grand slam tennis tours

Start Planning Your Topnotch Tennis Tour

Topnotch Tennis Tours organizes and escorts tennis enthusiasts on luxury tennis vacations worldwide to see the top professional players compete on the biggest stages.

Popular Topnotch Tennis Packages

Our tennis tour packages are a great way to experience the biggest stages in the tennis world. We offer a variety of travel packages to top events to help you get up close to the action.

• BNP Paribas Open
• Western & Southern Open
• Italian Open
• Monte-Carlo Masters
• Madrid Open
• Australian Open
• Roland-Garros
• A Letter from the President
• Topnotch Management
• Meet the Team
• Request a catalog
• Tennis Pros - Join Our Ace Network
• Atlas Tennis
• Indian Wells, California
• Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
• Stowe, Vermont
• US: (800) 289–3333
• International: +1 (802) 347–1118
• [email protected]

View our packages

Our Indian Wells packages are live! Join us for one of the sunshine doubles with great seats, luxury accommodations, and much more!

Thanks for signing up

We'll be in touch soon!

Log In For MyWimbledon With Social

Log in for mywimbledon, join mywimbledon with social, join mywimbledon, complete registration, this is the first time you have logged in with a social network., you have previously logged in with a different account. to link your accounts, please re-authenticate., log in with an existing social network:, to connect with your existing account, click below:, log in with an existing site account:, to connect with your existing account, please enter your password:, email verification, about wimbledon, grand slam tennis.

The four Grand Slam tournaments — the Australian Open, Roland-Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open — are the pinnacle of professional tennis and all have a rich history and legacy.

Through a shared governance structure, Grand Slam Tennis is the partnership between the four Grand Slam tournaments, forming the opportunity to lead a shared vision for advancing the game of tennis at all levels while acting as custodians of the sport's history and traditions.

The objectives of Grand Slam Tennis are to:

• Establish a stronger and more effective governance structure for the relationship between the Grand Slam tournaments, demonstrating unity and reducing fragmentation across our sport. • Develop joint strategies to grow the sport and help initiate and deliver an improved sporting competition framework for players, fans and audiences around the world. • Identify and develop long-term opportunities that benefit the Grand Slam tournaments, and tennis as a whole, including potential collaboration on appropriate marketing and/or commercial initiatives and projects where relevant. • Generally, enhance the collaboration between the Grand Slams on matters of common interest for the benefit of the sport.

Managed through a board comprising the four Grand Slam Chairs supported by their CEOs, Grand Slam Tennis is also responsible for reviewing and making decisions on sporting competition matters, including Grand Slam Tournament Rules, Regulations and Code of Conduct, Officiating and relationships with governing bodies and third parties. Decisions made by Grand Slam Tennis in respect of sporting competition matters are reflected in the Grand Slam Rule Book.

View the 2024 Grand Slam Rule Book

As not-for-profit organisations, all profits from the commercial success of the four tournaments are reinvested into the sport – through improvements to facilities, national and international player development, and through funding hundreds of other professional tournaments worldwide. Through Grand Slam Tennis, each Grand Slam is able to focus on ensuring the success of its individual tournament while at the same time collectively recognising the importance of the need to promote the health and growth of tennis throughout the world.

This investment in tennis, and in particular professional tennis, is a fundamental part of the ethic of the Grand Slam tournaments.

Grand Slam Tennis and the Grand Slam tournaments are committed to promoting the highest standards of sporting excellence and integrity in tennis. Grand Slam Tennis is represented on the Tennis Integrity Supervisory Board, which is responsible for the governance of the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA). The ITIA was established in 2021 by the international governing bodies of tennis to promote, encourage, enhance and safeguard the integrity of tennis worldwide.

The Grand Slam Player Development Programme was established by the four Grand Slam tournaments in 1986 to encourage and increase competitive opportunities for players from developing tennis regions. The Programme provides more than 50 Grand Slam Player Grants per year to support junior and professional players so that they can gain competitive experience at an international level, including at the Grand Slam tournaments.

Since its inception, the Grand Slam Player Development Programme has contributed more than US$58 million to support player development.

www.ausopen.com

www.rolandgarros.com

www.usopen.org

TUE 27 FEB 2024 16:02 GMT

Our proposals to transform the former wimbledon park golf course.

MON 29 JAN 2024 12:18 GMT

Aryna sabalenka - best points from wimbledon 2023.

Jannik Sinner - Best Points of Wimbledon 2023

THU 04 JAN 2024 09:52 GMT

Sustainability at wimbledon.

TUE 02 JAN 2024 14:53 GMT

Set for success.

THU 28 DEC 2023 18:29 GMT

Break point: season two trailer.

FRI 29 SEP 2023 11:01 BST

A nature weekend at wimbledon.

MON 11 SEP 2023 11:25 BST

Djokovic's road to 24.

Tennis’ Grand Slams premium tour plan: More money, equal pay, fewer tournaments

After months of playing shots off the back foot, the four Grand Slam tournaments have gone on the offensive in the battle for the future of tennis . 

In meetings with representatives of the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours last week in London, and with players and agents this week in Madrid, leaders of the Grand Slams have presented their strongest plan yet to reform the current structure of professional tennis . It consists of a premium tour anchored in the four Grand Slams and more top-level combined events, featuring the best players from the ATP and WTA circuits.

According to a person briefed on the proposal from the Grand Slams and the ensuing meetings, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, the details include the following:

• Doubling the prize money for the top 300 men.
• ⁠Almost quadrupling the prize money for the top 300 women.
• Using a portion of their own media rights to finance these changes.
• Equal pay , from inception, for men and women at all the events on the premium tour, instead of making women wait until 2027 to receive the same pay as men at some of the biggest tournaments.
• A schedule that includes the four Grand Slams, plus 10 other mixed top-level tournaments, with locations and dates to be determined, and a team event.
• The tour would end in time to allow for an off-season of six to eight weeks.

The plan would capitalize on the lucrative media rights of the Australian, French and U.S. Opens, alongside Wimbledon, and those of the other top Masters tournaments, to create a premium tour — various versions of which have been at the core of their previous proposals, but with little meat on the bones beyond that. ESPN’s 11-year-deal for the U.S. Open is worth almost $800 million (£647.7m), and it is estimated that media rights account for over half of the annual revenue for the All England Tennis Club, which stages Wimbledon, year in, year out.

Advertisement

The Slams say the plans will vastly increase pay for men and women more quickly than the ATP and WTA can achieve, focus the season around 15 events in a premium tour and extend an off-season that has shrunk to just a few weeks for the top players.

Leaders of the Grand Slams and the tours were not immediately available for comment. 

How to fix tennis

Leaders of the ATP and the WTA, who have long viewed the collective plan from Wimbledon and the U.S., French and Australian Opens as a threat to their relevance and perhaps their existence, are not enthusiastic about this latest idea, according to the person briefed on the plan and the meetings.

Discussions between the tours and the Grand Slams have become less fraught in recent weeks, according to reporting from the BBC . While one official recently described “productive discussions” among the parties of late, this latest move could jeopardize any hint of detente that may have started to develop in the past few months.

It shows that even as the tours moved to firm up their control of the sport, the Grand Slams continued to work toward wresting it from them, something they have been pushing for since last summer.

The leaders of the two tours have long sought guarantees that they will have significant roles in governing the sport, and this iteration of a premium tour would relegate most of their tournaments to a lesser status which top players would have much less incentive to participate in. 

Now, the tours’ lack of enthusiasm might be moot, because by bringing the players into the discussion for the first time, the Grand Slams are playing a significant card.

It is their strongest move yet to curry favor with the people who have proven time and again to hold the most power in tennis — the stars of the sport, who attract the fans to buy tickets and to watch the matches at home.

They are now promising to give those players many of the things they have been seeking for years, including accelerating the closing of the gap in prize money that endures at several mixed 1000-level events and, overall, including greater financial rewards for a less demanding schedule than the current 11-month slog that incentivizes players to risk their health and wellbeing by playing in as many tournaments as possible.

The Grand Slams’ leaders have pushed for months to use existing 250 and 500-level tournaments to create a qualifying tour for players outside roughly the top 100. Top players could potentially participate in those events but not earn rankings points from them.

Most importantly, to help finance this premium tour, the Grand Slams have committed for the first time to include a portion of their media and sponsorship rights, which are the most expensive in the sport and that they have long kept largely for themselves.

For months, the Grand Slams had held back on such a commitment as they negotiated among themselves about how much of their resources they wanted to invest in an effort that would make them major financial partners in the future of the professional level of tennis, rather than independent entities that hold annual competitions — even if they are the sport’s biggest annual competitions of all.

However, during the past year, the tours have made a series of moves that the Grand Slams have viewed as a threat to their primacy, including potentially disrupting a schedule that climaxes four times a year with the Grand Slams.

Leaders of the organizations that control the Grand Slams have decided that the only way to ensure that they maintain their strength is through further investment in the overall management of the sport.

In meetings, and in a presentation at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, in March, top tennis leaders were still waiting for a premium tour plan that the Grand Slams had purportedly been fleshing out for months — to the extent that the proposed presentation had slipped from last November, at the ATP Finals in the Italian city of Turin. Four months later, no framework for the integration of media rights and other commercial partnerships was in place.

Now, another month on, the Slams have made their move.

The latest move comes after Andrea Gaudenzi, the leader of the ATP, pushed for the tours to invest in a plan that would bring in roughly $1billion of investment in tennis from Saudi Arabia . Most of that money would come from the sale of a new tournament, a 10th Masters 1000 event. 

A bid process for the event is ongoing, also involving Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, fellow Gulf state Qatar’s capital Doha and Australia, with most people involved in the process expecting the Saudis to prevail, adding the tournament to its three-year deals for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, in November, and for the Next Gen Finals the following month.

Inside Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in sport

• Why the country bought into Premier League soccer
• Golf, F1 and cycling… why they are buying sport
• The 2034 World Cup and what it means

While a portion of the infusion of cash from Saudi Arabia would eventually filter down to the players, it comes with costs to the schedule that players already say is far too long, including adding another top-level, mandatory tournament, possibly at the very start of the calendar after the already-shrunken off-season. It’s also not yet clear what opportunities for additional growth would be available after the money from the additional tournament is spent.

The Grand Slams are operating on the principle that, in contrast, a premium tour that can pool its media rights and sell them as a singular, elite, exclusive package to sponsors and media companies — in the fashion of Formula 1 — could bring to the market the kind of focused tennis product that the fractured sport has been trying in vain to come up with for decades. 

The battle moves on.

(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Matthew Futterman is an award-winning veteran sports journalist and the author of two books, “Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed” and “Players: How Sports Became a Business.”Before coming to The Athletic in 2023, he worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is currently writing a book about tennis, "The Cruelest Game: Agony, Ecstasy and Near Death Experiences on the Pro Tennis Tour," to be published by Doubleday in 2026. Follow Matthew on Twitter @ mattfutterman

I'm Courtside on Every Stop of the Tennis Tour—5 Outfit Ideas to Wear This Grand Slam Season

S ince Posh and Becks, I have been obsessed with sport-spectator style, led usually by the WAGs (wives and girlfriends of athletes) who take their significant others' game days as an opportunity to display their style while showing support for the sport. This year has really ushered in a modern era of new WAGs, including mega-celebrities like Taylor Swift, who is dating Kansas City Chiefs player Travis Kelce, and Alix Earle, who is dating Miami Dolphins player Braxton Berrios. With such high-profile women stepping into the WAG game, there is more focus on what they wear on game day.

While I was digging into new WAGs to follow, one from the tennis community caught my attention. Morgan Riddle —the girlfriend of high-ranking U.S. tennis player Taylor Fritz —has been making a splash in the tennis world as a strong supporter of the sport and for her exceptional courtside style. In 2023, The New York Times described her as " the most famous woman in men's tennis ," and she has since expanded her sport résumé to Formula One, attending the recent Miami Grand Prix with Charlotte Tilbury. Tennis is one of those sports known for their spectator style and strong aesthetic, and with the tennis tour taking place at glamorous locations around the world, it's no surprise that the tennis WAGs are winning when it comes to sport-spectator style.

I attended the Miami Open recently, which was my first time watching a tennis match, and when planning my outfit, I thought, "Who better to tap than Riddle for tips on what to wear to a tennis match?" I wanted to know her favorite courtside fashion moments from previous matches.

I ended up meeting Riddle in Miami at this year's Miami Open. Riddle was wearing the most adorable Cult Gaia dress and clutch in a hue of green that felt extremely appropriate for a tennis match, topped off with white pumps. Cosplaying as a WAG with Riddle for the day turned out to be just as glamorous as you would think it was. I joined Riddle in the VIP box where she was viewing the men's finals. We chatted about our favorite spots in New York City , stories from the matches she's attended all over the world—including hosting Wimbledon's fashion series Wimbledon Threads , which she plans on hosting again this year—and, of course, our favorite tenniscore brands . Riddle also spilled five of her favorite looks from Wimbledon, the Geneva Open, the Indian Wells Open, the US Open, and the Australian Open.

Keep scrolling to see her courtside fashion and shop some of the pieces yourself.

Wimbledon 2023

"This was a classic Ralph Lauren look. Wimbledon's official colors are actually purple and green, but I've noticed people tend to lean toward white and green if they veer toward a themed color palette. Sometimes, I like to play hard into tenniscore with a sweater around the shoulders, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it!"

Shop the look:

Us open 2023.

"I bought this Helmut Lang maxi dress at Saks 5th Ave the day before the match. It was inspired by one of my favorite Kendall Jenner street style looks. I will say the knee-high boots on a 90-degree day sitting in a match was not the move."

Indian Wells Open 2024

"Miu Miu is one of my absolute favorite brands the last few years, so this was a full look by them! I've noticed during their shows the models wear tights/socks, so I styled this with sheer tights and pointed kitten heels."

Australian Open 2024 

"When I'm traveling, I love to wear local brands, especially in Australia where they have such an incredible selection of brands and labels. This top is Kookaï, and the skirt is Henne. The Australian Open is the most casual of the Grand Slams, but I noticed a lot more people have dressed up in the last two years, so I've embraced it."

Geneva Open 2023

"Geneva Open is a tiny, little tournament in Switzerland and one of the most charming on tour. I matched this outfit (jacket from Tularosa) to the aesthetic of the grounds, which are covered in these giant, enchanting flower bushes."

About WTA's Privacy and Cookie Policies

We use cookies to provide our services and for analytics and marketing. To find out more about our use of cookies and how you can disable them, please see our Privacy Policy. By continuing to browse our website, you agree to our use of cookies. Click here to find out more info.

Retiring Cornet leads Roland Garros wild cards

Maxime Le Pihif

• Facebook Facebook Share via Facebook
• Twitter Twitter Share via Twitter
• WhatsApp WhatsApp Share via WhatsApp
• Copy Link Copy Link Share via copy URL copied

Alizé Cornet will bid her final farewell to tennis in front of her home fans at Roland Garros this month. The former World No.11, who has announced that she will retire following the tournament, leads the list of eight main draw wild cards revealed today.

The Frenchwoman will extend her Open Era record of consecutive Grand Slam main draw appearances to 69, seven ahead of second-placed Ai Sugiyama's 62. Cornet played her first Grand Slam as a 15-year-old wild card at Roland Garros 2005, reaching the second round; she has not missed a major main draw since the 2007 Australian Open.

The 34-year-old, who owns 25 career Top 10 wins, reached her first and so far only Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2022 Australian Open. Her best Roland Garros showings to date are fourth-round runs in 2015 and 2017.

🚨🚾 Roland-Garros 2024 wildcards have been announced! Women's singles (Main draw) 🇫🇷 A. Cornet 🇫🇷 F. Ferro 🇫🇷 E. Jacquemot 🇫🇷 K. Mladenovic 🇫🇷 C. Paquet 🇫🇷 J. Ponchet 🇦🇺 A. Tomljanovic ( @TennisAustralia ) 🇺🇸 S. Vickery ( @usta ) Men's singles (Main draw) 🇫🇷 T. Atmane 🇫🇷 R.… — Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 14, 2024

Cornet will be joined by five compatriots. No.155-ranked Jessika Ponchet came second in the Destination Roland Garros race, which takes into account points earned by French players in a selection of WTA and ITF tournaments this year; the 27-year-old received the wild card after first-placed Lois Boisson suffered an injury in the first round of the Paris WTA 125 event this week.

Former No.10 Kristina Mladenovic, former No.39 Fiona Ferro, 2020 junior champion Elsa Jacquemot and Saint-Malo 125 runner-up Chloe Paquet round out the home contingent. They are joined by two former Top 100 players, Sachia Vickery and Ajla Tomljanovic, in reciprocal arrangements with the USTA and Tennis Australia respectively.

Cornet announces retirement, confirms Roland Garros as final tournament

Swiatek tops roland garros entry list; osaka, kerber to return, raducanu, errani, bejlek enter roland garros qualifying.

Unlock a new WTA today

Get inside access to fantasy, streams and exclusive content

Who Will Win? | Pick Your Star | Who Will You Pick?

WTA Pick'Em is Here

125Live streams are here!

From first serve, to last ball stream WTA 125 tournament point by point

Teenagers account for five of the nine qualifying wild cards, which have all been awarded to French players: Daphnée Mpetshi Perricard, 15; Sarah Iliev, 17; Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah, 18; Astrid Lew Yan Foon, 18; and Jenny Lim, 19. Rakotomanga Rajaonah and Lim are both ITF titlists this year, while Iliev made her tour-level debut by qualifying for Strasbourg in 2023.

The four remaining qualifying wild cards have been awarded to Selena Janicijevic, Manon Leonard, Margaux Rouvroy and Alice Tubello. Rouvroy, 23, scored a memorable win over Sofia Kenin in last year's qualifying event; Tubello, 23, has won 22 of her last 24 matches, including three ITF titles; and former Top 20 junior Janicijevic, 21, has reached two ITF W5 finals this season.

Roland Garros qualifying begins on 20 May and main-draw action starts on 26 May.

Latest Galleries

Great Escapes 2024: Winning from match point down

Photos: The players contesting their first WTA main draw in 2024

Photos: All of 2024's three-hour matches

Latest articles, pick 'em: sabalenka, ostapenko go toe-to-toe; azarenka aims to stop collins, no.1 swiatek extends win streak to 10, rolls into rome semifinals, sabalenka saves three match points to beat svitolina in late-night thriller, sights and sounds: fans take center stage on a marvelous monday in rome, latest videos.

'My goodness!': Swiatek's hot shot and defense earns raves in Rome

The official app of tennis is here. download now.

What Madrid means to Iga Swiatek

The World No.1 joins the podcast after coming back from the brink to win the longest Hologic WTA Tour final of the season at the Mutua Madrid Open. Her match-point-saving efforts added another statistical milestone to her collection, as the 22-year-old became the youngest player in 12 years to capture 20 titles.

Title Partner

Global partners, follow wta on social.

• SI SWIMSUIT
• SI SPORTSBOOK

Trailer for Roger Federer’s New Documentary Had Tennis Fans Feeling Emotional

Madison williams | 1 hour ago.

Roger Federer retired at the 2022 Laver Cup, and now fans will get to see firsthand what those final days were like for the 20-time Grand Slam champion as Amazon Prime Video is set to release the documentary FEDERER: Twelve Final Days on June 20.

The documentary, directed by Asif Kapadia and Joe Sabia, will include interviews from Federer, his wife Mirka, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

A trailer was released on Tuesday showcasing how Federer allowed a camera crew around him for those 12 final days of his professional career. Fans have already seen the famous scenes of him crying at the Laver Cup alongside friend and competitor Nadal, but now fans will get an inside access look at what was going on for Federer and his family.

One final serve. FEDERER: Twelve Final Days, June 20. #FedererDoc | #TwelveFinalDays | @primevideosport | @PrimeVideo pic.twitter.com/mYrv0YQhVE — ATP Tour (@atptour) May 14, 2024

The trailer alone brought back many emotions for tennis fans nearly two years after Federer retired from tennis, so fans can only imagine how they will feel once the documentary is released next month.

Check out some of the social media reactions.

To say I’m excited is an understatement. https://t.co/GhHw7C0QgV — Caroline Cameron (@SNCaroline) May 14, 2024

I won't be reachable June 20th #FedererDoc @PrimeVideo @primevideosport 🎾🐐👑 https://t.co/py213XSM1d — Dan Graca (@DanGraca) May 14, 2024

This will be beautiful ☺️ pic.twitter.com/sOLdcNsygu — José Morgado (@josemorgado) May 14, 2024

I'm going to shed some 😢. I miss seeing Roger on tour. https://t.co/ZJvahMAQDB — Just KJ (@Kj_Allivart) May 14, 2024

Tennis hasn’t been the same since he left. Happy we can relive everything he’s done one last time. Can’t wait 🤩 #Federer https://t.co/DqECMfwbV5 — Abhishek Goyal (@abhishekg0203) May 14, 2024

Are you kidding me I'm still barely over his retirement and he's dropping this https://t.co/ThnNC0srp5 — Malur (@aravindmalur) May 14, 2024

I'm not one that cries, like ever, and I guarantee you I'll shed a tear watching this. Fed is a huge reason why I love tennis so much. https://t.co/gLeBCoBKr1 — Logan Stanislawczyk (@Stan_Logan1996) May 14, 2024

I’m gonna need a lot of tissues 😭😭🥺🥺 https://t.co/epo3p75qrn — Lenny (@tesssjimmie) May 14, 2024

lmao didnt think a trailer could ever make me cry but here we are https://t.co/uS9vPpWROI — i live for romantic rivalries 🎾 (@atpbromance) May 14, 2024

I am going to cry through every single second of this and I've never been more excited in my life https://t.co/kj91aaVp2W — TyGuy (@ObsidianTotalus) May 14, 2024

MADISON WILLIAMS

Australian Open Tennis Tours

The "happy slam".

The tennis season kicks off with a bang at the Australian Open in Melbourne. From its humble beginnings as the distant sibling of other Grand Slam tournaments, AO has evolved into a hub of creativity and ambition, breaking free from tradition. As Tennis Australia’s oldest Official Tour Operator, Grand Slam Tennis Tours provides top-notch seating in Rod Laver Arena, with all our seats on Margaret Court Arena being Front Row seats. Enjoy an unforgettable tennis experience with Grand Slam Tennis Tours

Great! I went to US Open, Wimbledon, and the Australian Open on my own. I will never do that again. I will use Grand Slam Tennis Tours to go to any tournament in the future. They help you with transportation. Meals at the tournament. You meet other people and can visit with them. You are not alone.

Plan Your Australian Open Tennis Tour

Let us help you plan your trip to the Australian Open. Whether you’re in search of a set travel package or a custom package, you’ll find it from Grand Slam Tennis Tours, an Official Travel Agent of Tennis Australia and the Australian Open.

• Australian Open
• Roland-Garros
• BNP Paribas
• Cincinnati Western & Southern Open
• Italian Open
• Monte-Carlo Masters
• Topnotch Fantasy Tennis Camps
• PBI World Tennis Camps
• A Letter from the President
• Topnotch Management
• Meet the Team
• Request a catalog
• Tennis Pros - Join Our Ace Network
• Wailea, Maui, Hawaii
• US: (800) 289–3333
• International: +1 (802) 347–1118
• [email protected]

Thanks for signing up

We'll be in touch soon!

Sanatorium Valuyevo

View prices for your travel dates

• Excellent 13
• Very Good 22
• All languages ( 65 )
• Russian ( 65 )
• English ( 0 )

Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.

SANATORIUM VALUYEVO

• Election 2024
• Entertainment
• Newsletters
• Photography
• Personal Finance
• AP Investigations
• AP Buyline Personal Finance
• AP Buyline Shopping
• Press Releases
• Israel-Hamas War
• Russia-Ukraine War
• Global elections
• Asia Pacific
• Latin America
• Middle East
• Election Results
• Delegate Tracker
• AP & Elections
• Auto Racing
• 2024 Paris Olympic Games
• Movie reviews
• Book reviews
• Personal finance
• Financial Markets
• Business Highlights
• Financial wellness
• Artificial Intelligence
• Social Media

PGA CHAMPIONSHIP ’24: Spieth gets another Grand Slam shot. Hardly anyone is talking about it

Jordan Spieth hits from the fairway on the 16th hole during the second round of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at Quail Hollow on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Jordan Spieth watches his tee shot on the third hole during the first round of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates after an eagle on the 15th hole from the bunker during the final round of the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, celebrates after winning the Wells Fargo Championship golf tournament at the Quail Hollow Club Sunday, May 12, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Phil Mickelson watches his bunker shot on the seventh hole during third round at the Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club Saturday, April 13, 2024, in Augusta, Ga. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Captain Phil Mickelson, of HyFlyers GC, hits from the sixth tee during the pro-am before LIV Golf Singapore at Sentosa Golf Club, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Sentosa, Singapore. (Charles Laberge/LIV Golf via AP)

• Copy Link copied

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The attention starts building weeks, if not months, ahead of the one major keeping Rory McIlroy from the career Grand Slam, the most elite club in golf. It’s like that every year, and it doesn’t make it any easier when he gets to the Masters.

Jordan Spieth should be able to appreciate the feeling. Except that he really doesn’t.

Now that McIlroy missed again at the Masters — his 10th straight attempt at getting the final leg — Spieth is next up with an opportunity to become only the sixth player in history to capture all four professional majors.

It feels like an afterthought going into the PGA Championship.

Scottie Scheffler tries to extend his dominance with a second straight major. Brooks Koepka is the defending champion and coming off a LIV Golf win in Singapore. Jon Rahm turned in a dud at the Masters and curious eyes will want to see at Valhalla if that was an aberration.

Oh yes, and Spieth goes for the career Grand Slam, a feat achieved only by Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen.

“These things, like winning a career Grand Slam, they happen kind of when I think there’s less focus and less of a spotlight on him,” said Jim Nantz of CBS, who has covered every PGA Championship since 1991. “And I think Jordan goes into this week without a whole lot of discussion about that possibility coming up at Valhalla.

“So maybe it is favorable in that sense mentally.”

Spieth isn’t surprised the attention is not that high, certainly not at the level McIlroy has faced the last decade each time he heads to Augusta National.

One reason is his game, which has not been great. Spieth has gone just over two years since he last won a tournament and has had only a few close calls since then. He comes into the PGA Championship having missed the cut in four of his last five tournaments that had a 36-hole cut.

“He’s got more accolades,” Spieth said about the Slam hype between him and McIlroy. “He’s been a better player over his career. Maybe that creates a little noise. He’s been a bit more vocal about it himself, so maybe that makes a little bit more difference.”

The other reason is the Masters, the only major held on the same course every year.

Sarazen is the only player with the career Grand Slam who completed it at Augusta National. But that was in 1935, long before the Masters was considered a major and 25 years before Arnold Palmer first brought a professional slam into the golf conversation.

McIlroy threw away a chance in 2011 when he lost a four-shot lead in the final round at the Masters. He played in the final group with Patrick Reed in 2018 and didn’t get it done. Reminders are everywhere when he returns.

That isn’t the case for Spieth. He goes to Quail Hollow one year, Bellerive the next. He has had seven cracks at getting the missing piece of the Grand Slam on seven courses.

“For me, it’s like the PGA Championship feels decently similar to a number of tournaments we play,” Spieth said. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s played on some of the biggest, best golf courses. But the identity is not the same as the other three. In my mind, you don’t need to find a different way to win, versus guys who don’t have some of the other ones.

“We play a few tournaments a year that could be PGA Championships if you change the branding and the grandstands.”

Only two other players lacked only the PGA Championship for the career slam — Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson.

Jack Nicklaus referenced them last month when speaking of McIlroy’s chances at Augusta.

“Is Tom Watson good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely. Was Arnold Palmer good enough to win the Grand Slam? Absolutely,” Nicklaus said.

He felt the same way about McIlroy before adding, “But they have got to do it.”

Spieth is 30 and would seem to have time on his side — but not history. Sarazen, Hogan and Woods won the final leg in their first attempt. Woods did it in the most spectacular fashion, winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots and a month later the British Open by eight. He was 24.

Player (1965 U.S. Open) and Nicklaus (1966 British Open) completed the Grand Slam on their third attempt after they had captured the third leg.

McIlroy already has had 10 cracks at the Masters since he picked up the third leg. Spieth has had seven tries at the PGA Championship since winning the third leg at Royal Birkdale in 2017.

He said it doesn’t weigh on him, at least not lately.

“I remember thinking about it in ‘17 because it was right after the Open and I was playing so well,” Spieth said. He tied for 28th at Quail Hollow.

He also said he gave the Grand Slam some thought in 2019 at Bethpage Black when he was in the final group going into the weekend with Brooks Koepka. That wasn’t really a fair fight. Koepka set the 36-hole record for majors (128), a record seven shots ahead of Spieth.

“But I don’t feel like it will build up over time, not like people talk about Rory’s building up over time,” Spieth said.

More focus is on a nagging injury to his left wrist that first surfaced right before the PGA Championship last year at Oak Hill. Spieth is trying to manage it. He also is spending more time than he imagined on the phone as part of the PGA Tour Enterprises board trying to figure out the best way forward with the Saudis.

Justin Thomas has two PGA titles — what Spieth wouldn’t do for one — and is surprised why his longtime friend doesn’t get much attention as he pursues the final leg.

“It should be the same amount of attention — you could say more because he’s younger than Rory,” Thomas said. “But that also could be a good thing. Going in under the radar is never bad.”

AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf

Current time by city

For example, New York

Current time by country

For example, Japan

Time difference

For example, London

For example, Dubai

Coordinates

For example, Hong Kong

For example, Delhi

For example, Sydney

Geographic coordinates of Elektrostal, Moscow Oblast, Russia

City coordinates

Coordinates of Elektrostal in decimal degrees

Coordinates of elektrostal in degrees and decimal minutes, utm coordinates of elektrostal, geographic coordinate systems.

WGS 84 coordinate reference system is the latest revision of the World Geodetic System, which is used in mapping and navigation, including GPS satellite navigation system (the Global Positioning System).

Geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) define a position on the Earth’s surface. Coordinates are angular units. The canonical form of latitude and longitude representation uses degrees (°), minutes (′), and seconds (″). GPS systems widely use coordinates in degrees and decimal minutes, or in decimal degrees.

Latitude varies from −90° to 90°. The latitude of the Equator is 0°; the latitude of the South Pole is −90°; the latitude of the North Pole is 90°. Positive latitude values correspond to the geographic locations north of the Equator (abbrev. N). Negative latitude values correspond to the geographic locations south of the Equator (abbrev. S).

Longitude is counted from the prime meridian ( IERS Reference Meridian for WGS 84) and varies from −180° to 180°. Positive longitude values correspond to the geographic locations east of the prime meridian (abbrev. E). Negative longitude values correspond to the geographic locations west of the prime meridian (abbrev. W).

UTM or Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate system divides the Earth’s surface into 60 longitudinal zones. The coordinates of a location within each zone are defined as a planar coordinate pair related to the intersection of the equator and the zone’s central meridian, and measured in meters.

Elevation above sea level is a measure of a geographic location’s height. We are using the global digital elevation model GTOPO30 .

Elektrostal , Moscow Oblast, Russia

Tennis’ Grand Slams premium tour plan: More money, equal pay, fewer tournaments

After months of playing shots off the back foot, the four Grand Slam tournaments have gone on the offensive in the battle for the future of tennis . 

In meetings with representatives of the men’s ATP and women’s WTA tours last week in London, and with players and agents this week in Madrid, leaders of the Grand Slams have presented their strongest plan yet to reform the current structure of professional tennis . It consists of a premium tour anchored in the four Grand Slams and more top-level combined events, featuring the best players from the ATP and WTA circuits.

According to a person briefed on the proposal from the Grand Slams and the ensuing meetings, who spoke on condition of anonymity to protect relationships, the details include the following:

• Doubling the prize money for the top 300 men.
• ⁠Almost quadrupling the prize money for the top 300 women.
• Using a portion of their own media rights to finance these changes.
• Equal pay , from inception, for men and women at all the events on the premium tour, instead of making women wait until 2027 to receive the same pay as men at some of the biggest tournaments.
• A schedule that includes the four Grand Slams, plus 10 other mixed top-level tournaments, with locations and dates to be determined, and a team event.
• The tour would end in time to allow for an off-season of six to eight weeks.

The plan would capitalize on the lucrative media rights of the Australian, French and U.S. Opens, alongside Wimbledon, and those of the other top Masters tournaments, to create a premium tour — various versions of which have been at the core of their previous proposals, but with little meat on the bones beyond that. ESPN’s 11-year-deal for the U.S. Open is worth almost $800 million (£647.7m), and it is estimated that media rights account for over half of the annual revenue for the All England Tennis Club, which stages Wimbledon, year in, year out.

Advertisement

The Slams say the plans will vastly increase pay for men and women more quickly than the ATP and WTA can achieve, focus the season around 15 events in a premium tour and extend an off-season that has shrunk to just a few weeks for the top players.

Leaders of the Grand Slams and the tours were not immediately available for comment. 

How to fix tennis

Leaders of the ATP and the WTA, who have long viewed the collective plan from Wimbledon and the U.S., French and Australian Opens as a threat to their relevance and perhaps their existence, are not enthusiastic about this latest idea, according to the person briefed on the plan and the meetings.

Discussions between the tours and the Grand Slams have become less fraught in recent weeks, according to reporting from the BBC . While one official recently described “productive discussions” among the parties of late, this latest move could jeopardize any hint of detente that may have started to develop in the past few months.

It shows that even as the tours moved to firm up their control of the sport, the Grand Slams continued to work toward wresting it from them, something they have been pushing for since last summer.

The leaders of the two tours have long sought guarantees that they will have significant roles in governing the sport, and this iteration of a premium tour would relegate most of their tournaments to a lesser status which top players would have much less incentive to participate in. 

Now, the tours’ lack of enthusiasm might be moot, because by bringing the players into the discussion for the first time, the Grand Slams are playing a significant card.

It is their strongest move yet to curry favor with the people who have proven time and again to hold the most power in tennis — the stars of the sport, who attract the fans to buy tickets and to watch the matches at home.

They are now promising to give those players many of the things they have been seeking for years, including accelerating the closing of the gap in prize money that endures at several mixed 1000-level events and, overall, including greater financial rewards for a less demanding schedule than the current 11-month slog that incentivizes players to risk their health and wellbeing by playing in as many tournaments as possible.

The Grand Slams’ leaders have pushed for months to use existing 250 and 500-level tournaments to create a qualifying tour for players outside roughly the top 100. Top players could potentially participate in those events but not earn rankings points from them.

Most importantly, to help finance this premium tour, the Grand Slams have committed for the first time to include a portion of their media and sponsorship rights, which are the most expensive in the sport and that they have long kept largely for themselves.

For months, the Grand Slams had held back on such a commitment as they negotiated among themselves about how much of their resources they wanted to invest in an effort that would make them major financial partners in the future of the professional level of tennis, rather than independent entities that hold annual competitions — even if they are the sport’s biggest annual competitions of all.

However, during the past year, the tours have made a series of moves that the Grand Slams have viewed as a threat to their primacy, including potentially disrupting a schedule that climaxes four times a year with the Grand Slams.

Leaders of the organizations that control the Grand Slams have decided that the only way to ensure that they maintain their strength is through further investment in the overall management of the sport.

In meetings, and in a presentation at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, in March, top tennis leaders were still waiting for a premium tour plan that the Grand Slams had purportedly been fleshing out for months — to the extent that the proposed presentation had slipped from last November, at the ATP Finals in the Italian city of Turin. Four months later, no framework for the integration of media rights and other commercial partnerships was in place.

Now, another month on, the Slams have made their move.

The latest move comes after Andrea Gaudenzi, the leader of the ATP, pushed for the tours to invest in a plan that would bring in roughly $1billion of investment in tennis from Saudi Arabia . Most of that money would come from the sale of a new tournament, a 10th Masters 1000 event. 

A bid process for the event is ongoing, also involving Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, fellow Gulf state Qatar’s capital Doha and Australia, with most people involved in the process expecting the Saudis to prevail, adding the tournament to its three-year deals for the season-ending WTA Tour Finals in Riyadh, in November, and for the Next Gen Finals the following month.

Inside Saudi Arabia’s growing influence in sport

• Why the country bought into Premier League soccer
• Golf, F1 and cycling… why they are buying sport
• The 2034 World Cup and what it means

While a portion of the infusion of cash from Saudi Arabia would eventually filter down to the players, it comes with costs to the schedule that players already say is far too long, including adding another top-level, mandatory tournament, possibly at the very start of the calendar after the already-shrunken off-season. It’s also not yet clear what opportunities for additional growth would be available after the money from the additional tournament is spent.

The Grand Slams are operating on the principle that, in contrast, a premium tour that can pool its media rights and sell them as a singular, elite, exclusive package to sponsors and media companies — in the fashion of Formula 1 — could bring to the market the kind of focused tennis product that the fractured sport has been trying in vain to come up with for decades. 

The battle moves on.

(Top photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Matthew Futterman is an award-winning veteran sports journalist and the author of two books, “Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed” and “Players: How Sports Became a Business.”Before coming to The Athletic in 2023, he worked for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Star-Ledger of New Jersey and The Philadelphia Inquirer. He is currently writing a book about tennis, "The Cruelest Game: Agony, Ecstasy and Near Death Experiences on the Pro Tennis Tour," to be published by Doubleday in 2026. Follow Matthew on Twitter @ mattfutterman