A Brief History of the Channel Slam in Tennis
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Eric Vainer, a credentialed pedorthist serving Brooklyn’s PALA Community Care as administrative director, enjoys staying active by playing tennis. Eric Vainer plays both doubles and singles tennis.
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A Brief History of the Channel Slam in Tennis
- 2. Eric Vainer, a credentialed pedorthist serving Brooklyn’s PALA Community Care as administrative director, enjoys staying active by playing tennis. Eric Vainer plays both doubles and singles tennis. The sport of tennis can be played on a variety of unique surfaces, including clay and grass. These two surfaces encourage different styles of play, one of the reasons why achieving the Channel Slam in professional tennis is such a difficult task. The Channel Slam is an informal accomplishment attributed to a player who wins the French Open on clay in Paris, France, before subsequently winning the Wimbledon trophy on grass in London, England, during the same season.
- 3. Grass tennis courts, like those found at Wimbledon, play more quickly than almost any other recognized court surface. Balls do not bounce very high on grass, making slice shots an advisable attack. Clay courts, meanwhile, represent the slowest surface on the professional tennis tour. Tennis balls bounce much higher on clay and top spin shots can be highly effective. The differences between the clay and grass surfaces are amplified by the fact that no two other major tournaments are held so close together. Four months separate the opening rounds of the Australian Open and French Open, while Wimbledon and the U.S. Open begin two months apart.
- 4. During some seasons, the first round of the French Open and Wimbledon can occur with just 30 days between. To date only 10 players have achieved tennis’s Channel Slam, beginning with Australian great Rod Laver in 1969. Billie Jean King became the first female player to achieve the feat during the Open Era in 1972, while Bjorn Borg became the first multi-Channel Slam winner, taking both crowns three times each between 1978 and 1980. Steffi Graf owns a record four Channel Slams, while Rafael Nadal most recently achieved the mark in 2010.