Grand Slam

The Grand Slam of tennis is made up of the four major tennis tournaments:

The term 'Grand Slam' dates back to 1933 when Australia's Jack Crawford won the Australian, French and Wimbledon Championships and reached the final of the US Championships against the British player Fred Perry. On the eve of the final, John Kieran, a keen bridge player, wrote in the New York Times that "If Crawford beats Perry today, it would be something like scoring a Grand Slam on the courts, doubled and vulnerable." Crawford led two sets to love, but tired and lost in five sets. Perry became the first player to win the four titles, but not in the same calendar year.

In 1938 Don Budge set out deliberately to achieve the Grand Slam before he turned professional, which he did. Alison Danzig of the New York Times then wrote that "Budge had achieved "a grand slam that invites comparison with the accomplishment of Bobby Jones in golf."

Since Budge, four other singles players have accomplished the Grand Slam. Maureen Connolly became the second-ever-and first woman in 1953, and Australian Rod Laver followed in 1962 as an amateur and again in 1969 when the Slams first became open to all competitors. In 1970, Margaret Smith Court made the second female Slam, and Steffi Graf became the fifth player to claim a Grand Slam in 1988.