2006 US Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal at Roland Garros. Also, he reached a record-equalling 10th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal appearance (streak started at the 2004 Wimbledon Championships), after Rod Laver and Ivan Lendl. This tournament was Andre Agassi's last professional appearance. He played his last match against Benjamin Becker and retired after the US Open. Future champion Juan Martín del Potro made his first appearance in the main draw of the US Open. This was also the first Grand Slam tournament in which future World No. 1's Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were seeded. They were seeded 20th and 17th respectively. The seeded players
Grand Slam (tennis) clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, and the Australian in 1905. However, of these four, only Wimbledon was a major before 1924–25, when all four became designated Grand Slam tournaments. Skipping majors—especially the Australian Open because of the remoteness, the inconvenient dates (around Christmas and New Year's Day) and the low prize money—was not unusual before 1982. Grand Slam tournaments are not operated by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) or the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), but by the International Tennis Federation (ITF). However,