The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in the same calendar year, also referred to as the “Calendar-year Grand Slam” or “Calendar Slam”. In doubles, a team may accomplish the Grand Slam playing together or a player may achieve it with different partners. The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open in January, the French Open from late May to early June, Wimbledon in late June to early July, and the US Open in August–September, with each played over two weeks.
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When it comes to records in Grand Slams, for Men’s singles, Rafael Nadal holds the record for most Grand Slams (21), while Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic hold the joint record for 2nd most Grand Slams (20). The same three players hold the record for the most finals played as well: Federer and Djokovic (31) and Nadal (29). On the other hand, Margaret Court (24) holds the record for most Grand Slams in Women’s singles, while Selena Williams (23) is second and Steffi Graf (22) is third. However, Chris Evert (34) holds the record for most finals played for Women’s singles, Serena Williams (33) is second and Martina Navratilova (32) is third.
For the Australian Open, most titles are won by Novak Djokovic (9) in Men’s singles while the record for Men’s doubles is held by Adrian Quist (10). Adrian Quist (13) has won the most titles in Men’s category as well. For women, most titles are won by Margaret Court (11) in Women’s singles and Thelma Coyne Long (12) in Women’s doubles. Margaret Court (23) has also won the most titles in the Women’s category. For French Open, Rafael Nadal (13) holds the record for most titles in Men’s singles, while Roy Emerson (6) leads in Men’s doubles. Rafael Nadal (13) has won the most titles in Men’s category as well. Chris Evert has won 7 titles in the French Open in Women’s singles while Martina Navratilova (7) has won the most titles in Women’s doubles. Margaret Court (13) has also won the most titles in the Women’s category.
When it comes to Wimbledon, Roger Federer (8) has won the most titles for Men’s singles and Todd Woodbridge (9) for Men’s doubles. However, Laurence Doherty (13) holds the record for most titles in Men’s category. In contrast, Martina Navratilova (9) has won the most titles for Women’s singles and Elizabeth Ryan (12) has won the most titles for Women’s doubles. Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova hold the joint record of having the most titles in the Women’s category (20). Lastly, the US Open has three players to be at the top of Men’s singles: Richard Sears, Bill Larned, and Bill Tilden, all of them having 7 titles. The doubles record is held by three players as well: Richard Sears, Holcombe Ward, and Mike Bryan, all having 6 titles. Bill Tilden (16) holds the record for most titles in Men’s category. For women, Molla Mallory (8) has the most Women’s singles titles and Margaret Osborne DuPont (13) has the most Women’s doubles titles. Margaret Osborne DuPont (25) also has the most titles in the Women’s category.
ATP Tour
The ATP Tour (known as the ATP World Tour from January 2009 until December 2018) is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women’s organization is the WTA Tour. The ATP Tour comprises ATP Masters 1000, ATP 500, and ATP 250. The ATP also oversees the ATP Challenger Tour, a level below the ATP Tour, and the ATP Champions Tour for seniors.
ATP publishes weekly rankings of professional players. Currently, the ATP rankings for Men’s singles are as follows: Novak Djokovic is at the top with 8465 points, while Daniil Medvedev is second with 8410 points. The third, fourth, and fifth positions are held by Rafael Nadal (7115 points) Alexander Zverev (7025 points), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (6070 points) respectively. For Men’s doubles, the top three positions are currently held by Mate Pavic with 8565 points, Joe Salisbury with 8353 points, and Nikola Mektic with 8230 points. Rajeev Ram (8103 points) and Horacio Zeballos (7000 points) hold the fourth and fifth positions respectively.
ATP Finals
The ATP Finals is the second-highest tier of annual men’s tennis tournaments after the four Grand Slam tournaments. The ATP Finals are the season-ending championships of the ATP Tour and feature the top eight singles players and doubles teams of the ATP Rankings. For the Men’s singles in ATP Finals, Roger Federer is at the top with 6 titles while Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras, and Novak Djokovic have the joint second-most titles (5). Ilie Nastase (4) is in the third position. Djokovic has won the most consecutive titles (4) while Federer has played the most finals (10). Federer also holds the records for most matches won (59) and most editions played (17).
When it comes to Men’s doubles, Peter Fleming and John McEnroe have the joint-most titles (7) while Mike Bryan (5) is second to them. Bob Bryan and Daniel Nestor have 4 titles each, securing them with the third position. Peter Fleming and John McEnroe (7) have won the most consecutive titles while Mike Bryan holds the records for most matches won (42) and most editions played (16). John McEnroe is also the youngest player ever to win both Men’s singles and doubles in ATP Finals (aged 19).
ATP Tour Masters 1000
The ATP Masters 1000 tournament is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The ATP Masters, along with the ATP Finals, constitute the most coveted trophies in men’s tennis after the four majors, hence the tournaments are collectively known as the “Big Titles” (alongside the Olympics). For the ATP Masters 1000, the top five title leaders for singles are Novak Djokovic (37), Rafael Nadal (36), Roger Federer (28), Andre Agassi (17), and Andy Murray (14). For the doubles title leaders, Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan have the joint-most titles as a team (39), followed by Daniel Nestor (28), Todd Woodbridge (18), and Mark Knowles (17).
ATP Tour 500
The ATP 500 tournaments are the fourth highest tier of annual men’s tennis tournaments after the four Grand Slam tournaments, ATP Finals, and the ATP Tour Masters 1000. The series includes 13 tournaments, with 500 ranking points awarded to for the events’ singles champions. The most titles for ATP Tour 500 in Men’s singles are won by Roger Federer (24 titles) followed by Rafael Nadal (23), Novak Djokovic (14), Pete Sampras (12), and David Ferrer (10). As for Men’s doubles, Daniel Nestor holds the record for most titles (20), followed by Nenad Zimonjic (17), Mark Knowles (15) and the Bryan Brothers (Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan) held onto the fourth and fifth position together with 14 titles.
ATP Tour 250
The ATP 250 tournaments are the lowest tier of annual men’s tennis tournaments on the main ATP Tour, after the four Grand Slam tournaments, ATP Finals, ATP Tour Masters 1000 tournaments, and ATP 500 tournaments. As of 2020, the series includes 39 tournaments, with 250 ranking points awarded to each singles champion.
Coming towards the records and statistics of ATP Tour 250, the most titles in Men’s singles are won by Thomas Muster (26), followed by Roger Federer (25) and Lleyton Hewitt (22). Andy Roddick (21) and Pete Sampras (20) hold on to the fourth and fifth positions respectively. On the other hand, the Bryan Brothers hold the record for the most titles in Men’s doubles category as Mike Bryan won 46 titles while his brother, Bob Bryan, won 44 titles. Frantisek Cermak and Daniel Nestor hold on to the third position together with 26 titles followed by Horia Tecau with 22 titles.
ATP Cup
The ATP Cup is an international outdoor hard court men’s tennis tournament between competing nations, which premiered in January 2020. The tournament is played across three Australian cities over ten days in the lead-up to the Australian Open and features teams from 24 countries. The teams that participate in the Cup are determined by the singles ranking of their best player. On the week after the US Open, 18 teams are announced, based on the best player singles ranking. For a country to qualify, it must have at least three players with ATP ranking, and two of them with singles ranking.
In the tournament’s inaugural edition in 2020, the group stages were hosted in Brisbane, Perth, and Sydney, ahead of a four-day knockout stage. The first edition was won by Serbia as they defeated Spain in the finals with a final score of 2-1. Moving on towards the second edition of the ATP Cup in 2021, Russia won the tournament, defeating Italy in the finals by 2-0. The latest edition of the ATP Cup was played in 2022 where Spain lost its second final in three years. The current champions, Canada, came victorious over Spain with a score of 2-0.
International Tennis Federation (ITF) Events
ITF Tour
The ITF Men’s World Tennis Tour (formerly known as the ITF Men’s Circuit) is a series of professional tennis tournaments held around the world that are organized by the International Tennis Federation. The tour represents the lowest rung of the men’s professional tennis ladder. ITF tournaments are incorporated into the ATP Rankings, enabling young professionals to progress on to the ATP Challenger Tour and ultimately the full ATP Tour.
Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men’s tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organizers as the “World Cup of Tennis”, and the winners are referred to as the World Champion team.
For the Men’s category, the United States has won the most titles (32) followed by Australia (28) and France, and Great Britain (10). However, the US is also the country to have lost the most finals (29) followed by Australia (19) and France (9). The current champion of the Davis Cup is Russia, which won its third title in 2021. The current rankings of the ITF Davis Cup consist of Croatia at the top with 1435.50 points followed by France (1376.50) and Spain (926.81).
The women’s equivalent of the Davis Cup is the Billie Jean King Cup, formerly known as the Fed Cup. Australia, Russia, the Czech Republic, and the United States are the only countries to have won both Davis Cup and Fed Cup titles in the same year.
The United States has won the most titles, winning 18 while the Czech Republic is on second with 11 titles. The third, fourth, and fifth positions are held by Australia (7), Russia (5), and Spain (5) respectively. The US has also been the runners-up for most of the time (12) followed by Australia (11) and Russia (7). The current champion of the Billie Jean King Cup in Russia, which won its fifth title in the edition of 2020-21. The current rankings of the cup are as follows: Australia (1055.50), France (1038.17), and Russia (1035.74).
Olympics
Tennis was part of the Summer Olympic Games program from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics but was dropped after the 1924 Summer Olympics due to disputes between the International Lawn Tennis Federation and the International Olympic Committee over how to define amateur players. It returned as a full medal sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics open for all players regardless of their age and status and has been played at every Summer Games since then.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams have each won a record four gold medals, three each as a doubles pairing, the only players to win the same Olympic event on three occasions. A player who wins an Olympic or Paralympic gold medal and all four majors in the same year is said to have won a Golden Slam. As of 2021, Steffi Graf is the only player to do so through the Olympic gold. Andy Murray is the only player to have won two singles gold medals, and the only singles player to have retained the Olympic title.
In the last Olympics (2020), the gold medal in Men’s singles category was won by Alexander Zverev while in the Women’s category, it was won by Belinda Bencic. In 2016, it was Andy Murray who claimed the top spot in Men’s singles while Monica Puig was the gold medalist in the Women’s category.
