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Do we really need two Grand Slams in one country, while there is none in a continents with Billions of potential fans? A March event in Southern China such as Shenzhen or other big city would be ideal, since March might be still too cold in Shanghai.
United States is huge market and brings millions of tourists every where, US would ideal to add a fifth grandslam.
China would be nice for marketing and money... but Grand Slams are about tradition. What tradition do chinese players have in Tennis? None, except the recent succesful Li Na. There are other places in Europe(Spain, Poland, Switzerland, former Yugoslavia countries etc) with lots of good players. Also, South America(Famous players: Gustavo Kuerten, Marcelo Rios, Maria Esther Bueno, Gabriela Sabatini etc). Those places are economically good enough to host another Grand Slam and have a lot of fans.
In my opinion though, I don't think there should be another Grand Slam. Instead, they should add more Masters 1000 or at least do something(like rotational tournaments) to add more places to the list of important places in Tennis.
I'd prefer to see South America get a combined ATP Masters 1000/WTA Premier Mandatory/5 event rather than a Grand Slam. As it is, Latin America only has three 500 level or higher events on the ATP tour (Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco are 500 events, and Miami, which bills itself as the Latin America Grand Slam even though it is in the U.S., has a Masters 1000 event). I'd also like to see southern Africa get an ATP and/or WTA event (a 250 event in the case of the ATP). If the Australian Open were moved back a couple weeks on the calendar (something the players support but Tennis Australia opposes), a southern Africa tournament could be a lead-up tournament prior to the Australian Open.
I do think the back-to-back duo of Indian Wells and Miami in March and the increasing prominence of the ATP and WTA Tour Finals in the fall fill in important parts of the tennis calendar.
I'd prefer to see South America get a combined ATP Masters 1000/WTA Premier Mandatory/5 event rather than a Grand Slam. As it is, Latin America only has three 500 level or higher events on the ATP tour (Rio de Janeiro and Acapulco are 500 events, and Miami, which bills itself as the Latin America Grand Slam even though it is in the U.S., has a Masters 1000 event). I'd also like to see southern Africa get an ATP and/or WTA event (a 250 event in the case of the ATP). If the Australian Open were moved back a couple weeks on the calendar (something the players support but Tennis Australia opposes), a southern Africa tournament could be a lead-up tournament prior to the Australian Open.
I do think the back-to-back duo of Indian Wells and Miami in March and the increasing prominence of the ATP and WTA Tour Finals in the fall fill in important parts of the tennis calendar.
I'd like to see it move back a month or so, also the heat wouldn't be quite as intense either.
They won't change it due to TV ratings at that time of the year, and particularly in Melbourne don't want it to clash with the start of their football (AFL) season.
On the original subject, would like to see another Slam in Asia preferably, and even another one on clay in Latin America would be a good idea.
The traditionalists would not like it, but we have all these Masters right now that nobody really cares that much about (apart from hardcore tennis fans), so change is a good thing.
Here are a couple of old Bleacher Report articles on the subject:
Another option is elevating the End of Year Championships, or World Tour Finals, to Grand Slam status.
That is not a bad idea either, staying on Indoor Hard court.
Nope... a "Grand Slam" should always involve the #4 as it has always been known to do traditionally.
When you hit a homerun with the bases loaded, it's a Grand Slam... 4 runners score.
When you win the Masters, US Open, British Open, and PGA Championship in golf, you have achieved the Grand Slam.
When you win the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in tennis, you have achieved the Grand Slam.
The LPGA tour created a "5th major" and now it has lead to arguments about what's to be considered the "true" Grand Slam... especially if you win the 4 traditional majors. Just ask Lydia Ko who achieved that a few weeks ago. Purists will tell you she has achieved it... while others will argue no because she has yet to win the newly recognized 5th major.
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