Grand Slam tennis tournaments - Wimbledon, French Open, US Open, Australian Open (2014, club)

[yofie]

Is the reason why three of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments - Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open - are in Anglo countries and the last of the four tournaments - the French Open - is in France is because tennis has historically been more popular in the English-speaking world and in France than in other countries/regions?

I guess the reason why there's no separate Canadian Open or whatever is because Canada is right next to the US and is a more northerly country with harsh winters?

[The Postman]

Well they call the Australian Open the 'Asia-Pacific' grand slam, and the US represents the Americas. I guess Wimbledon and the French are just the traditional ones.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by yofie

Is the reason why three of the four Grand Slam tennis tournaments - Wimbledon, the US Open, and the Australian Open - are in Anglo countries and the last of the four tournaments - the French Open - is in France is because tennis has historically been more popular in the English-speaking world and in France than in other countries/regions?

I guess the reason why there's no separate Canadian Open or whatever is because Canada is right next to the US and is a more northerly country with harsh winters?

There is a Canadian Open. It is known as the Rogers Cup or the Rogers Masters. It is held every summer in Toronto and Montreal (the men and women alternate between each city every year).

As far as "prestige" goes it is one level below the four Grand Slam tournaments.

[Bamford]

Wimbledon is the only one played on grass and in that respect is different to the French and others.

[TyrannosaurusZack]

Tennis is a traditional English sport, so it's history and traditions go back to England. It's only in the last few decades really that other countries have started fielding players of any real talent.

The majors (Grand Slam tournaments) were selected based upon tradition, prestige, and for no other reason than that the ITF sanctioned them. But, Canada already runs a few tournaments in the ATP and WTA tours (the Rogers cup, which I just learned from Wikipedia was/is called the Canadian Open) but as far as being a major, that's an issue you'd have to take up with the ITF.

- lol, ACAJack posted while I was still Wiki'ing about the Canadian Open. But yeah the ATP Masters, and the WTA Tour are both pretty important in the world of tennis.

[Acajack]

American baseball fans might find it interesting that the address of the tennis stadium in Montreal is 285 Rue Gary-Carter.

[FrankDrebin]

Originally Posted by Bamford

Wimbledon is the only one played on grass and in that respect is different to the French and others.

The Australian Open used to be on grass.

[Bamford]

Originally Posted by FrankDrebin

The Australian Open used to be on grass.

Not any more though.

The Pre - Wimbledon competitions the Queens Aegeon Chamionships (Mens) at the Queens Club in West Kensington, London and the Eastbourne Aegeon Chamionships (Womens) at the Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club in Eastbourne, East Sussex are also played on grass.

2014 Wimbledon Championships Website - Official Site by IBM

Homepage | The Queen's Club

Devonshire Park Lawn Tennis Club

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by Bamford

Wimbledon is the only one played on grass and in that respect is different to the French and others.

Roland-Garros is played on clay and in that respect is different from Wimbledon and others

[Razor217]

The Australian Open when it was originally held at kooyong was played on grass, when the national tennis centre was built in melbourne park (then known as flinders park) the court surface was a green coloured form of hardcourt known as rebound ace but that was abandoned for a more traditional hardcourt about 6 yrs ago....now i believe the Australian and US opens basically have the same courts.

Im not sure how big the other slams are but Australia goes tennis mad during January, also known as the happy slam by the players, great atmosphere as well.