Grand Slam (tennis) the championships of Australia, France, the United States of America and Wimbledon. Players who hold all four of these titles in one calendar year achieve the 'Grand Slam'." When Martina Navratilova won the 1984 French Open and became the reigning champion of all four women's singles events, she was the first player to receive the bonus prize in recognition of her achievement. Some media outlets did, indeed, say that she had won a Grand Slam. Others simply noted the ongoing controversy: "Whether the Slam was Grand or Bland or a commercial sham tainted with an asterisk the size of a
Tennis court Slam tournament to use clay courts. Clay courts slow down the ball and produce a high bounce in comparison to grass or hard courts. For this reason, the clay court takes away many of the advantages of big serves, which makes it hard for serve-based players to dominate on the surface. Clay courts are cheaper to construct than other types of tennis courts, but a clay surface costs more to maintain. Clay courts need to be rolled to preserve flatness. The clay's water content must be balanced; green clay courts generally require the courts to be sloped to allow water