The Grand Slam tournaments, also called Majors, are the four most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, and public and media attention; the greatest strength and size of field; and greater number of "best of" sets for men. The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in mid January, the French Open in May/June, Wimbledon in June/July, and the US Open in August/September. Each tournament is played over a period of two weeks. The Australian and US tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, and the Australian in 1905. However, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major before 1924/25, the time when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments.
The term Grand Slam also, and originally, refers to the achievement of winning all four major championships in a single calendar year within one of the five disciplines: men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles. In doubles, one team may accomplish a Grand Slam playing together or one player may achieve it with different partners. The term "Grand Slam" without qualification refers to winning the four majors in a single calendar year.
Winning the four majors in consecutive tournaments but not in the same year is known as a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, while winning all four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a Career Grand Slam. Winning the Olympic gold medal in addition to the four majors in a one calendar year is known as a "Golden Grand Slam" or more commonly the "Golden Slam". Also, winning the Year-End Championship in the same period is known as a "Super Slam". Together, all four Majors in all three disciplines (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) are called a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles. No player has won all twelve events in one calendar year but it has been done by three female players during their careers.
Australian Open
Dates: 13 – 26 January 2014
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne
Current Men's Singles Champion: Stanislas Wawrinka
Current Women's Singles Champion: Li Na
French Open
Dates: 25 May – 8 June 2014
Venue: Stade de Roland Garros, Paris
Current Men's Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
Current Women's Singles Champion: Maria Sharapova
Wimbledon Championships
Dates: 24 June – 7 July 2014
Venue: All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London
Current Men's Singles Champion: Novak Djokovic
Current Women's Singles Champion: Petra Kvitova
US Open
Dates: 26 August – 8 September 2013
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York City
Current Men's Singles Champion: Rafael Nadal
Current Women's Singles Champion: Serena Williams
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