All posts tagged French Open

Tennis Grand Slam Tournaments

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There are four Major tennis championships, also referred to as Slam championships: the Australian Open, French Open, US Open and Wimbledon. Grand Slam is victory in all four tournaments gained by a player or a doubles team in the same year. A Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam is four consecutive wins, but not in the same year; a Career Grand Slam is winning all four at some point of a players career.

Wimbledon is the oldest of tennis competitions and, without doubt, the most prestigious one. It first took place in 1877 with only twenty-two players; it was won by Spencer Gore in straight sets over W. C. Marshall. Held every June and July at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, Wimbledon competition is often attended by royalty and celebrities who got official invitation from the Chairman of the Club.

The first American tennis tournament, known as U.S. National Championship, was held at the Newport Casino, Rhode Island, in 1881. And in 1887 the first official U.S. Women’s National Singles Championship took place at the Philadelphia Cricket Club. But the Open Era started in 1968 when five different competitions were consolidated into one US Open Championships, held at the West Side Tennis Club in Queens. The prize money equaled $100,000 and was shared appropriately between the 96 men and 63 women who entered. This is the fourth and final event of the Grand Slam tennis tournaments, held annually in August and September over a two week period.

The first French tennis tournament was held in Paris in 1891 as a one-day national championship with very poor attendance. Only French players and players from French clubs were allowed to take part in the tournament. In 1968, the Open era started when professionals from all over the world were allowed to participate. In 1925 French Tennis Federation opened the championship for international players. In 1927 the area of three hectares near Porte d’Auteuil was allocated for a new stadium named Roland Garros, where French Open takes place nowadays. The French Open men’s trophy is the Musketeers Cup, and women compete for the Suzanne Lenglen Cup.

Australian Open is the youngest of the four. Its history starts in 1905 on the lawns of the Warehousemans Cricket Club. In 1927 tennis tournament became known as Australian Championships and only in 1969 it got its official title – Australian Open. In 1988 Australian Open established a new home at Flinders Park (currently Melbourne Park) and the attendance has increased almost twice. Center Court at Melbourne Park is the only one among the tennis Grand Slam tournaments that has a retractable roof, therefore weather conditions never get on the way of the match.

The first Wimbledon final in history had an audience of two hundred people who paid a shilling apiece to watch the game; to compare, the price of open 2010 tickets goes as high as $5500. And the popularity of this sport keeps growing.

Two Great Djokovic Tennis Games Of 2011

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The past two years have been incredible for the current world Number 1 mens tennis player Novak Djokovic. With a promising early career right from the beginning of the noughties, the Serb has quietly worked his way up the rankings and collecting victories before really bursting onto the worldwide tennis stage in 2011, where he managed to round up another 10 titles and trophies. This was the year that he also captured a record-breaking total of five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles and even managed to win high praise from tennis legend Pete Sampras who declared that Djokovics 2011 season was one of the best achievements in all of sports. Having triumphed over Nadal in 6 finals on three different surfaces, you could be forgiven for thinking that the 2011 season for Djokovic was all about the wins. It wasnt all plain sailing for the tennis star however, because along with the big wins came big losses. Lets take a look at two of the greatest Djokovic tennis games of last year, one of which was a big win and one of which was indeed a big loss.

The Big Win of 2011 Wimbledon
Incredibly in the run up to the biggest grass court tournament of the year, Djokovic played barely any grass court preparation. After his earth-shattering loss at the French Open (see below for more about that one!) he withdrew from the traditional Wimbledon warm-up event the Queens Clubs and only played a London exhibition match before walking into the most famous tennis arena in the world. This lack of preparation couldnt be seen in the Djokovic tennis game though; he was unstoppable and reached his way to the final where he met the equally powerful Rafael Nadal. With a classic championship point play, Djokovic won his first Wimbledon trophy, his second Major title of the season and fulfilled his ultimate childhood dream.

The Big Loss of 2011 Defeated by Federer at the French Open
The Djokovic tennis game seemed unstoppable in 2011, and for a long time it was. He was the man that all the great tennis players wanted to beat, and even though he was unbeaten when he went into the French Open he didnt remain that way for long. Incredibly, his loss in this major tournament was to Roger Federer, who actually didnt have as good a year on court as Federder. The Swiss ace brought a close to Djokovics 43-match winning streak, certainly a phenomenal achievement in itself, with a 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 triumph.

The Origins Of Tennis

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The origins of tennis game, as any other game of racket and ball, are traditionally credited to 11th or 12th century French game paume which was played with the hand and later advanced into jeu be paume with the use of rackets. However, not all historians agree on this subject. There is a theory that the word tennis comes from the name of Tinnis, a town in ancient Egypt, and the word racket “” from rahat, meaning “palm of the hand” in Arabic. It is believed that different versions of the game were played in ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece, although there is no additional evidence to that.

The balls initially used in tennis were made of hair, wool or cork wrapped in cloth or leather. The true history of tennis begins in the 1850″s, when Charles Goodyear, of Goodyear tire fame invented vulcanized rubber, and the first rubber tennis balls were introduced to the world. The vulcanization of rubber is a process that prevents natural rubber from deteriorating so quickly. Nowadays, tennis balls are manufactured using high technology equipment, come in white or yellow colors, and all the specifications are regulated by the ITF (International Tennis Federation).

Walter Clopton Wingfield is usually given credit for the invention of modern tennis. He actually patented the game in 1874, pronounced a new set of rules and moved tennis from indoors to outdoors. The same year first tennis courts appeared in the United States, and shortly after that in Russia, India, Canada and China.

The first tennis championship was held in 1877 in Wimbledon, and is still considered the most prestigious one. US Open came into being a while later in 1881. Now there are four Grand Slam tennis tournaments: US Open, French Open, Australian Open and Wimbledon.

Sony Ericsson Open was founded in 1985 by a tennis player Butch Buchholz with the aim to make it number one tennis tournament of the year, or at least second after Wimbledon. His attempt failed, although this championship is considered to be the 5th most important tennis event of the year. It is traditionally held in Florida in March-April, the prize money is $9 million, and Sony Ericsson tennis tickets can cost up to $2000.

What Every Trivia Enthusiast Should Know About Tennis

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Trivia has grown exponentially in popularity in the last decade. One of the most common types of trivia that is played between friends, family, and loved ones is sports trivia.

There are dozens of sports trivia games, online and physical, that are literally at your fingertips. If you havent yet explored them, now is a great time. But, like most of us, if you already are familiar with the subject of sports trivia, then youre probably looking for trivia information that you can use.

This article is all about tennis. So, if youre looking for trivia on the subject of tennis and its history, you are in the right place. Here we go.

On September 20th, 1973, at the Houston Astrodome, female tennis extraordinaire Billy Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in front of 30,000 spectators in the famous Battle of the Sexes.

Tennis was introduced as a bona fide Olympic sport in the year 1896. Afterwards, it was removed from Olympic competition following the 1924 games and wasnt formally reinstated as an Olympic sport until 1988.

The sport of Tennis was created in England.

The first Tennis Masters Cup was won by Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil who defeated American Andre Agassi in straight sets in the year 2000.

The open era of the US Open began in the year 1968 and was won (mens singles) by Arthur Ashe and (womens singles) by Virginia Wade.

The French Open is also known as Tournoi de Roland-Garros and as Les Internationaux de France de Roland Garros.

The last mens singles Wimbledon championship to be won by a British citizen was in 1936, when Fred Perry accomplished that feat.

The common tennis ball weighs just more than 2 ounces and just less than 2 and 1/16 ounces.

The first American woman to win the French Open was Helen Wills in 1928.

The longest recorded tennis match of the open era lasted an exhausting 6 hours and 33 minutes. This match was played at the 2004 French Open and was between Frenchmen Arnaud Clement and Fabrice Santoro. Santoro finally beat Clement 16-14 in the fifth set.

The term used to refer to 0 in tennis is Love.

Boris Becker was the first unseeded player to win the Wimbledon singles championship title. He did this in 1985 at the age of 17.

This is just a very brief overview of the vast amounts of tennis trivia that are available to you; however, the information that you have just received can definitely help you in your trivial pursuits. I hope that you have learned something valuable here and that you can use it and share it.

A Closer Look At Today’s Hottest Tennis Players

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Of all the female tennis players around the world, hot tennis star Ana Ivanovic immediately won the hearts of millions of people. Born in Belgrade, Serbia, Ana is one of the most physically attractive tennis players with a Grand Slam title in her belt. Since she started competing as a professional in 2003, she has already won 10 WTA Tour single titles. In the 2008 French Open, she beat Dinara Safina. This aggressive baseliner is also known for a powerful serve that reached a speed of 201km/h, which is actually the fifth fastest service in the world.

Hot tennis star Ana Ivanovic first picked up a tennis racket at the age of five after watching Monica Seles on television. She became fascinated with a number of tennis clinics and decided to start her career since then. After years of intense training, she immediately showed a lot of potential in the field of tennis. When she was fifteen, she cried four hours in the locker room because she feared that Dan Holzmann, her manager would drop her. Dan did the exact opposite of what Ana expected and remained her manager up to this day.

This exotic brunette was also featured in Sports Illustrated. For this photo shoot, hot tennis star Ana Ivanovic did not hesitate to flaunt her body while lying down in a pool of pink tennis balls. Novak Djokovic, another tennis hottie, also received a lot of publicity lately. At age eight, he immediately became training with a celebrated Yugoslavian coach, Jelena Gencic. He made his way through junior circuits and won his first professional match in Belgrade. After winning three majors in 2011, his undefeated streak immediately pushed him to the top of mens professional game.

Serbian tennis star Novac Djokovic also won his first major match for the Australian Open in 2008. Despite his reputation as a serious tennis player, he is still known for funny impersonations that earned him the nickname D joker. In 2011, he also won 40 straight matches at the Australian Open before he finally lost to Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the French Open. If his last two matches are also included, his total winning streak is equivalent to 42 straight match wins. This is only four points shy of the record that Guillermo Vilas made in 1977.

Ana Ivanovic and Novac Djovic are not only the hottest tennis players that the world has ever known. They are also two of the most talented athletes who have helped tennis deal with its struggling fan base by encouraging more people to learn more about the game.