[yesyesok]

In the 1970/80s when not all top players played Australia was it still called a Grand Slam? And did top players ever talking about winning all 4 'slams'?

If not when did the usage of the term grand slam become common in tennis, and what changed that made Australia suddenly so prestigious?

[Looner]

Grand Slam was used when Laver won his real Grand Slam I think. It was taken more as a synonym of a great achievement in tennis rather than winning those 4 tournaments. The Australian Open has always been one of the biggest but in terms of prestige I heard it's gone up substantially with the Sampras era.

Johnny Groove probably can answer this the best as well as older posters.

[mreccentric]

Originally Posted by TBkeeper

I said sorry in my post ... btw ON-topic
The three of them play THREE different grips (forehand and backhand)
SO For fed The higher the ball is the harder it is ...
for nadal the lower it is the harder it is (I KNOW THEY BOTH CAN DO the respective shots but they aren't as good as the other CAUSE of the grip every grip has advantages/disadvantages)
I'm saying it cause every surface has different bounce

Thanks for the Answer .

Originally Posted by Marcoo

wow a lot of explanations here I was wondering the same thing, now i know

So, even you had the same q in your mind. So, my silly ques has helped . I'm happy, that i'm not the only silly here! lol

[Sanya]

Originally Posted by yesyesok

In the 1970/80s when not all top players played Australia was it still called a Grand Slam? And did top players ever talking about winning all 4 'slams'?

If not when did the usage of the term grand slam become common in tennis, and what changed that made Australia suddenly so prestigious?

Australian was prestigious tournament, but well - the same can be said about some "500" current tournaments. Was it at least 4-th the most important? No, strongest players were playing Masters in that weeks and I believe it was 4-th Slam those days. I can advice you to read Mcenroe`s book.

Journlist John Kieran is widely credited with first applying the term "grand slam" to tennis, to describe the winning of all four major tennis tournaments in a calendar year almost eighty years ago. About so prestigious can`t say 100% correct, but from early 1980-s top players began participating there again. Maybe it wasn`t reason, but consequence - don`t know.

[mreccentric]

Whats the difference between a drop-shot and a volley? What are the other types of shots in Tennis? Really a SQ

[TBkeeper]

Originally Posted by mreccentric

Whats the difference between a drop-shot and a volley? What are the other types of shots in Tennis? Really a SQ

Drop-shot is a shot that can be done from anywhere around the court and which it's second bounce is done before the service line |__|__| (the both lines at the bottom in this case if this is the court around the net)
Volley is the shot when you hit the ball from the air

[Slasher1985]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennis#Shots

We live in the era of google...

[mreccentric]

Were all the grandslams played on clay/grass before introducing hard courts? Not that much stupid, i think...

[stewietennis]

Originally Posted by yesyesok

In the 1970/80s when not all top players played Australia was it still called a Grand Slam? And did top players ever talking about winning all 4 'slams'?

If not when did the usage of the term grand slam become common in tennis, and what changed that made Australia suddenly so prestigious?

The Australian Open was still officially one of the four important titles in the year however players from the US and Europe didn't want to make the long trip down under so they usually skipped it. I'm not sure who talked about winning all four, at the time, but Connors almost achieved it but was banned from the French Open and, I believe, it was one of Borg's goals. Back when the Australian Open was held at the end of the year, once Borg won the French and Wimbledon, he tried for the US Open and I read somewhere if he was successful in New York he would have made the trip to Australia to try for the calendar slam.

The term 'grand slam' is winning all four majors in a year but the term has become synonymous and interchangeable with major, for some reason, I can't pinpoint the exact time.

[Arkin]

Originally Posted by mreccentric

Were all the grandslams played on clay/grass before introducing hard courts? Not that much stupid, i think...

Yes, initially rg was clay and the others were all played on grass

[mreccentric]

Originally Posted by Arkin

Yes, initially rg was clay and the others were all played on grass

Weren't they capable of growing grass in RG? It looks so weird when it was played on grass in all other GS. Was it because of low sanctions/budget problem?

And was the prize money in GS always big compared to other tournaments?

[seattletennisguy]

SQ: Do ball girls/boys get paid? I'm guessing no, due to labor laws and underage minors. So, what do they get?

SQ: Do tournament champions take the actual trophy home they're presented with, or are they engraved then shipped to them later?

[Pratik]

Originally Posted by seattletennisguy

SQ: Do ball girls/boys get paid? I'm guessing no, due to labor laws and underage minors. So, what do they get?

SQ: Do tournament champions take the actual trophy home they're presented with, or are they engraved then shipped to them later?

First Question.
Almost always no. But, in many big tournaments(at least slams) they get reimbursed for their travel(including that during the training period, if there was any), are given some free stuff/big discounts, and they get to take their uniform back with them. I think some tournaments even give them a small lunch/snack allowance.

Second Question.
Champions are presented with the actual trophy. His name would be engraved on the trophy before the presentation ceremony. The one they get to take back is a replica, generally of smaller size.

Regarding Wimbledon:

From 1949 to 2006 all Champions received a miniature[half-size] replica of the Cup (height 8 1/2 inches). From 2007 all Champions have received a three-quarter size replica of the Cup bearing the names of all past Champions (height 13 1/2 inches).

http://aeltc2011.wimbledon.com/125th...-trophies.html

In 2009, after more than 120 years in service, with the available space for engraving being completely filled after Rafael Nadal’s win the previous tournament, a black plinth with a silver designed to accompany the trophy as new names were added.

http://www.mapsofworld.com/pages/tro...onship-trophy/

This is for the replicas, the actual trophy still has enough space left.

[duarte_a]

I guess this isn't a stupid question but I think it wasn't worth it creating a new thread for this.

I remember the ATP website from a few years ago before it was remade had a section with a list of the greatest champions where we had a small text describing their achievements for each player. Does anyone remember that too?

I can't seem to find this on the new website. Does anyone know where to find that information?

Thx.

[Pirata.]

Originally Posted by seattletennisguy

SQ: Do tournament champions take the actual trophy home they're presented with, or are they engraved then shipped to them later?

They accidentally gave Schiavone the replica