The exception to this rule were the claycourts of mainland Europe. "[1], Combining the Grand Slam and the non-calendar-year Grand Slam, only eight singles players on 11 occasions achieved the feat of being the reigning champion of all four majors, three men (Don Budge, Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic)[120] and five women (Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams).[121]. Henri Cochet, Rene Lacoste, Jean Borotra and Jacques Brugnon represented the French national team in 1923 for the first time at the Davis Cup. It just might give you a better understanding of why certain players are better suited to certain conditions. Roger Federer and Pete Sampras, in that order, are the greatest grass court players in the Open era. [93] The tournament constantly changed venues in its early years,[94] with each discipline continuing to be held separately at various venues until 1923, when the tournament settled at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City. The tournaments are overseen by the International Tennis Federation (ITF),[3] rather than the separate men and women's tour organizing bodies, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA), but both the ATP and WTA award ranking points based on players' performances in them. The four Grand Slam tournaments are played on three different surfaces. [9][13] A new category of "Official Championships" was created for the national championships of Britain, France, Australia, and the US. Would they have been any less an achievement had the sequence started, say, at the French or at Wimbledon? [64] Before then, the World Hard Court Championships was considered the premier clay championship in France as it admitted international competitors, and it is therefore often seen as the true precursor to the modern French Open. Since 1987. Court, Hart, and Navratilova are the only players to have completed a "Boxed Set", that is, winning all four major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.[125]. With this, the French Open became open for amateurs and other players around the world to compete in. His 11 titles in Roland Garros and 57 titles on clay courts are an all-time record.