes and spectators. This tournament has a huge competitive history. Tennis players are attracted to participate by the main prize of the tournament.

Kremlin Cup

Immediately after the end of the Grand Slam season, the Kremlin Cup tournament starts. This is an annual Moscow tournament in which professional tennis athletes, women and men, take part.

Federation Cup

This is a similar tournament to the Davis Cup. A distinctive feature is that the most successful tennis players take part. The Fed Cup holds the final results of tennis competitions between women from around the world. The organizer of the tournament is the International Tennis Federation.

Hopman Cup

The Hopman Cup is the most unpredictable tournament. It combines many world tennis tournaments at once. And no matter how paradoxical it may be, this is still the most unusual tennis tournament.

Australian Open

This championship is also called the Australian Open. It opens the Grand Slam season. This championship has a huge number of fans.

US Open

This championship is the final end of the Grand Slam season. After the US Open there is a break for forfeits. The next competition is in four months. That is why the organizers of the championship are making it the brightest so that the games will be remembered by all fans for a long time.

Wimbledon

This is the third Grand Slam tournament. Also, this tournament is also called the English Open Tennis Championship.

Tennis is a very popular game sport that is winning more and more hearts of fans around the globe. Almost all of us have heard the phrase “grand slam”, and associations with tennis inevitably arise in our heads.

Grand Slam?

The Grand Slam is the most important tennis event in the world and consists of four competitions:

1. US Open is the open championship of the United States of America.
2. Roland Garros is a French open championship.
3. Australian Open - Australian Open Championship.
4. Wimbledon - British Open Championship.

The 2014 Grand Slam tournament, like tournaments in recent years, takes place in the following calendar order:

1. Melbourne, Australia - January, hard court.
2. Paris, France - May-June, ground cover.
3. Wimbledon (suburb of London), UK - June-July, grass.
4. New York, United States - August-September, hard court.

If an athlete manages to win all four tennis tournaments, he becomes the owner of the Grand Slam.

Features of these tournaments

It is known that the most famous tennis tournament got its name from bridge, a card game in which the term is understood as “complete success.” Its main feature is the symbolism of the prize for victory, which has no material component.

Tennis tournaments in this series in men's singles and doubles are played until victory in three sets. In the first four sets, with a score of 6:6, a tiebreaker is played, in which to win you need to win 7 goals, provided that you achieve a difference of two goals with your opponent. In the fifth set, you need a two-game advantage over your opponent. The exception is the US Open, where in the fifth set, if the scores are equal, a tiebreaker is also played.

Winning a Grand Slam is considered the most tempting goal for every professional tennis player. This can only be achieved by collecting four winning titles in one hand at the end of one season. The athlete who succeeds in this becomes the owner of this prestigious title for the corresponding year. The main difficulty in achieving this goal is that each championship uses surfaces made of different materials. This is how the true skill of a tennis player is tested.

History of origin and development

The oldest tournament in the series is Wimbledon, which was first held in men's singles in 1877. And already in 1881, the US Open Championship took place in Newport. In France, international competitions were first held in 1891, but they were given championship status already in 1925. The Australian Open is considered the youngest, dating back to 1905. All of these tournaments began as amateur tournaments, and the first Grand Slam Tournament in which professional players took part was the French Championship in 1968.

1. Australian Open

The largest Australian tennis tournament is the Australian Open, which is called the Australian Open. The calendar's first tournament of the series is held in Melbourne in a park specially designed and built for tennis competitions. Twenty hectares of Melbourne Park are home to 24 hard courts. More than 500 thousand spectators attend matches there annually.

The athlete who wins the men's singles tournament is awarded a cup named after the famous Australian tennis player of the early twentieth century, Norman Brookes (Norman Brookes Challenge Cup). In the women's tournament, the main award is the Daphne Akhurst Cup, a multiple winner of the Australian Open (Daphne Akhurst Memorial Cup).

In addition, competitions are held in men's and women's doubles, as well as youth and veterans' tournaments.

2. Rolland Garos

The tennis tournament held in France is called “Rolland Garos” (French Open). These competitions are held on clay courts that can accommodate up to 15 thousand spectators (the main courts are Philippe Chatrier and Suzanne Lenglen). The total number of courts involved in the tournament is eighteen, but the main matches are played on three.

At the French Championships among professional tennis players, awards are awarded in men's and women's singles and doubles, as well as among juniors and veterans.

3. Wimbledon Championships

The most famous and also rich in traditions is the British tennis tournament Wimbledon Championships, which got its name from the London suburbs.

A special feature of this tournament is the grass surface of the courts, which is a serious indicator of the professionalism of the players, and also requires painstaking care, cutting and watering. The total number of courts is nineteen, the main matches are played on three courts - central, first and second.

The Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament is characterized by conservatism, which is expressed in respect for traditions and special competitive etiquette, which have remained virtually unchanged since the first British championships. Women here are addressed as "Mrs" and "Miss" and the winner is given a silver tray. Men are addressed strictly by their last names, and the winner is awarded a cup from the same name. Participants in the competition are also treated to locally harvested strawberries and cream.

The tournament regulations provide for women's and men's singles, women's doubles, men's and mixed competitions, as well as competitions for youths and veterans.

4. US Open

The final Grand Slam tennis tournament is held in New York at the USTA National Tennis Center. The number of courts serving the competition is eighteen. All of them are Hard coated. The grandstands of the main court, named after US Open winner Arthur Ashe Stadium, can accommodate more than 22 thousand spectators.

According to the rules of the tournament, as in the British Championship, there are women's and men's singles, women's doubles, men's and mixed competitions, as well as competitions for youths and veterans.

Who won the Grand Slam?

In the entire history of the Grand Slam Tournament, not many athletes have managed to conquer it. Their bitwise list is as follows:

There is also the concept of a career Grand Slam, which means winning all four tournaments, but in different years.

Golden Grand Slam - career pinnacle

An even more significant achievement is the Golden Grand Slam, which is an intangible prize for the athlete who has won all the Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games. To date, the list of Golden Grand Slam winners is as follows:

Tournament records

The Swiss has the most victories in Grand Slam competitions. The total number of tournaments won is seventeen, including seven victories at the Wimbledon Championships, five victories at the US Open, four at the Australian Open and one at the Rolland Garos.

Also, the following tennis players have more than ten victories:

1. Pete Sampras - 14 triumphs.
2. Rafael Nadal - 12 wins.
3. Roy Emerson - 12 wins.
4. Bjorn Borg - 11 wins.
5. Rodney Laver - 11 wins.

The main record holder among women is Margaret Smith Court. She won the Grand Slam tournaments 24 times (11 times in Australia, 5 times each in France and the USA, 3 times in the UK). Not far behind her is Steffi Graf, who has 22 victories, of which: 4 in Australia, 6 in France, 7 on the courts of Great Britain and 5 in the USA.

The Grand Slam tournament is one of the most popular competitions of our time, the contemplation of which brings indescribable pleasure.

The Rtalling Eagle"
dated July 18, 1933about the Grand Slam

Edmonton Journal"
dated June 4, 1928about the Grand Slam

"Canadian lawn tennis and badminton"
about Don Budge's Grand Slam

Don Budge on the cover of the weekly magazine
"Time Magazine" dated September 2, 1938

There is hardly a tennis fan who has not heard the term “ Grand slam”, but not everyone knows what it means and only a few have heard about its history of origin (in relation to tennis).

The winner of the Grand Slam is the one who, over the course of a calendar year, has won the championships of Australia, England (Wimbledon), France (Roland-Garros) and the USA. Victories in these tournaments ( Author's note: In foreign media, the phrase “Grand Slam tournament” is often replaced by one word “major”) give maximum rating points and prize fees, the greatest public and media attention.

The term "Small Slam" is sometimes used to refer to those players who have won three of the four major tournaments (128 entries).

But the point is that the Grand Slam itself is a symbolic prize. There is no cup, no vase, no figurine, or other sports award paraphernalia under this name.

Almost all sources associate this tennis term with the American sports commentator John Kieran(John Kieran), who wrote in the New York Times of September 2, 1933: “ Crawford has his most impressive record this year. He defeated Cochet in France. He won Wimbledon. He holds an Australian title. And if he wins at Forest Hills, he will own all the championship titles within a year. This will be tantamount to winning a Grand Slam, but on the court" This comparison with the card term (which will be discussed below) arose due to the fact that Australian Jack Crawford already had three champion titles that year: Australia, France and England ( Author's note: Crawford successfully competed at the Australian Championships in mixed doubles with his wife Marjorie).

At the same time, Russian tennis historian Boris Fomenko believes that the term “Grand Slam” was first used in tennis by the famous American publicist Allison Danzig.

And he is not far from the truth. In fact, after the final, in which Crawford was one step away from winning the US National Championship, leading 2:1 in sets against Englishman Fred Perry, he ultimately lost (3:6; 13:11; 6:4; 0:6; 1:6) ( Author's note: Due to an asthma attack), an article appeared in the New York Times on September 11, 1933, signed by Ellison Dantzig. An excerpt from it sounds something like this: “ This tennis season, many hopes and forecasts did not come true, but the most bitter disappointment, perhaps, was the defeat of Crawford. The dream of the champion of England, France and his country to win the Grand Slam did not come true”.

However, the original author of this term in tennis terminology belongs to another American journalist. Almost two months before the above publication by John Kieran, in the newspaper “The Rtaling Eagle” ( Pennsylvania State Edition) On July 18, 1933, a note was published Alan Gould(Alan Gould) entitled "Tennis Grand Slam", which drew attention to the fact that if Crawford, the holder of the Australian, French and British champion titles, won the US Championship at Forest Hill, he would achieve the Grand Slam.

When commenting on the origin of this term, the authors of various publications indicate that it was borrowed from the card game bridge. And in fact in bridge ( Author's note: The only card game with Olympic status), as in both Vista and Vint there is the term “grand slam”. In a figurative sense, it is interpreted as “complete success” and is used when ordering the maximum possible number of bribes - 13 (“small helmet” - 12 bribes). For winning a “grand slam”, which is extremely rare, a very substantial bonus is awarded. Ian Fleming's detective novel Moonraker describes in detail how James Bond wins a grand slam while playing bridge. It is worth noting that in bridge terminology there are such concepts as “match” and “game”.

Personally, I’m not sure that the above journalists were familiar with the features of card games, but they probably heard the phrase “grand slam” either after the American golfer Bobby Jones won four major competitions in 1930: the US National Amateur Championship, the Open The US National Championships, the British Amateur Championships and the British Open were called the "Grand Slam" victory, or even earlier in 1928, when it was used in relation to tennis, but in a slightly different sense. Thus, the Edmonton Journal newspaper on June 4 reported that the victory of the US team with captain Bill Tilden in the American zone of the Davis Cup over the Japanese team with a score of 5:0, after similar victories over the teams of Mexico and China, was noted third Grand Slam.

I would like to note that on the Internet there is often a statement that after 1933 and before 1938 this term was half forgotten. But that's not true.

On July 26, 1934, in the Florida newspaper St. Petersburg Times" appeared a note with the following title: "Helen Jacobs intends to win the Grand Slam, winning Wimbledon, French, American and Italian titles. Mrs. Moody is beyond competition" (p roman.aut.‒ Why “Italian”? The fact is that the American Jacobs did not go to the Australian championships, and her more titled compatriot Helen Moody was her main competitor).

The next publication that mentioned the Grand Slam was in the Spokane Daily Chronicle on August 3, 1934. In it, Fred Perry's victories in the US and Australian championships, Wimbledon and the British championship on hard surfaces were equated to a “Grand Slam”.

At the same time, a number of other public publications used this term in 1935 after Perry’s victory at Roland Garros. Before this, the Englishman had prevailed over his main rivals at the championships of Australia (1935), USA (1934) and England (1934).

On July 4, 1937, the newspaper “St. Petersburg Times published material on how Californian Don Budge won the Grand Slam at Wimbledon, winning singles, doubles and mixed doubles ( those. the title of absolute champion was interpreted as a “Grand Slam”). .

That same year, on the cover of the September issue of the Canadian magazine Canadian Lawn Tennis and Badminton, next to a photo of Don Budge, there is a comment using the term "Grand Slam", regarding Budge winning three titles at Wimbledon and two at the US National Championships ( doubles finalist), as well as the Davis Cup as part of the national team.

As we can see, the concept of “Grand Slam” was still used in the 30s, but for different reasons. It was only in 1938, when Don Budge conquered the top of all four of the most prestigious tournaments, that this term received official and unambiguous use. After the titular American's victory at the US National Championships, which became his final triumph of the year's performances, the weekly Time Magazine of September 2, 1935 placed Budge's photo on the cover as the most outstanding personality of the week.

Regarding the success of the famous tennis player mentioned above, Allison Danzig wrote: “ ...as a successful bridge player, Budge compiled a Grand Slam of victories in the four major tennis tournaments within a calendar year" Many historians are inclined to believe that, based on this phrase, Ellison Danzig should be considered the founder of the “Grand Slam” concept.

Got its name and set of championship titles at one of the championships in all categories (singles, doubles and mixed) ‒ “ Full set of Grand Slam” (Boxed Set of Grand Slam), and in the case of winning all four tournaments consecutively, but not in the same calendar year ‒ “ Grand Slam of a non-calendar year” (Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam) or “Non-Calendar Grand Slam”.

Victories in all Grand Slam tournaments for the entire period of a player’s performance are referred to as “ Career Grand Slam” (Career Grand Slam). Anyone who wins Roland Garros and Wimbledon in one season is unofficially called the winner of the Euroslam.

As for Budge, there is an interview with him in the archives newspaper "The Day" which was published on 13 May 1938 under the title Budge's Goal - Grand Slam of Tennis. R red-haired Californian before Roland Garros, already in the rank of Australian champion, he told newspaper readers: “ I looked at the history books and saw that no one had won four majors in one year, not Tilden, not Borotka, not Cochet and not Perry. I started the year with that in mind and that's why I didn't lose a single set in Australia.”.

In addition to Don Budge, the men are the owner of “ Grand Slam” in singles Australian Rod Laver was twice (1962, 1969)

However, delving into history, it should be noted that until 1925, the main tournaments of the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ITLF) were: Wimbledon (London), the World Hard Court Championship (Paris) and the World Indoor Court Championship (indoors on a wooden floor). ), which was held in Stockholm (1913), Paris (1919), London (1920), Copenhagen (1921), St. Moritz (1922), Barcelona (1923). That is, all the main tennis events took place in Europe. And only starting in 1925, after the admission of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) to the ITLF in 1924 and the granting of official status to the Australian Championship in the same year, the main tennis events began to be held on 4 continents within the framework of the championships of Australia, France, Great Britain and the USA. Two World Championships ceased to exist.
So, in 1913, New Zealander Tony Wilding won all three major ITLF tournaments, which, I believe, can be equated to the title of “Grand Slam” winner.

For women, this title was held by an American Maureen Connolly(Maureen Connolly) (1953), Australian Margaret Smith Court(Margaret Smith-Court) (1970) and German Steffi Graf(Steffi Graf) (1988).

With victory Graph At the 1988 Olympics the name “ Golden helmet" (Golden Slam) ( sometimes called “Super helmet”), which assumed all victories in the Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic Games in one tennis season ( author’s note – I couldn’t find out who first used this term).

The only one " Grand slam" in junior competitions won by a 17-year-old Swede Stefan Edberg(Stefan Edberg) in 1983.

It should be noted that the absence of the names of many outstanding players, both past and present, in the list of Grand Slam winners indicates how difficult it is to win this tennis “Holy Grail”. "The Grand Slam in tennis is a big event!

“Grand slam”in men's doubles awarded to an Australian duo consisting of an Australian Frank Sedgman(Frank Sedgman) and Ken McGregor(Ken McGregor), won in 1951.

Women's doubles- American women Martina Navratilova(Martina Navratilova) and Pam Shriver(Pam Shriver) in 1984. Two more tennis players won four Grand Slam tournaments, playing with different partners. This:

• Brazilian Maria Bueno, who won the Australian Championships in 1960 with the British Christine Truman Janes and at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Championships with the American Darlene Hard;
• Martina Hingis in 1998, she won the Australian Open with Croatian Mirjana Lucic and Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open with Czech Jana Novotna.

Mixed doubles in 1963 the Australians achieved this success Margaret Smith Court(Margaret Smith Court) and Ken Fletcher(Ken Fletcher) ( Author's note: K. Fletcher was not an ATP player, but played as an amateur).

Margaretha Smith Court can be noted once again in connection with her victories in 1965 with three of her fellow countrymen: at the Australian Championships with John Newcombe ( Author's note: The final was not played and the victory was shared with the Australians Robin Ebbern and Owen Davidson), at Roland Rarros and Wimbledon with Kenneth Fletcher, at the US Championships with Fred Stolle.

In 1967, another representative of the “Green Continent” achieved the same success. Owen Davidson(Owen Davidson) He won the Australian Championship paired with compatriot Lesley Turner Bowrey, and at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Championship with American Billie Jean King.

Based on this list, it is easy to see that in Australia, in addition to the fact that tennis is the national sport #1 , it is also very popular among those who like to play in pairs.

Gatherers Career Grand Slam" become:

In men's singles:

• Englishman Fred Perry(Fred Perry) (in 1935 he won, missing for a full set, “Roland Garros”);
• Australian amateur tennis player Roy Emerson(Roy Emerson) (last tournament in 1964 “Wimbledon”),
• American Andre Agassi (last tournament in 1999 at Roland Garros) (beating Ukrainian Andrei Medvedev in the final);
• Swiss Roger Federer(Roger Federer) (last tournament in 2009, Roland Garros) (since 2009, holds the record for the number of Grand Slam singles titles won - 17);
• Hispanic Rafael Nadal(2010 US Open);
• Serb Novak Djokovic(in 2016 “Roland Garros”)

In women's singles:

• Australian Margaret Smith Court(Margaret Smith Court) (in 1963 she won, missing for a complete set, “Wimbledon”);
• American Chris Evert(1982 Australian Open);
• naturalized American Martina Navratilova(1983 US Open);
• American Serena Williams(2003 Australian Open);
• Russian woman Maria Sharapova(in 2012 “Roland Garros”).

In men's doubles:

• Australian Roy Emerson(Roy Emerson) (in 1962 he won the Australian Open, which was missing for a full set);
• Dutchman Paul Haarhuis(Paul Haarhuis) (in 1998 “Wimbledon”);
• Swede Jonas Bjorkman(Jonas Bjorkman) (in 2005 “Roland Garros”);
• American twin brothers Mike Bryan And Bob Bryan(Mike and Bob Bryan) (in 2006 “Wimbledon”);
• naturalized Canadian Daniel Nestor(Daniel Nestor) (in 2008 “Wimbledon”);
• Hindu Leander Paes(Leander Paes) (2012 Australian Open).

In women's doubles:

• Belarusian Natalia Zvereva(1993 Australian Open);
• American Serena Williams(2001 Australian Open).

In mixed doubles:

• Slovak Daniela Hantuchova(Daniela Hantuchova) (2005 US Open);
• Hindu Mahesh Bhupathi(Mahesh Bhupathi) (2006 Australian Open).

Holders of “ Career Golden Slam”(victories in all Grand Slam tournaments plus at the Olympic Games for the entire period of participation):

• American Andre Agassi(he added gold at the XXVI Olympics in Atlanta to his “Career Grand Slam” in 1996);
• naturalized Canadian Daniel Nestor(Daniel Nestor) (2000 XXV Olympic Games in Sydney);
• Hispanic Rafael Nadal in doubles (2008 XXIX Olympic Games in Beijing);
• American Serena Williams(in 2012, the XXX Olympics in London) and the same in doubles (in 2008, the XXIX Olympics in Beijing);
• Americans Mike and Bob Bryan in doubles (2012 XXX Olympics in London).

Holders of “ Professional Grand Slam” (introduced in 1934 and implies victories in the “US Professional Championship”, “French Professional Championship” and “Wembley Championship” within one calendar year):

• Australian Ken Rosewall(Ken Rosewall) in 1963;
• Australian Rod Laver(Rod Laver) in 1967

In addition to the 4 Grand Slam tournaments, the International Tennis Federation from 1990 to 1999 held a final tournament called " Grand Slam Cup"(Grand Slam Cup) with the participation of 16 tennis players who have the best results in performances in the Grand Slam tournaments of the season. Held in Munich (Germany) at the multi-purpose arena "Olympiahalle" (capacity 15.5 thousand) with a carpeted Olympic style system... In the first two rounds, matches were played to two victories in sets, and in the semifinals and finals - to three, without a tiebreaker in the deciding set.

The prize fund of the tournament at that time was the largest ($6 million) of all tournaments held by the ITF and ATP. The winner received from 1.3 to 2.0 million dollars (depending on the year of the event), but in 1998, when the first prize was minimal (1.3 million), then if the winner won at least one major in this the same season, the amount increased to 2.6 million - three times more than the winner of any major received. This year the tournament was won by the Chilean Marcelo Ríos, but neither this year nor in his entire career did he become a Grand Slam winner.

The tournament was not recognized by the ATP and, accordingly, participation in it did not bring points to the ATP ranking. The first winner was an American Pete Sampras(Pete Sampras), he is the only tennis player who won it twice (1990, 1997) while participating in 3 finals. For women, the Grand Slam Cup was held in 1998-1999 and the winners were the Williams sisters (Venus, 1998 and Serena, 1999) and received $800 thousand each.

Other materials on this topic:

Grand Slam tournament records statistics

Features of the Regulations and rules of conduct Grand Slam tournaments