Surely all tennis fans will know or at least sound almost all the names of the major international championships and tournaments that are held year after year. On the occasion of the celebration of our tournament that will take place in our club from 11 to 19 March, we will talk about the six most famous and recognized championships in the world of tennis.
First of all, we will begin by defining the difference between a tournament and a championship; it is straightforward: in a match, there can be qualifying competitions, and in a championship, the competition decides who is the best of a country, region, the world or the best of a series of tournaments.
Discover the world’s most famous championships and tournaments:
- The Davis Cup: it is an international men’s competition that has been held since 1900, organized by the International Tennis Federation. Their peculiarity is that players do not participate individually, but as national teams composed of different players designated by their national sports federation. The country that won the 2016 competition was Argentina, and the one with the most titles in the United States with a total of 32.
- The Federation Cup: this competition would be an equivalent of the Davis Cup, but for female tennis players, it has been held since 1963 and unlike the Davis Cup players participate both individually and in teams. The Czech Republic won the final title in 2016 at the rhénus Sports venue in Strasbourg, France. A curious fact is that the tennis player Spanish Arantxa Sanchez Vicario currently still have the record for most wins in both singles and couples with a total of 72 victories, and the record for most games played, a hundred in total, and the most years played.
- The ATP Masters Series: The original name of this competition is an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 and consists of a series of nine tournaments for tennis player’s male at the individual level, which are part of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) which is held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia. The record for individual titles in this category is Novak Djokovic with 30 titles under his belt.
- The Barclays ATP: this competition, also called the London-based Copa Masters, is a tournament that is held annually at the end of each season, with the participation of the top eight players in the world classification. Although they are played throughout the year, it is not a direct elimination tournament; the eight participants are divided into two zones of 4 players each, in which each one faces the other three tennis players in their group. The two players best placed in each zone advance to semifinals, where the games become eliminatory and define the two players who will play the final consisting of a prize of more than 4 million Euros.
- The ATP Challenger Series: A series of approximately 110 tournaments held annually and also belonging to the ATP and correspond to the lowest rank category within the competitions governed by the ATP and serve for emerging players to add points to try to reach significant tournaments. In these tournaments, players participate in rankings below the 70th place and split between 25 and 150 thousand dollars in prizes.
- And finally, we find the essential tennis competition in the world, known as the Grand Slam: this competition consists of the four most renowned tournaments between players and sports fans, by awarding the highest cash prizes and the highest number of points for the world ranking. They are held annually in the male category, with a table of 128 players. The greatest achievement for a tennis player is to get a Grand Slam-winning the four tournaments in the same year, although he can also get the recognition of winner of this competition by understanding the four consecutive championships but not in the same year.
The four Grand Slam tournaments are:
- The Australian Open: it is the first of the four tournaments played. It takes place every January in Melbourne, Australia, at the Melbourne Park Sports Complex and is famous for the high temperatures at which it is played. The competition is divided into categories, there are single and double categories for both men and women, as well as double mixed and in recent years, competitions for wheelchair players have also been included. In 2017 the champion of the male category had been Roger Federer winning in the final to the Mallorcan Rafa Nadal. In the female division, the winner was the well-known United States Tennis player Serena Williams who curiously played the last against her sister Venus Williams.
- Roland Garros: it takes place for two weeks between the end of May and the beginning of June in Paris, at the premises of the Stade Roland Garros complex. It is one of the most prestigious tournaments with more than 21 million euros in prizes and one of the oldest tournaments played since its inauguration in 1891. Manacorí tennis player Rafael Nadal has won this tournament nine times.
- Wimbledon: it is the third tournament to be held in the Championship and is the most prestigious and oldest in the world. It is organized by the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and is held in June/July in Wimbledon, London since 1877. Simultaneous tournaments of male and female singles, male and female doubles, and mixed doubles are played, and even single male and female youth tournaments are held in doubles. The 2016 champions in the singles category were Andy Murray and Serena Williams.
- And finally the USA open: it is the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the season. It is held annually from August to September at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York and consists of five modalities: singles for men and women, doubles for men and women and mixed doubles, and also additional tournaments for Junior and Senior players. The tournament delivers nearly $ 24 million in prizes.
All of these championships and tournaments (except the Barclays ATP World Tour Final) define the ATP classification, both male and female, which covers the results of the previous 52 weeks and is updated approximately 45 times each year.