The 2025 Grand Slam season is already underway after the conclusion of the Australian Open, with some significant ATP tournaments coming up over the coming weeks.
Jannik Sinner defended the Australian Open after beating Alexander Zverev in a straight sets final victory to claim his third major title.
However, the Italian has faced a significant setback since, with Sinner accepting a three month ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) following his two positive anti-doping tests last year.
While in the women’s Australian Open event, Madison Keys won her first Grand Slam title after ending the winning streak of Aryna Sabalenka.
The American appears to have been a popular champion, with Keys receiving many messages of congratulations from her colleagues.
The Italian Open make a massive bid to acquire the Madrid Open
The next official Grand Slam event is Roland Garros, but there are two tournaments that come before then that could be attempting to form a fifth major.
According to La Stampa, the Italian Tennis and Padel Federation (FITP) have made a former offer to acquire the Madrid Open.
This offer is said to be in the region of $550 million, as the Italian Open look to take obtain the Madrid Open’s spot in the calendar to become a two week event.
Both the Madrid Open and the Italian Open already take place over 12 days after expanding in 2023.
To join the likes of the Australian Open, Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open and become the fifth major, the Italian Open would need approval from the official Grand Slam committee.
Last year, the joint ATP/WTA 1000 tournament was won by Zverev and Iga Swiatek, who claimed her third Italian Open after beating Sabalenka in the final.
The most successful player in the Italian Open’s history is Rafael Nadal, who has won most singles titles in the tournament’s history (10).
The Italian Open will also host the return of Sinner this year, as the three month ban will enable him to return for his home Masters 1000 tournament.
When did the four Grand Slams first take place?
The four Grand Slam tournaments that have become synonymous with professional tennis have stood side-by-side since 1925, when the then called French Championships (Roland Garros) became a major international event.
Wimbledon was the first to take place in 1877, but the US Open has actually held more editions since then with 145.
Another big change to the Grand Slams over the years has been the surface, with three of the four majors being played on grass until 1974 (Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open).
The US Open even made a brief switch to clay courts for the 1975, 1976 and 1977 editions.
| Grand Slam | First edition | Men’s singles player with the most titles | Women’s singles player with the most titles |
| Australian Open | 1905 | Novak Djokovic (10) | Margaret Court (11) |
| Roland Garros | 1925 | Rafael Nadal (14) | Chris Evert (7) |
| Wimbledon | 1877 | Roger Federer (8) | Martina Navratilova (9) |
| US Open | 1881 | Bill Tilden, Richard Sears and William Larned (7) | Molla Mallory (8) |
Continuing its innovation to this day, the US Open has changed a historic event for 2025 that has received a strong reaction.
A lot of this response has been negative, with last year’s US Open champions slamming the tournament in a strongly worded statement.
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