The four Grand Slam tournaments, also called Majors, are the most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points and prize money, the greatest strength and size of field, greater amount of “best of” sets (men’s tennis only) and attract the most public and media attention.

   The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in mid January, the French Open in May/June, Wimbledon in June/July, and the US Open in August/September. Each tournament is played over a period of two weeks. The Australian and US tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, and the Australian in 1905. However, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major event before 1924/25, the time when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments.

   The term Grand Slam also, and originally,....