The History of the Grand Slam

Originally applied to golfing tournaments in the 1930s, the term “Grand Slam” was first used for tennis by John Kieran, a newspaper columnist. Today, The Grand Slam refers to the four major tournaments in the sport of tennis. The tournaments are ranked according to world tour ranking, public attention, prize-money, number of players and player field size. The four major grand slam tennis tournaments include Wimbledon, The French Open, the US Open and the Australian Open.

Image courtesy of Shreyans Bhansali, Flickr

The term grand slam is used to indicate that a player has won all the four major tennis tournaments in a single calendar year. For many years, the term grand slam has also been used to refer to the major tournaments themselves.
A Timeline of Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Wins
1938: John Donald Budge (Don Budge), the American tennis champion, won all of the four men’s singles titles
1962 & 1969: Rodney George Laver (Rod Laver), the Australian tennis champion, has won the grand slam twice in his seven years as the world’s top ranking tennis star
1969 – 1971: Margaret Smith Court, the Australian World No.1, won the grand slam three times; once for the Ladies’ singles … Read more at FryingPanSports

Five Sports Stars Who Refused to Let Age get in the Way

American goalkeeper Kasey Keller will retire this month at the end of the current MLS season at the ripe old age of 41. The Seattle Sounders stopper and former Leicester City and Tottenham player has already been honoured in bizarre fashion with a corn maze tribute at a Seattle farm and is one of a select band of top performers to extend his sporting career into his 40s. We look at five more athletes who refused to let the sands of time stop them in their tracks.

Stanley Matthews

Stanley Matthews was admired as one of the greatest players to grace the game of football, but he also raised the bar when it comes to competing well beyond the usual age limits, having incredibly played his last competitive game at the age of 70. He also played at the highest level of English football until he was 50, becoming the oldest to play in the top tier of the English league in the process and went on to become the oldest player to represent England when he played for the national team against Denmark at the grand old age of 52.

Brad Friedel

Brad Friedel’s family didn’t need to worry … Read more at FryingPanSports

Famous Tennis Players: Profile of Andy Roddick

When it comes to American tennis, Andy Roddick has been the lone hope for men’s tennis success on the ATP tour.  American tennis fans have been spoiled over the years with incredible amounts of talent.  After Sampras, Agassi, Connors, and other greats, we’ve become greedy for more quality tennis players.  Roddick has proved a solid player, but he hasn’t been able to live up to these great expectations.  Aside from his single US Open title, Roddick has been unable to capture any other major tournament trophies.  His modus operandi has been consistency over the years, rather than big victories.  Roddick nears the end of a great career where he has been a permanent fixture in the top ten, but his inability to win big titles has been frustrating for both him and the American fans.

The Andy Roddick Tennis Game and Serve

Roddick is among the greatest tennis players famous for their serves.  The Roddick serve was consistently the biggest of his day, often nearing 140 mph.  His serve at 155 mph held the record for fastest until Ivo Karlovic one upped him with a 156 mph one.  Serving has always been a staple of the Roddick game, … Read more at FryingPanSports