How many Grand Slam tournaments are there?

There are four Grand Slam tournaments in tennis: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open. Together, they form the sport’s highest-profile annual championship series.

The tournaments are played in calendar order across different surfaces. The Australian Open is held on hard courts in Melbourne, the French Open on clay at Roland-Garros, Wimbledon on grass in London, and the US Open on hard courts in New York. Winning all four majors in a single calendar year is called a Grand Slam, an exceptionally rare achievement.

The phrase can cause confusion because “Grand Slam” may refer either to the four tournaments collectively or to the feat of winning them all in one year. The four events are run by separate governing bodies and have distinct histories, traditions and playing conditions. Wimbledon is the oldest, dating to 1877; the US Open began in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905.