Tennis culture: Grand Slam tournaments

In sports culture, "Grand Slam" refers to victories in a number of major competitions over a given period. While the term is often credited to journalist Allison Danzing for tennis tournaments as early as 1938, it seems to have more prosaic origins, and is used phonetically to refer to a blow in the game of bridge. Here's a look at the origins of the Grand Slam in tennis and the main affiliated tournaments...

What is the Grand Slam of tennis?

In concrete terms, the Grand Slam in tennis refers to winning all four major tournaments on the international circuit in the same year. The competition is organized by the International Tennis Federation. Some top sports personalities have managed to win these tournaments, sometimes over several seasons. Examples include Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the men's category. Maria Sharapova also stands out in the ladies' category.

The four major Grand Slam tournaments are :

The Australian Open in Melbourne: this competition usually takes place in the third week of January, on hard Plexicushion surfaces.
Les internationaux de France de tennis - also known as " Roland Garros ": this competition takes place in the last week of May on a clay-type surface.
The Wimbledon Games in London, usually held towards the end of June, on a grass surface.
The US Open games, usually held at the end of August, are played on a hard surface.

The Australian Open

The Australian Open has been held since 1905 and takes place every January in the city of Melbourne. Originally, the competition was held on grass courts, before synthetic surfaces took over in 1988. The first singles and doubles tournament was then exclusively for men, before the first women's draw was added in 1922. For a long time, therefore, Australia's extreme remoteness meant that only Australian champions competed. However, thanks to a series of changes from the 1980s onwards, the Australian Open began to establish its reputation.

Roland Garros

The French Open or "Roland Garros" (named after the stadium of the same name) has been held in Paris since 1928. The second tournament in the calendar after the Australian Open, it is scheduled to take place between the last of May and the first week of June. The competition is organized by the French Tennis Federation - or FFT. Many observers and enthusiasts consider this to be the focal point of the competition, so much so that the French tennis internationals are the object of sustained media attention. In fact, this particular tournament is arguably the most prestigious after Wimbledon. As far as qualifying is concerned, matches are played over two winning sets. To qualify for the final draw, you need to win three matches.

The Wimbledon tournament

The Wimbledon tennis tournament is held annually in the London borough of the same name. This particular competition has strong historical links with individual sports, the origins of "Wimbledon" being strongly correlated with the history of the game of tennis. The Wimbledon tournament is traditionally the third Grand Slam to be played in the year, after the Australian Open and Roland Garros. Unlike these two other tournaments, which are supported by a national federation, Wimbledon here is organized through a private structure, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Novak Djokovic is certainly one of the most important sporting figures at the London tournament, winning three titles in the same city in 2011, 2014 and 2015. In 2018, he returned to winning ways after beating South Africa's Kevin Anderson in the final.

The US Open in New York

The US Open tennis tournament is usually held every year in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The competition's historical origins lie in the growing popularity of the British sport of jeu de paume, which was later exported to North America. The US Open is the culmination of the Grand Slam tour, as it is the fourth and final event of the tournament. In the 2018 men's singles final, Novak Djokovic defeated Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro to win the 71st title of his career. In women's singles, Japan's Naomi Osaka pulled off the upset, defeating American Serena Williams. Osaka won her first Grand Slam title, the second of her career. The victory takes her into the top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time.