GRAND SLAM v. Grand slam

In the card game Bridge, a grand slam is a bid to win all thirteen tricks, and I dare not venture into that cerebral world.

Though I am small, only 5’1” (in centimetres, 155) tall and weigh about 53 kilograms (117 pounds), I was slightly up the ladder from a spectator in golf and tennis, two physical sports (golf is much more than a walk in the park, for the uninitiated). I have spent quite a sum of money playing Par 3 golf, played a lot more tennis, but only on public courts, a long, long time ago. Yes, I played them at the lowest levels but follow them (even now) at the highest as they hold a fascination for me.

Yes, I connected Bridge, golf and tennis, through the term, “Grand Slam”. That is how I started this piece. And, there is a reason behind this. “Grand Slam” is not easy to achieve, in any of the games/sports. It is a special achievement.

Bobby Jones won The Open (The Brits are too snooty to identify any of their events in any plebeian way by identifying it with a nation/kingdom; Wimbledon is The Championships, if I need to jog your brain cells), the British Amateur, the United States Open and the United States Amateur, holding all the four major trophies at the same time. That was, to my knowledge the first instance of “Grand Slam” being used in anything other than Bridge.

The last time anyone won the Grand Slam in tennis was in 1988, Steffi Graf winning French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and the Australian Open. Her gold medal winning effort at the Olympics was added to the list of the majors (repeating once every four years) that year, making it a Golden Slam.

But, when you Google Steffi Graf, the first result marks “Grand slams won (singles) 22”. Bobby Jones won one Grand Slam, Don Budge, one, Rod Laver, two, Margaret Court, one, Steffi Graf, one. Oops, Steffi Graf won22 Grand Slams!

I pulled a fast one on you! Steffi won 1 Grand Slam and 22 Grand slam (women singles) titles. Note the difference, the uppercase ‘S’ in the first and the detail in the second. But, in these days of SMS, WhatsApp, Twitter, who cares about uppercase letters? Hence, no difference between “Grand Slam” and “Grand slam titles”! Indeed, “title” has gone for a toss in most mainstream media outlets and “Grand slam” has become a synonym for “Grand Slam”!

 Now, how do you square this circle? Now, a Grand Slam has lost its connection with Bridge and also with golf. No one has come close to winning the Grand Slam of Golf (which now lists The Masters [Bobby Jones tournament], The Open, the United States Open and the United States PGA tournament).

Now, after my extended foray into history (of recent vintage), I step into the present. I am a big fan of Novak Djokovic; just the way I slowly started admiring Ivan Lendl. If you seriously watched them play, you would definitely go “Oooh! Aaah...!” or "Arh...! a few times in a match. But ... these are not like Roger Federer or John McEnroe, who gave you a plenty of such moments in a game, not to mention a set or a match.

I believe we may pit this difference to the so-called “innate talent”.

Yes, I would really have been thrilled had Djokovic gone on to win The Championships. But, it is not to be. Even then, unless Djokovic had won the US Open in September, to my mind, he would not have been a true Grand Slam champion. He is already a “Calendar Grand slam champion”, but he is NOT a “Grand Slam Champion”.

Because, to be true “Grand Slam Champion” is something different, much higher than “Career Grand slam”, “Calendar Grand slam” and other sham “Grand slam”s that are conjured by the media gone hyperbolic.

There was only one potential male singles Grand Slam Champion – the pinnacle title, along with its counterpart for the women – over the past 42 years. It was 1974, when Connors was barred – and he was at the peak that year, winning French, Wimbledon and US Open – from playing in the French Open. If you discount the contra-factual scenario, let us just say that Connors won that year’s French Open too. This is how close any male tennis player got to a true Grand Slam accomplishment since Laver in 1969.

When Djokovic lost in the current edition of The Championship, I had ambivalent feelings. I was sad the way I would have been when Lendl lost late in his career. I was happy that at least now the media may understand the true accomplishment of a Don Budge, a Rod Laver, a Margaret Court, a Steffi Graf and also how close Connors, Lew Hoad and now Djokovic came to that supreme position only to stumble at the ultimate or penultimate step. Add to this, year 2015 and Leander Pais missing out on French Open while capturing the other three.

That is how great a GRAND SLAM is, by recognizing the great talents that failed (Djokovic may still achieve that status, but as of this moment he starts from scratch at the next year’s Australian Open). Add Roger Federer, John McEnroe, Ivan Lendl, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg (Oh, that French Open finals that he lost to Michael Chang, such a heart break), Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert ... to this list of never to be ...

Then, to say that Steffi Graf has won 22 Grand slam singles titles has the tone of the nanosized disclaimers one sees in advertisements. Tut, tut ...

A Grand Slam is a Grand Slam and all the others are merely major titles.

Raghuram Ekambaram