Tennis

The Open Era of tennis began in 1968 when the major tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete. The four Major tournaments, also called the Slams are the most important events of the years in terms of world tour ranking points, prize money awarded, strength and size of player field and public attention.

Tennis is the fourth most popular sport in the world, but is the most popular individual sport. It is a sport which is equally popular among in men and women. Tennis can be played between two single players or two team of a pair of players each double variant. Lawn tennis is a very high paying individual sport, individual players have made more then $40 million in a year alone.

There are four grand slams in tennis in a calendar year. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Wimbledon is the oldest one of the grand slams, was founded in 1877, followed by the US Open in 191881, the French Open in 1891 and the Australian Open in 1905. Currently both the US Open and Australian open are played on hard courts, while the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon is played on grass.

A player who wins all four Major tournaments as a single or as a part of a doubles team in the same calendar year is said to have achieved the “Grand Slam”. If player wins all four consecutively, but not in the calendar year, it is called a “Non calendar Year Grand Slam”. Winning all four at same point in a career even if not consecutively, is referred to as a “Career Grand Slam”.