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If golf has its Majors, tennis has its grand slams.
The grand slam tournaments in tennis are the four major events of the professional tennis season. Not only are these the biggest events in terms of media coverage and strength of the field, but these grand slam tournaments also offer the most prize money and rankings points.
The four grand slam tournaments of tennis are the Australian Open which is played in January, the French Open which is played in May through early June, Wimbledon which is held in June-July and the U.S. Open which is held in August-September of each year. The Australian Open and the U.S. Open are played on the hard court while Wimbledon is played on grass. On the other hand, the French Open is played on the clay surface.
The term “grand slam” originally refers to winning the four major tennis tournaments in the same calendar year. Winning all four major tennis tournaments not during the calendar year but in succession is called the non-calendar grand slam while winning all four tournaments during one’s career is called a career grand slam. If the grand slam happens on an Olympic year and the player also wins the gold medal during the Olympic games, it is called a golden grand slam or the golden slam. If the player wins the year-end ATP Finals (for the men) and the WTA Finals (for women) as well as the four grand slam tournaments, that achievement is called the super grand slam or super slam.
The grand slam has been achieved 19 times in the history of professional tennis with Margaret Court winning one singles grand slam and two mixed grand slams. On the other hand, fellow Australian Rod Laver won two singles grand slams during his career. As for the non-calendar grand slam, four players have achieved the feat.
Novak Djokovic achieved it by winning four straight titles beginning the 2015 Wimbledon to the 2016 Australian Open. Three female tennis players achieved the feat and these were Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams who did it twice.
This year, the first grand slam of the year is done and the winners of the 2019 Australian Open were Novak Djokovic and Naomi Osaka for the men’s and women’s title, respectively. The next grand slam is the 2019 French Open which will be held from May 26, 2019, to June 9, 2016, at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France.
Like other sports, these big events have prop bets attached to them. In the case of the tennis grand slams, the current available prop bets for them are the ones that ask how many grand slams will some top players win this year.
Here are the 2019 tennis grand slam prop bets at mybookie.ag as of 4/29/19:
How Many Grand Slams Will Alexander Zverev Win in 2019?
- None -500
- One +330
- Two +3300
- Three +15000
Alexander Zverez is the youngest player ranked in the Top 3 by the ATP. He is the reigning ATP Finals champion. Zverev won four tournaments in 2018: the Nitto ATP Finals, Citi Open Washington, ATP Masters Madrid 1000 and the BMW Open in Munich. As for grand slams, Zverev has never made it past the quarterfinals of any grand slam event. His only quarterfinals appearance was during last year’s French Open. So while the French Open is coming up and it’s where he’s made his best mark in a grand slam, I don’t think Zverev can win it all. Not at a tournament where Rafael Nadal has historically dominated. That’s because Zverev has never beaten Nadal in his career. 2019 should be another good year for the improving Zverev but I don’t think he’s winning his first slam this year.
Prediction: None
How Many Grand Slams Will Novak Djokovic Win in 2019?
- One +200
- Two +125
- Three +275
- Four +1000
Djokovic already won the Australian Open so that’s already one for him. Djokovic has won a total of 15 grand slam tournaments in his career in a total of 24 grand slam finals appearances. Seven of those titles were won in Australia while four were at Wimbledon, three at the U.S. Open and one at Roland Garros.
While Djokovic won the French Open in 2016, he hasn’t been able to get past the quarterfinals in the past two years. So while he’s on a roll having won the last three grand slam tournaments, I don’t think he is going to complete a second non-calendar grand slam with Nadal playing at Roland Garros. Nadal leads their head to head series 6-1 at the French Open.
As for Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, no question Djokovic will be among the favorites as he’s won both grand slams last year. Djokovic has won four out of the last eight Wimbledons and two out of the last four U.S. Opens. Those 50% winning clips are impressive but these two tournaments are still too far to accurately predict. Going by that 50% probability though and his current form, I think Djokovic wins one of those two grand slams, to finish the year with two.
Prediction: Two
How Many grand slams will Rafael Nadal win in 2019?
- None +160
- One +125
- Two +500
- Three +5000
Rafael Nadal was runner-up to Djokovic in the Australian Open so that shows you that Rafa is still in excellent form. Now when it comes to the French Open, Roland Garros and Rafael Nadal are synonymous. Known as the “King of Clay”, the 32-year old Spaniard and world #2 has won a record 11 French Open titles and a career total of 57 clay court tournaments, also a record.
Not Convinced? Well, let me tell you that Nadal’s French Open career record is 86-3. Nadal has won 11 out of the last 14 French Open titles and that 79% winning rate is unbelievable really. Currently. He’s won the last two and should be the favorite again this year. As for Wimbledon, he’s not won at the All-England Club since 2010 and has made it to at least the semifinals only twice since his last win. Nadal won the U.S. Open in 2017 and was a semifinalist there last year but if Djokovic is healthy, I don’t think Nadal wins the U.S. Open. However, I think the French Open is a very high possibility.
Prediction: One
How Many Grand Slams Will Roger Federer Win in 2019?
- None -350
- One +220
- Two +2500
- Three +15000
Federer has won more grand slam tournaments than any other male tennis player in history. But the Federer Express has been slowed down by injuries and age. The 37-year old Swiss master’s last grand slam win was at the 2018 Australian Open. He did not make it past the quarterfinals in the other three grand slam tournaments of 2018.
Federer has won at Roland Garros only once and that was in 2009. He’s made the finals just once after that win. Federer has won a record 8 Wimbledon championships and he won there in 2017. Federer has not won the U.S. Open since 2008 and has made the finals only twice in the last 10 years.
Ranked #4, I think Federer still has what it takes to compete at a high level. However, it’s obvious that time has caught up with the Federer Express.
Prediction: None
