There are four Major tennis championships, also referred to as Slam championships: the Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon. Grand Slam is victory in all four tournaments gained by a player or a doubles team in the same year. A Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam is four consecutive wins, but not in the same year; a Career Grand Slam is winning all four at some point of a players career.
Wimbledon is the oldest of tennis competitions and, without doubt, the most prestigious one. It first took place in 1877 with only twenty-two players; it was won by Spencer Gore in straight sets over W. C. Marshall. Held every June and July at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, Wimbledon competition is often attended by royalty and celebrities who got official invitation from the Chairman of the Club.
The first American tennis tournament, known as U.S. National Championship, was held at the Newport Casino, Rhode Island, in 1881. And in 1887 the first official U.S. Women’s National Singles Championship took place at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. But the Open Era started in 1968 when five different competitions were consolidated into one US Open Championships, held at the West Side Tennis Club in Queens. The prize money equaled $100,000 and was shared appropriately between the 96 men and 63 women who entered. This is the fourth and final event of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, held annually in August and September over a two week period.
The first French tennis tournament was held in Paris in 1891 as a one-day national championship with very poor attendance. Only French players and players from French clubs were allowed to take part in the tournament. In 1968, the Open era started when professionals from all over the world were allowed to participate. In 1925 French Tennis Federation opened the championship for international players. In 1927 the area of three hectares near Porte d’Auteuil was allocated for a new stadium named Roland Garros, where French Open takes place nowadays. The French Open men’s trophy is the Musketeers Cup, and women compete for the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.
Australian Open is the youngest of the four. Its history starts in 1905 on the lawns of the Warehousemans Cricket Club. In 1927 tennis tournament became known as Australian Championships and only in 1969 it got its official title – Australian Open. In 1988 Australian Open established a new home at Flinders Park (currently Melbourne Park) and the attendance has increased almost twice. Center Court at Melbourne Park is the only one among the tennis Grand Slam tournaments that has a retractable roof, therefore weather conditions never get on the way of the match.
The first Wimbledon final in history had an audience of two hundred people who paid a shilling apiece to watch the game; to compare, the price of open 2010 tickets goes as high as $5500. And the popularity of this sport keeps growing.