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Discover the most important tennis tournaments in the world! See what the difference is between Grand Slam, Masters and other WTA and ATP tournaments.

🎾 What are the most important ATP and WTA tennis tournaments?

By the way, the ATP tournaments are the ones for boys, and the WTA tennis tournaments are the ones for girls. But every lover of “white sport” already knew this. In the category of ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) tennis tournaments are divided into the following categories:

▪️Grand Slam tournaments are the strongest tournaments in which the winner receives 2,000 points in the ATP standings. There are 4 such tournaments (Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, US Open)
▪️Masters tournaments are the next category of tournaments in which the winner is rewarded with 1,000 points. Masters tournaments are 9 in number: Cincinnati, Indian Wells, Madrid, Miami, Monte-Carlo, Montreal, Paris, Rome, Shanghai.
▪️The next tournament category is the 500 point category. As the name suggests, the winner of such a tournament is rewarded with 500 points in the ATP standings.
▪️The 250-point tournaments represent the worst ATP tournament category.

At the end of the season, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals is the tournament that faces the first 8 players of the year in both the singles and doubles. The winner of this tournament receives 1,500 points in the standings. At the WTA there are small differences from ATP, but not big. In the following we will present one by one the most important tennis tournaments, that is the Grand Slam, in order of their performance. They are valid for both ATP and WTA.

🎾 Australian Open tennis tournament

This tour has been running since 1905 in January for two weeks and is hosted by the Melbourne Park complex in Melbourne. Between 1905-1987 the playing surface was grass and from 1987 to 2007 Rebound Ace. Currently the playing surface is a hard Plexicushion. The complex comprises two very large arenas: Rod Laver Arena, with a capacity of 14,900 seats and Hisense Arena with a capacity of 11,000 seats. The tournament was originally called “The Australasian Championships”, but later changed its name to the Australian Championships. The current name, “Australian Open”, has been official since 1969.

🔺Curiosities:

▪️At first, because of the very large distance to the place of the tournament, very few players showed up. In the 1920s a voyage from Europe to Australia took about 45 days.
▪️In the Open Era the players with the most titles won at the Australian Open are Novak Djokovic – 6 (2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016), Roger Federer – 6 (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018) and Andre Agassi – 4 (1995, 2000, 2001, 2003).
▪️For women, most of the tournaments won in the Open Era have Serena Williams with 7, but we must not overlook the 11 trophies won by Margaret Smith Court, number 11, 7 in Amateur Era and 4 in Open Era, of which 7 in a row won.
▪️Novak Djokovic is the player with the most consecutive titles won, he managed to win the trophy in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
▪️In the doubles event, brothers Mike and Bob Bryan won the trophy 6 times (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013), this being a record in the Open era.
▪️The youngest winner is Mats Wilander in 1983 at the age of 19 years and 3 months, and the eldest is Ken Rosewall who won the tournament in 1972 at 37 years and 7 months, overall, being the youngest winner, in 1956 (Amateur Era), he was 18 and 2 months old when he won the tournament for the first time.
▪️Martina Hingis is the youngest winner in 1997, at the age of 16 and 4 months, and the oldest winner in the Open Era is Serena Williams in 2017 at 35 years and 4 months.
▪️So far, Romania has not had a winner in this tournament.

🎾 The Grand Slam Tournament at Roland Garros

Roland Garros is one of the most important tennis tournaments in the world for two weeks, between mid-May and early June, in Paris, at the Roland Garros stadium, which received this name in honor of a French aviator hero. deceased. This tournament started in 1891 as a national competition, named “International Tennis Championship of France”. Between 1891-1927 the playing surface was grass, a common surface at that time, but from 1928 until now it is playing on the slag.

🔺Curiosities:

▪️Due to the very slow playing surface that is uncertain and the fact that in this competition there is no tie-break in the decisive set, Roland Garros is considered the most demanding tennis tournament in the world.
▪️The player who has won the most editions of Roland Garros is Rafael Nadal, the Spaniard being nicknamed “King of Clay” because of his incredible performances. 11 times Nadal has been imposed in Paris so far – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2017, 2018 !!
▪️Most consecutive titles are Rafael Nadal – 5, and Bjorn Borg – 4.
▪️Chris Evert has won most of the titles with 7 wins, while Monica Seles and Justine Henin have 3 each.
▪️The youngest player to win this tournament was Michael Chang, who lifted the trophy over his head in 1989, when he was only 17 and 3 months old, and Monica Seles at 16 and a half in 1990.
▪️At the opposite end, Andres Gimeno is considered the oldest player to have won the tournament, doing so at 34 years and 10 months, and at the female Serena Williama at 33 years and 8 months in 2015.
▪️The only players who managed to win the tournament without losing the set were Ilie Năstase, Bjorn Borg and Rafael Nadal.
▪️Rafael Nadal collected the most consecutive victories, winning 31 matches.
▪️Here we have three winners in the singles, Ilie Nastase in 1973, Virginia Ruzici in 1978, and SImona Halep in 2018.

🎾 Wimbledon Tournament

Wimbledon is the oldest tournament in the world and is considered the most prestigious. The first edition of this tournament took place at the All England Club in 1877. Wimbledon runs for two weeks, between the end of June and the beginning of July. This tournament is the only one that imposes a strict dress code for competitors.
The “All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club” complex can boast a central land with a capacity of 15,000 places and a secondary land with a capacity of 11,000 places.
The central plot is equipped with a retractable roof and a nightstand, closing the roof in about 10 minutes.

🔺Curiosities:

▪️Players with the most Wimbledon wins in the Open Era are Roger Federer – 8, of which 5 in a row, and Pete Sampras – 7, and in the women’s competition, Martina Navratilova, with 9 trophies won, of which 6 in a row, followed by Steffi. Graff and Serena Williams, with 7 trophies.
▪️The US is the country with the most winners, with American players being crowned champions 33 times.
▪️The youngest Wimbledon winner in the Open Era is Boris Becker – at age 17 and 7 months in 1986, and the oldest is Roger Federer at 36 in 2017.
▪️The youngest female winner is Martina Hingis in 1997 at the age of 16 years and 9 months, and the oldest is Serena Williams at 34 years and 9 months in 2016.
▪️Romania has no winner in the simple events.

🎾 US Open

The American Open is the last Grand Slam tournament of the competition calendar. This tour has been running since 1881 from August to September at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, New York. The main arenas of this complex are Arthur Ashe Stadium, with a capacity of 24,000 seats and Louis Amstrong Stadium, with a capacity of 10,000 seats.

🔺Curiosities:

▪️The US Open stands out from the other Grand Slam tournaments in that the decisive set is played tie-break.
▪️In Open Era there are 3 players who have a record with most titles won. They are: Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, who have won the trophy 5 times.
▪️Roger Federer has won the 5 editions of the US Open in 5 consecutive years (2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).
▪️In the women’s competition, most of the trophies won have Chris Evert and Serena Williams, both with 6 trophies, Chris Evert having 4 consecutive wins (1975, 1976, 1977, 1978).
▪️Pete Sampras won the first tournament at the age of 19 and one month and is considered the youngest winner of the US Open, and in the women’s tournament Tracy Austin won the 1979 tournament at the age of 16 and 9 months, followed closely by Martina. Hingis who won the US Open in 1997 at the age of 16 and 11 months.
▪️The oldest winner at the US Open is Ken Rosewall in 1970 at the age of 35 and 10 months, followed by two contemporary winners with us older, so to speak, Stan Wawrinka in 2016 at 31 years and 5 months and Rafael Nadal in 2017 at 31 years and 3 months.
▪️For women, the oldest player in the Open Era is Flavia Pennetta in 2015 at 33 years and 6 months, followed by Serena Williams in 2014 at 32 years and 11 months, although in Amateur Era we have a winner at 42 years and 5 months, Molla Bjurstedt Mallory, in 1926, but other times were then.
▪️Romania has a trophy here through the success of Ilie Nastase in 1972.