Tennis Players Have Four More Major Chances To Shine
By Anton Lagani, Lawn Tennis Correspondent, Posted: Monday, May 5, 2008 11:58am CST USA
Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Nicolas Massu, Roger Federer | Photos by Getty
PARIS, FRANCE (lawntennismag.com) - With the Summer Olympics being played every four years, once in every four years tennis players
have the rare opportunity to win tennis' greatest and most elusive prize, the Golden Grand Slam.
And with this year being a summer
Olympic year, tennis players in August will venture to Beijing, China to represent their home countries.
Steffi Graf of Germany is the only tennis player ever to win the Golden Grand Slam; winning all four grand slams plus the Olympics
in a calendar year. Graf claimed the feat when she looked unbeatable
in 1988 when she won all four grand slams, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open
plus a gold medal in singles at the Summer Olympics.
More than rare and almost impossible the Golden Grand Slam this year is
only reachable by Maria Sharapova of Russia and Novak Djokovic of Serbia who won tennis' first grand slam, the Australian Open in
January.
But winning any one of the three remaining grand slams or the Olympics this year would be a major chance for any tennis player to
shine however. In women's tennis Justine Henin of Belgium holds three of the four titles; the French Open, the Olympics and the US Open
and will make it impossible for Sharapova to win the Golden Slam. Venus Williams of the USA, the reigning Wimbledon champion
and her sister Serena Williams who is 19-1 this year should also claim at least one of these four titles.
In men's tennis Roger Federer of Switzerland battled sickness at the Australian Open but should bounce back to prevent Djokovic
from winning a Golden Slam. Federer now holds the Wimbledon and US Open titles. Rafael Nadal of Spain holds the French Open title
while Nicolas Massu of Chile took gold at the 2004 Olympics.
Serena Williams was the last player to hold all four gland slams titles at once when she won Paris, London and New York in 2002
and then added Melbourne in 2003.
