Tennis Grand Slam 2022

[Salvator Grimard]

Nadal had taken sole ownership of the men's singles record after edging past Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic with his 2022 Australian Open triumph. He then extended his lead at that year's French Open before Djokovic pulled back within one at Wimbledon.

Djokovic's triumph in the 2023 Australian Open final, where he beat Stefanos Tsitsipas, saw him draw level with Nadal at the top of the men's standings and, after losing a five-set thriller to Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final that year, he beat Daniil Medvedev in straight sets at the US Open.

Swiss great Federer will not have the chance to add to his grand slam haul after announcing his retirement following the Laver Cup in September 2022, while Nadal's chances of catching Djokovic again are in serious doubt after he spoke of the possibility of retiring in 2024.

Coco Gauff holds up the championship trophy after defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Saturday in New York. Frank Franklin II/AP hide caption

Gauff set aside a so-so start and surged to her first major championship by coming back to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the U.S. Open final on Saturday, delighting a raucous crowd that was loud from start to finish.

When it was over, when she had shed tears of joy, when she had hugged Mom and Dad as they cried, too, Gauff first thanked them, and her grandparents, and her brothers, one of whom failed to answer a FaceTime call from her right after the match. And then Gauff took the microphone to address anyone who might have questioned if this day would arrive.

"Thank you to the people who didn't believe in me. Like a month ago, I won a (tour) title and people said I would stop at that. Two weeks ago I won a (tour) title and people were saying that was the biggest it was going to get. So three weeks later, I'm here with this trophy right now," said Gauff, who is on a career-best 12-match winning streak. "Tried my best to carry this with grace, and I've been doing my best, so honestly, to those who thought they were putting water in my fire: You were really adding gas to it and now it's really burning so bright right now."

Gauff, who is from Florida, is the first American teenager to win the country's major tennis tournament since Serena Williams in 1999. If last year's U.S. Open was all about saying goodbye to Williams as she competed for the final time, this year's two weeks in New York turned into a "Welcome to the big time!" moment for Gauff. Famous people were coming to watch her play each time, and one, former President Barack Obama, sent a congratulatory note via social media on Saturday.

Gauff burst onto the scene at 15 by becoming the youngest qualifier in Wimbledon history and making it to the fourth round in her Grand Slam debut in 2019. She reached her initial major final at last year's French Open, finishing as the runner-up. What appeared to be a step back came this July at the All England Club, where she exited in the first round.

The No. 6-seeded Gauff did it Saturday by withstanding the power displayed by Sabalenka on nearly every swing of her racket, eventually getting accustomed to it and managing to get back shot after shot. Gauff broke to begin the third set on one such point, tracking down every ball hit her way until eventually smacking a putaway volley that she punctuated with a fist pump and a scream of "Come on!"

When they resumed, Sabalenka broke to get within 4-2. But Gauff broke right back, and soon was serving out the victory, then dropping onto her back on the court. She soon climbed into the stands to find her parents.

Sabalenka came in 23-2 at majors in 2023, including a title at the Australian Open. The 25-year-old from Belarus already was assured of rising from No. 2 to No. 1 in the rankings next week (Gauff will be No. 3 in singles, No. 1 in doubles).

But Sabalenka was reduced to the role of foil by the fans in 23,000-capacity Arthur Ashe Stadium. Setting the tone, Gauff's pre-match TV interview, shown on the video screens in the arena, was drowned out by the sound of applause and yells reverberating off the closed retractable roof.

Winners by Gauff were celebrated as if the match were over. So were Sabalenka's miscues. When Sabalenka heard cheers during the post-match ceremony, she joked: "You guys could have supported (me) like this during the match."

When Sabalenka was on-target early, she dominated. During a four-game run to close the opening set, one thrilling point had the audience making noise before it was over. Gauff scrambled to get Sabalenka's strokes back, including somehow deflecting a booming overhead, before a second, unreachable overhead bounced into the seats.

It only makes sense to start the list of top tennis tournaments with the most famous (and prestigious) tennis tournament in the world. Wimbledon dates back to the year 1877 when the first tournament was played on the grass lawns of the All England Club just outside of London, England.

Wimbledon is still played on grass courts, one of many long-standing traditions of this historic tournament. Appearances by the Royal Family (and other celebrities), fresh strawberries and cream, and the famous all-white dress code are other traditions that have become associated with the tournament.

The French Open is different from the other major tennis tournaments in that it is the only one played on clay courts. Clay is known to be a difficult surface to play on, due to the slower moving ball. Some players seem to excel on the clay, most notably Rafael Nadal, who won has an incredible fourteen French Open Championships.

The 2024 Summer Games are in Paris, France from July 26 to August 11th. The Summer Games tennis tournament will be played at Roland Garros, home of the French Open. With just nine days to complete this famous tennis tournament (and players playing for national pride) the action will be intense.

There are many reasons we consider the BNP Paribas Open to be one of the top tennis tournaments. The first is, of course, the tennis itself. This major tennis tournament attracts the top players in the world, and is a favorite with fans as well. It regularly draws over 400,000 fans with 493,440 fans experiencing the tournament in 2024.

The ATP Finals are another top tennis tournament. The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Finals date back to 1970, though it has gone through a few different names and versions since then. From 2009 to 2021 the tournament was held at O2 Stadium in London, before moving to its current location in Turin.

The ATP Finals follow a different format than the grand slams, which use a knock-out/bracket system. This event follows a group stage format. Each player is put into a group of four and plays each other player in his group. The top two from each group move on to a semi-final and then the championship final match.

Named after popular Australian tennis pro Rod Laver, the Laver Cup is a relative newcomer to the tennis scene. The inaugural tournament took place in 2017 and it has been held annually since then, with the exception of 2020.

The Laver Cup is a weekend tournament that pits players from Europe against players from the rest of the world. Each of the two teams (Team Europe and Team World) are comprised of six players: three that qualify based on their ranking and three that are chosen by team captains. John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg have served as team captains since the tournament began.

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The event was held on April 21st at the Westin La Paloma featuring a thrilling exhibition with Murphy Jensen, Coco Vandeweghe, Sam Querrey, and Abi Spears, Dinner on the tennis courts, under the stars, followed.

The Grand Slam event supports the many lifesaving accomplishments of the Gootter-Jensen Foundation. Over the past 18 years, the Foundation has raised millions of dollars for ongoing sudden cardiac death research and has distributed over 450 AEDs to schools, sports facilities, public places, nonprofits, and in law enforcement vehicles throughout Southern Arizona.

The Gootter-Jensen Foundation is able to fund SCD research projects thanks to the support of our donors. Because of their generosity, we continue to make strides towards our goal of defeating sudden cardiac death through increased awareness, education, and scientific research.

Though their most rewarding achievement remains the creation and launch of their children Brennen (25) and Alexis (23), Anita and Bradley have always balanced family life with entrepreneurial ventures and community investment.

Bradley has stayed busy with several successful local businesses including RightFAX, Nextrio, Simply Bits and Desert Lab Studio. Meanwhile Anita ran everything else, serving in critical C-Suite roles including Wife, Mom and Chief Volunteer.

A former junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she won two WTA Tour singles titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court Championships. In 2017, she reached two major semifinals and the final of the WTA Elite Trophy to enter the top 10, reaching her career-high singles ranking of world No. 9 in January 2018.

In addition, Vandeweghe twice reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in both 2015 and 2017. Vandeweghe also won one major doubles title, which she won at the 2018 US Open with partner Ashleigh Barty. Later on, they reached the semifinals at the 2018 WTA Finals, lifting Vandeweghe to a new career-high ranking of No. 14.

She is also a two-time Grand Slam finalist in mixed doubles, reaching the final at the 2016 Australian Open with Horia Tecău and the 2016 US Open with compatriot Rajeev Ram. Vandeweghe's prowess at both singles and doubles helped her win all eight of her Fed Cup (Billie Jean King Cup) matches in 2017 across three different ties to lead the U.S. team to its first championship since 2000.

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