Grand Slam tennis is considered to be the most prestigious tournaments. There are four tournaments included in the category of Grand Slams . The Australian Open , French Open , Wimbledon and US Open are the four Grand Slam tournaments . These are held annually at four different venues in Australia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.
Wimbledon was played for the first time in 1877. This tournament is considered to be the oldest tennis tournament.
US Open is the second tournament in the schedule of
Grand Slam , which started in 1881. The year 1891 saw the emergence of the
French Open ( then known as
Roland Garros ) and the
Australian Open made its appearance in the international domain of tennis in 1905. All the four tournaments are held every year at present. The
Grand Slam Tennis tournaments have become mandatory for all the top tennis players of the world. The winner of all four
Grand Slams in a single year is regarded as Grand Slam winner. With the beginning of the Open era in 1968, all the
Grand Slam tournaments also became Open tournaments, where both professional and amateur players can participate.
Grand Slam tennis tournaments are important to the tennis players in every aspect. The winners of the tournaments receive maximum world ranking points apart from the monetary award and the worldwide popularity. They instantly become world famous tennis personalities after their achievement of the Grand Slam titles. In the Grand Slam tournaments men's and women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles competitions are included. There are also events for junior tennis players held during the Grand Slam tournaments . Some of the tennis players, who have created history in the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, are Don Budge, Rod Laver , Maureen Connolly, Margaret Smith Court, Steffi Graf , Frank Sedgman, Serena Williams , Roger Federer , Jack Crawford, Guillermo Vilas, Ivan Lendl, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi , Ken McGregor, Maria Bueno, Christine Truman Janes, Martina Navratilova , Pam Shriver, Martina Hingis, Mirjana Lucic and Jana Novotna.
