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grand slam

The term grand slam , as applied to tennis, was first used by New York Times columnist John Kieran according to Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia by Bud Collins. In the chapter about 1933, Collins writes that after the Australian player Jack Crawford had won the Australian, French, and Wimbledon Championships, speculation arose about his chances in the U.S. Championships. Kieran, who was a bridge player, wrote: "If Crawford wins, it would be something like scoring a grand slam on the courts, doubled and vulnerable." Crawford, an asthmatic, won two of the first three sets of his finals match against Fred Perry, then tired in the heat and lost the last two sets and the match.

In tennis, a singles player or doubles team that wins all four grand slam titles in the same year is said to have achieved the grand slam or a Calendar Year Grand Slam. If the player or team wins all four consecutively grand slam , but not in the same calendar year, it is called a Non-Calendar Year grand slam . If a player wins all four at some point in his or her career, even if not consecutively, it is called a Career grand slam .

The four grand slam tournaments are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are:

* Australian Open
* French Open
* Wimbledon
* U.S. Open

grand slam ticket information for 2009.:A limited number of tickets are retained for sale on the day of play to people queueing at the Ground.

Though the term was originally defined as winning all four tournaments in the same calendar year, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) declared the official term as a player holding all four titles simultaneously, regardless of the calendar year. After Martina Navrátilová won four consecutive major championships, holding all four at once, the ITF awarded her the grand slam US$1 million bonus, as she held all four titles at once. Bud Collins sarcastically called her accomplishment the "Grand Snap" because Playtex was the sponsor of the bonus.

# Martina Navrátilová (1983-84)

* Won six consecutive grand slam titles. Her streak was Wimbledon, U.S. Open, and Australian Open in 1983, followed by French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open in 1984. The Australian Open was held in December from 1977 through 1985, returning to its original January date in 1987.

Helen Wills Moody won all 16 of the Grand Slam singles tournaments she played beginning with the 1924 U.S. Championships and extending through the 1933 Wimbledon Championships (not counting her defaults in the 1926 French and Wimbledon Championships). The first 15 of those were won without losing a set. During this period, she won 6 Wimbledons, 4 French Championships, and 6 U.S. Championships. She also won the 1924 Summer Olympics during this period. Moody never entered the Australian Championships.

The "Golden grand slam" is a term created in 1988 when Steffi Graf won all four grand slam singles tournaments and the singles gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics in the same calendar year.

TICKET INFORMATION

grand slam tennis Ticket information for the 2008 Championships is available exactly here: www.sony-ericssontickets.com.

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