The four grand slams!

In tennis there are four so called grand slams, these are the four biggest tournemants in the tennis calender, effectively and so everyone wants to win one!

Australian Open-
Facts-
location= Melbourne, Australia
Venue=   Melbourne park
Surface= Hard court

The Australian open, is the first grand slam on the calender year, it happens during the late Australian Summer (January.) The tournemant is known for it's soaring temperatures, which has in the past left players having to forfeit the match due to the extreme heat.

centre court in Melbourne

French Open-

Facts-

Location = Paris, France

Venue    = Roland Garos stadium

Surface  = Clay court

The French Open is the second grand-slam on the calender year and is the only grand slam to be played on clay. Played in late May early June, due to the slow courts is known as the most physically demanding tennis tournemant.    

Wimbledon-

Facts-

Location = Wimbledon, England

Venue    = The all England lawn and croquet club

Surface  =  Grass court

Wimbledon is the third grand-slam on the calender year and is the only grand-slam to be played on grass surface. It is played in late June and early July. It is known for the strict dress code, meaning the players have to wear all white and also for it's strawberries and cream. I personally have been to Wimbledon and must say that it is an incredible place to go, like a paradise!

U.S Open -

Facts-

Location = New York City, U.S.A

Venue    = Billie Jean King National tennis center

Surface  = Hard court

The U.S Open is the last grand-slam on the calender year, played in early September, is probably the most well known tennis tournemant. The center is more known as "flushing meadows" and is the biggest tennis center of the four grand slams. The tournemant is unique in that in the 5th set of the matches there are tie-breaks whereas in the other 3 there aren't.

Fascinating tennis facts

 Fun facts-

• - Yellow tennis balls were used at Wimbledon for the first time in 1986.
• -Billie Jean King was the first player in the Open era to win back-to-back US Opens (1971-1972).
• - The first US National Championships for women were held in 1887 at the Philadelphia (PA) Cricket Club.
•  The first man to win the US Open was Arthur Ashe.  He defeated Tom Okker 14-12, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, in 1968.
• During the late 1800's men wore long trousers and long sleeved shirts
• The game tennis was first played in 1873
• The longest match in tennis history was last year at Wimbledon, the game lasted over 3 days and the final score was 6–4, 3–6, 6–7(7), 7–6(3), 70–68!
• The fastest ever serve, was done by Andy Roddick in 2004 with a serve of 155 mph!

 

 

Famous players over the years

Fred Perry-

probably the Britain's best ever tennis player, an 8 time grand slam winner born in 1909. Though sadly he is still the last Brit to win a grand slam, and 70 years later, Britain is getting tired waiting. Perry was also a 3 time Wimbledon champion and stayed at world number 1 for 5 years, he is truly the greatest Brit to ever grace the court.

John McEnroe- 
One of the greatest American tennis stars, was world number 1 and 7 time grand slam winner. Born in 1959 he also impressively won nine grand slam doubles titles! A fiery character who was well know for saying his trademark catchphrase "you can not be serious." A real all rounded tennis player who will go down in tennis history.

Lleyton Hewitt-

A more modern tennis star, Aussie who won 2 singles grand slam titles and a doubles grand slam winner. Also a former world number born in 1981, didn't win as many grand slams as other legends but has been around a long time, and was for a long time world number 1. Definitely one of the most inspirational tennis players, who had a never give up attitude, putting him down in tennis history

Roger Federer-

Current world number one and before last year Rafael Nadal took over for a few months before Federer regained the title, he had been world number one for an outstanding 4 and a half years! Definitely the greatest tennis player of the modern era, he has won a magnificent 16 grand slams and has been called many times the greatest ever tennis player. The swiss star, born in 1981 not even through his career has already gone down in tennis history and at 29 years old still has a good few years left in him.

About me & tennis

Hi everyone i'm Rory Ward, 13 years old and a keen tennis fan and this page will tell you everything you need to know about tennis.

Lets start with the rules and below is effectively how tennis is played
Rule 1. Opponents stand on opposite sides of the court. The player who delivers the ball to start the point is called the server. The player who stands opposite and cross-court from the server is the receiver.