Grand Slam Cup

The Grand Slam Cup was a tennis tournament. It was an International Tennis Federation (ITF) event (like the Grand Slam events themselves), held every year in Munich, Germany, from 1990 to 1999.

Related Topics:
Tennis - International Tennis Federation - Grand Slam - Munich - Germany - 1990 - 1999

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The tournament was created in 1990 and was played between late-September and mid-October, on an indoor carpet court. Throughout its existence, it became famous for paying the highest prize money in the game, of USD$1.5 million. And according to the rules, if the tournament was won by a player who had also won one of the Grand Slam events that year, the winner would receive a bonus of USD$1 million. So, although the original amount of 1.5 million US dollars was already the biggest prize in the game, as many as 4 players (a quarter of the participants if each of the year's Grand Slam events had had a different winner) had a chance of pocketing USD$2.5 million.

Related Topics:
September - October - USD - Grand Slam

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The Grand Slam Cup was not recognized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), however, and thus participation in it did not count for any points in the world rankings and it was not considered an official career title.

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On December 9 1999, after the 1999 edition, a compromise was reached between the ITF and the ATP by which the Grand Slam Cup was merged with the ATP World Championship (the year end tournament), which was also held every year in Germany (but in Hannover), giving birth to the Tennis Masters Cup, which would be an itinerary event. Technically this was the end of the competition, since the general view is that the Tennis Masters Cup is a continuation of the World Championship, not the Grand Slam Cup.

Related Topics:
December 9 - Hannover - Tennis Masters Cup

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The direct result of this compromise can be seen in the qualification rules for the present Tennis Masters Cup, which do not exactly repeat those of the ATP World Championship. The World Championship was meant to include the eight best ranked players in a calendar year, which theoretically could exclude a Grand Slam champion who had not been able to earn sufficient ranking points in the rest of the year. Although the present rules also refer to the best 8 of the year, it contains a safeguard to ensure the participation of any Grand Slam champion who is unable to retain a top eight ranking until the end of the season. According to the present rules, the seven first players in the ATP Race qualify automatically. The eighth player, however, will only qualify if all Grand Slam events champions are among the eight first. Any Grand Slam event champion who is not in the top eight, but is still in the top twenty list, will be included to the detriment of the eighth best player in the year.

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This situation could be observed in the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup (in Houston, USA), where the 8th best player of the year, Andre Agassi of the United States, was excluded of the event in favor of Gaston Gaudio of Argentina, who had won that year's Roland Garros but was ranked 10th at the end of the year.

Related Topics:
2004 - Houston - USA - Andre Agassi - United States - Gaston Gaudio - Argentina - Roland Garros

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