Tennis Grand Slam

In tennis, a singles player or doubles team that wins all four Grand Slam titles in the same year is said to have achieved the Grand Slam or a Calendar Year Grand Slam. If the player or team wins all four consecutively, but not in the same calendar year, it is called a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam.

The four Grand Slam tournaments are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are:

- Australian Open
- French Open
- Wimbledon
- U.S. Open

The term Grand Slam, as applied to tennis, was first used by New York Times columnist John Kieran according to Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia by Bud Collins. In the chapter about 1933, Collins writes that after the Australian player Jack Crawford had won the Australian, French, and Wimbledon Championships, speculation arose about his chances in the U.S. Championships. Kieran, who was a bridge player, wrote: "If Crawford wins, it would be something like scoring a grand slam on the courts, doubled and vulnerable." Crawford, an asthmatic, won two of the first three sets of his finals match against Fred Perry, then tired in the heat and lost the last two sets and the match.

The expression Grand Slam, initially used to describe the winning of the tennis major events in one calendar year, was later incorporated by other sports, notably golf, to describe a similar accomplishment.

Helen Wills Moody won all 16 of the Grand Slam singles tournaments she played beginning with the 1924 U.S. Championships and extending through the 1933 Wimbledon Championships (not counting her defaults in the 1926 French and Wimbledon Championships). The first 15 of those were won without losing a set. During this period, she won 6 Wimbledons, 4 French Championships, and 6 U.S. Championships. She also won the 1924 Summer Olympics during this period. Moody never entered the Australian Championships.

The Golden Slam, or Golden Grand Slam, is a term created in 1988 when Steffi Graf won all four Grand Slam tournaments and the gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics in the same calendar year.

Tennis was not an Olympic medal sport between 1924 and 1988, or even considered important by the top players until a few years ago; therefore, many tennis players never participated in the Olympics.

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