Tennis Grand Slam
The four Slam championships, or Majors (Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon), are without doubt the most important tennis events of the year. Grand Slam is a victory in all four tournaments gained by a player or a doubles team in the same year. A Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam is four consecutive wins, but not in the same year; and a Career Grand Slam is winning all four at some point of a tennis career.
The Wimbledon is the oldest and the most prestigious Grand Slam tournament according to the participants, public attention and prize-money awarded. In 1875, the first tennis court was built in Wimbledon, and two years later the first championship was held in order to raise money to maintain the All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club (previously All England Croquet Club). The Wimbledon tournament had such a success, that it was immediately accepted as Britain’s national championship and a tennis grand slam. The men's doubles event was added in 1879, ladies' singles in 1884, and ladies' doubles and mixed doubles in 1913.
The US Open, initially known as the US National Singles Championship, was first held in 1881 at the Newport Casino. The competitors were all male, competing in both singles and doubles. Richard Sears was the first men’s singles champion who also won the next six consecutive championships. In 1887, the first US Women's National Singles was held at the Philadelphia Cricket Club, and was won by Ellen Hansell. Two years later a women's doubles championship was established, and in 1892, the first mixed doubles championship was held. Nowadays US Open is a hugely popular event with millions of fans worldwide and thousands of tickets for tennis sold each year.
The French Open, officially known as Roland Garros (after the name of the venue), is a tennis tournament held over two weeks between mid-May and early June in Paris, France. It is the second of the Grand Slam tournaments on the annual tennis calendar and is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. The very first French Championship was held way back in 1891; however, it took 34 years before it became fully international and an accepted tennis grand slam event. The first competition was a one-day national championship, poorly attended by world class players. In 1928, the tournament was moved to its current home, Roland Garros.
The first tennis tournament ever played in Australia (called the Championship of the Colony of Victoria) was held in January 1880, on the courts of the Melbourne Cricket Club. In 1905, the Australian Open was established as the Australasian Tennis Championship and was played at the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne. It became the Australian Championship in 1927 and the Australian Open in 1969. Women's events were added in 1922. The Australian Open is a tennis grand slam tournament, the first one to be conducted every year, and is rapidly gaining in stature.
The very first Premiere tennis grand slam was won only in 1938 by Donald Budge. The first Wimbledon final was attended by two hundred spectators who paid a shilling apiece to watch the game; to compare, nowadays tickets for tenniscan cost as much as $5000. And the popularity of this sport keeps growing.
