The four Grand Slam tournaments, also called Majors, are the most important annual tennis events. They offer the most ranking points and prize money, the greatest strength and size of field, and attract the most public and media attention. The Grand Slam itinerary consists of the Australian Open in January, the French Open in May/June, Wimbledon in June/July, and the US Open in August/September. Each tournament is played over a period of two weeks. The Australian and US tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest Major, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891, and the Australian in 1905 (though, of these four, only Wimbledon was officially a major before 1924 – see 'The Grand Slam' section further down).
The term Grand Slam also, and originally, refers to the achievement of winning all four major championships in a single calendar year within one of the five disciplines: men's and women's singles; men's, women's, and mixed doubles. In doubles one team may accomplish a Grand Slam playing together or one player may achieve it with different partners. The term "Grand Slam" without qualification refers to winning the four majors in a single calendar year. However, the term "Grand Slam" when used with an indefinite article is widely accepted as referring to any one of the Majors (e.g. "Andy won a grand slam title this year").
Winning the four majors in consecutive tournaments but not in the same year is known as a Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam, while winning all four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a Career Grand Slam. Winning the Olympic gold medal in addition to the four majors in a one calendar year is known as a "Golden Grand Slam" or more commonly the "Golden Slam". Together, all four Majors in all three disciplines (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) are called a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles. No male player has won all twelve events in one calendar year but it has been done by three female players during their career.
Stade de Roland Garros ("Roland Garros Stadium") is a tennis venue located in Paris, France. It hosts the French Open tennis tournament (known as the Roland Garros Tournament within France), a Grand Slam event played annually in May and June. The facility was constructed in 1928 to host France's first defense of the Davis Cup. It is named for Roland Garros, a pioneer aviator (completed the first solo flight across the Mediterranean Sea), engineer (inventor of the first forward-firing aircraft machine gun), and World War I hero (the first pilot to shoot down five enemy aircraft, and to be called an "ace" for doing so), who was killed in aerial combat in 1918.
The 21-acre (8.5-hectare) complex contains twenty courts, including three large-capacity stadiums; Les Jardins de Roland-Garros, a large restaurant and bar complex; Le Village, the press and VIP area; France's National Training Centre (CNE); and the Tenniseum, a bilingual, multimedia museum of the history of tennis.