Tennis Awards, Trophies & Tournaments

Tennis Awards

Professional Tennis

In professional men's tennis, operated under the auspices of the ATP, the major awards and tournaments are capped by four prestige events known as 'the Grand Slam'. The four Grand Slam championships are: Australian Open; French Open (Roland Garros); Wimbledon; and the U.S. Open. The term Grand Slam was first coined by an American journalist in 1933 when covering the attempt by Jack Crawford to win all four titles. In the end, he failed to win the U.S. Open and the first Grand Slam winner came five years later when Donald Budge claimed all four tournaments. Since then only Rod Laver has achieved the Grand Slam in men's tennis; in fact Laver has won the honour twice, in 1962 and 1969. While this 'true' Grand Slam has proved particularly hard to achieve, a similar honour of the 'career Grand Slam' has also marked the very pinnacle of tennis achievement. This title refers to players who have won all four Grand Slam championships, but not in the same year. Only three men - Fred Perry, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi - have won the career Grand Slam, with Agassi the only one to win each title on a different surface (carpet, clay, grass, hardcourt). Agassi is also the only male player to have won all four Grand Slam titles and the Olypmic Gold Medal for tennis singles.

International Tennis

International tennis is dominated by the prestigious Davis Cup tournament. Follow the link below for detailed information on the Davis Cup:

Davis Cup Tennis