Mahendra Singh Dhoni is used to having women around him.

Now, they will become a regular fixture in his life. 

Police in his hometown of Ranchi have assigned him five women bodyguards to keep unwanted admirers at bay.

The decision to give India`s ODI captain the new security detail comes after two recent incidents in which female fans tried to throw themselves on their heartthrob in order to gain his attention, Ranchi police chief MS Bhatia said on Tuesday.

Bhatia said the female cops had been given special training to protect Dhoni from unwanted advances.

Dhoni, known for his good looks and swashbuckling batting, is also rumoured to be India`s most saleable cricketer, ahead of even Sachin Tendulkar.

He has already been given ``Z-class`` security - the highest level - usually reserved for the Prime Minister and other senior political figures.

Image: Three of the five female bodyguards can be seen outside Dhoni’s home in Ranchi.

Matthew Hayden's comment about India being a "third world" country came in for a scathing attack from former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram who said the Australians have a habit of bad-mouthing their opponents whenever they lose.

Akram said the Aussies were "sore losers" and that Hayden should have known that India was now hundred years ahead of Australia "which is no more than a village."

"The thing about the Aussies is that they are sore losers. They get personal when they get beaten. It is all a matter of sour grapes and after going home, they've started calling India a third-world country", Akram told ESPN Mobile from Karachi.

"India is a superpower now; it is a hundred years ahead of Australia, which is no more than a village, as compared to India. You don't blame sightscreens for poor over rates. Even Allan Border was critical of Australian tactics on the pitch," Akram said.

Akram's stinging reaction came a day after the BCCI reacted strongly to Hayden's remark, saying such a comment about India was totally uncalled for from the Australian opener.

Back home after the 2-0 series defeat, Hayden spoke about, what he perceived, poor ground conditions and inordinate delays during the matches "that happen in Third World countries".

"This was a completely uncalled for remark by him. A player of his stature should not have made the comment," BCCI's Finance Committee Chairman Rajiv Shukla had said on Friday.

"If slow-over rate is your habit, why blame India for that and call India third world? We are a very prestigious nation and it was not a nice comment by him," Shukla said.

Hayden made a list of things which he felt resulted in Australia's slow over-rates in the series against India.

He alleged the Indian batsmen were reluctant to "face up" quickly enough and there was constant movements around sightscreens.

"They (opposition batsmen) are very difficult to get to face up," Hayden said.

"Often we find ourselves with hands on hips waiting for someone to either face up or someone in the sightboard to move away; all the little frustrations that happen in Third World countries and the heat as well," he added.

India's Jeev Milkha Singh won a nail-biting Singapore Open on Sunday after Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els missed putts to take the $5 million event to play-off. 

Singh, who virtually sealed the Asian order of merit title with the win, started the day five shots behind leader Chapchai Nirat of Thailand but three birdies on the front nine helped him to the top of the leaderboard at seven-under par. 

Three-time major winner Harrington looked certain to force a play-off after a stunning fairway wood gave him the chance of birdie at the last, but the Irishman's five-foot putt leaked across the face of the hole. 

"I couldn't have asked for better," the 36-year-old Singh said in a television interview. "I'm a very fortunate man to win. The golfing gods were on my side." 

Els moved within a shot of leader Singh with a birdie at the 16th, but a poor tee-shot on 18 left him with too much to do and the South African's birdie putt came up just short. 

Chapchai, who fired a spectacular eagle on the par-four 11th to pull two shots clear of the field on Saturday before fading light forced the players off the course, started the final round at 10-under-par, three ahead of local hope Lam Chih Bing. 

However, his challenge crumbled with a succession of bogeys and the stocky Thai slumped to a seven-over par 78 for the final round. 

World number three Phil Mickelson also had a disappointing fourth round, which included an ugly triple-bogey eight, and finished the tournament six shots behind the winner, while Singapore's Lam carded a shocking 79. 

Singh takes home a winner's cheque for $792,500. 

India's one-day and Twenty20 captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Monday chosen for Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award, the country's highest honour for a sportsperson. An expert committee, chaired by Milkha Singh , met on Monday to discuss the nominees and decided to confer the award on Dhoni for leading India to the Twenty20 World Cup triumph. It makes him only the second cricketer after Sachin Tendulkar to get the honour. Sources in the Sports Ministry, however, informed that an official announcement will follow only after August 20. The Board of Control for Cricket in India's Chief Administrative Officer Ratnakar Shetty hailed the decision. "On two occasions we felt let down, when Rahul Dravid didn't get Khel Ratna and Yuvraj (Singh) was denied the Arjuna. "Dravid was in good form, we had won 16 ODIs on the trot and the team was on a high -- still he did not get the award. "Yuvraj too was unlucky not to get Arjuna after two years of consistent performance. We are happy Dhoni got it," he told Times Now channel. Shetty said what impressed him most about Dhoni was the way he conducted himself. "What I like most about 'Mahi', apart from his cricket, is the way he leads. He is a cool customer and never gets agitated. I'm also impressed by his clarity of thought. He speaks his mind even if it may not be seen in the right sense," he added.

There has been a lot of talk over the past couple of years: whether Sania Mirza is all media hype and little substance, that she’s glamour, glitz and good looks but her on-court performances don’t match the build-up.

Much as she has tried to counter this she has had her critics who keep pointing out to her record. And if anything her steep fall in the rankings would give her detractors a lot of ammunition.

In the latest WTA chart she has slid to as low as 91. It is not that she has been playing badly; the fact is that she’s hardly been playing at all and that’s her problem.

At the moment there is the risk of Sania moving out of the top 100 for the first time since 2004 and that was the year when she first starting making headlines, forcing people to sit up and take notice, not only of her good looks but also her game based on attacking ground strokes.

This has clearly been her worst year, thanks to a combination of poor form and injuries. But when you are playing at the international level you have to posses a high level of fitness, and one wonders whether Sania is in the zone as far as this very important aspect of the game is concerned.

Sania withdrew from the just concluded US Open due to injury and in one week dropped 21 places. She started the year ranked in the early 30s and at Wimbledon was seeded No. 32 - the first time an Indian woman was seeded at the premier tournament.

However, she did her cause no good by losing in the second round to a player ranked No. 101 in three sets – after having four match points. Earlier, she had pulled out of the French Open following a capsule tear on her right wrist. She underwent surgery after injuring her wrist during a tournament in Indiana Wells in March. She missed her first Grand Slam after playing 13 majors in a row but her withdrawal from the US Open really hurt her rankings.

It must also not be forgotten that she made an early exit at the Beijing Olympics due to the niggling wrist injury. She was forced to concede her opening round match to Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic after trailing 1-6, 1-2. Compounding her problem is the fact that has also seven positions in her doubles ranking dropping to 44th place.

Sania has been advised rest by her doctor after undergoing intensive tests and one does not know when she will return – if at all with there being a little over two months left in the season. It’s certainly been a year to forget for Sania. In fact more than her inconsistency and injuries the issue that divided the tennis fraternity in the country right down the centre was her decision to skip the prestigious Bangalore Open in March.

It certainly was unexpected to put it mildly. Even though she has had more than her share of controversies during her career, hardly anyone would have expected her to skip a WTA event being played in her own country. After all she was in good form as her showing in the Australian Open confirmed – she lost to the higher ranked Venus Williams in two hard fought sets – and her only WTA title has come her way when she was playing in her hometown Hyderabad in 2005.

Obviously the dramatic decision could not have been a sudden one and there was plenty of thought involved before Sania decided that the pressures of playing at home were just too much.

Right from the time she announced her arrival on the big stage she has been in the news for both the right and wrong reasons. A sportsman or woman cannot attract attention only for the right reasons always, and over a period he or she learns to take the rough with the smooth, the downs with the ups but Sania has felt she has been receiving a raw deal particularly when playing at home.

Sania obviously was rattled by a court case which alleged she showed disrespect to her national flag, an offence punishable by jail. For all, her popularity she has had to pay a price and has been at the centre of a number of controversies. Soon after rising to prominence she faced an edict from a radical Muslim group who decreed that her playing attire was unsuitable.

A couple of years ago she made some comments about pre-marital sex that did not go down well with certain groups and when queried about this by the media an upset Sania walked out of the press conference. Then late last year she apologised to Muslim officials in her hometown Hyderabad following a police complaint for trespass after she shot an advertisement film in a mosque.

A couple of days after opting out of the Bangalore tournament Sania in an interview with a news agency that she was forced to skip the tournament as she was not in the right frame of mind to do justice to her ability. `This is the first time in my career that I have not entered an international tournament being played in India for genuine personal reasons. If I played in this state, I would have let my fans down.`

Sania is of the view that no sportsperson in India had undergone such turbulence and she obviously felt she was being singled out for whatever reason. But even away from home when she is not under the same pressure, she has hardly played to her potential. Her showing at Wimbledon is a case in point.

The fact remains that she has to first get fully fit and then play the kind of tennis that endeared her to the fans at home during the short period when she seemed bound for greater things. Otherwise even the media hype around her will grind to a halt.

Chess World Champion Viswanathan Anand poses with his trophy after defending his title against runner-up and challenger Vladimir Kramnik of Russia in Bonn October 29, 2008.

WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: It's his third world chess title, but the relief at winning this one is palpable and the joy is unbridled. ''I'm just exhausted, man,'' Vishwanathan Anand told the Times of India, speaking on his cell phone from Bonn on the way back to his hotel to stash away his trophy before heading out for a Mexican dinner.

It's been so bad, he said, that he's not even followed the world financial crisis, let alone the Obamania that's sweeping America - something unusual for a guy who likes to stay on top of news and current events. But the preparation has been bruising, and his team of seconds is so overjoyed that everything panned out well that they are already out roistering, well before Anand and his wife Aruna can join them.

''I might surprise you guys this time,'' Anand joked, when asked if he would join them for a tipple.
But the man who is said to drink nothing stronger than tomato juice has sent the country's spirits soaring with a performance that will sparkle in the annals of sporting history that is getting richer by the year. It's not every day or every year that the Soviet/Russian/Central Asian chess dominance is challenged, and Vishwanathan Anand is starting to make it a habit.

The victory over Kramnik, a consummate artist, was especially sweet (Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers called it a battle between the painter and the philistine, so well-regarded is the Russian's sense of aesthetic play). But Anand is a stylist in his own right, and one of his fabulous win among the three in this series is set to go down as one of the great games in the chronicles of world championships.

''Kramnik does not lose three games in a year, forget three games in a series,'' Anand mused, ''So in that sense, I guess it was a comprehensive win.'' The fact that it finished one game ahead of the scheduled 12 means, Anand and Aruna can actually advance their plans to visit India, where doubtless a hero's welcome awaits him.

Asked to choose which was his favourite between the three world titles, Anand said they were all special. For us, too.

1. Highest Run scorer in the Test Cricket
2. First Cricketer to pass 12000 run in the Test Cricket
Records Held by Sachin Tendulkar
1. Highest Run scorer in the ODI
2. Most number of hundreds in the ODI 41
3. Most number of nineties in the ODI
4. Most number of man of the matches(56) in the ODI's
5. Most number of man of the series(14) in ODI's
6. Best average for man of the matches in ODI's
7. First Cricketer to pass 10000 run in the ODI
8. First Cricketer to pass 15000 run in the ODI
9. He is the highest run scorer in the world cup (1,796 at an average of 59.87 as on 20 March 2007)
10. Most number of the man of the matches in the world cup
11. Most number of runs 1996 world cup 523 runs in the 1996 Cricket World Cup at an average of 87.16
12. Most number of runs in 2003 World Cup - 673 runs in 2003, highest by any player in a single Cricket World Cup
13. He was Player of the World Cup Tournament in the 2003 Cricket World Cup.
14. Most number of Fifties in ODI's 87
15. Appeared in Most Number of ODI's 407
16. He is the only player to be in top 10 ICC ranking for 10 years.
17. Most number of 100's in test's 38
18. He is one of the three batsmen to surpass 11,000 runs in Test cricket, and the first Indian to do so
19. He is thus far the only cricketer to receive the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India's highest sporting honor
20. In 2003, Wisden rated Tendulkar as d No. 1 and Richards at No. 2 in all time Greatest ODI player
21. In 2002, Wisden rated him as the second greatest Test batsman after Sir Donald Bradman.
22. he was involved in unbroken 664-run partnership in a Harris Shield game in 1988 with friend and team mate Vinod Kambli,
23. Tendulkar is the only player to score a century in all three of his Ranji Trophy, Duleep Trophy and Irani Trophy debuts
24. In 1992, at the age of 19, Tendulkar became the first overseas born player to represent Yorkshire
25. Tendulkar has been granted the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Arjuna Award and Padma Shri by Indian government. He is the only Indian cricketer to get all of them.
26. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 runs in a calendar year in ODI's 7 times
27. Tendulkar has scored 1894 runs in calendar year in ODI's most by any batsman
28. He is the highest earning cricketer in the world
29. He has the least percentage of the man of the matches awards won when team looses a match.. Out of his 56 man of the match awards only 5 times India has lost.
30. Tendulkar most number man of match awards(10) against Australia
31. In August of 2003, Sachin Tendulkar was voted as the "Greatest Sportsman" of the country in the sport personalities category in the Best of India poll conducted by Zee News.
32. In November 2006, Time magazine named Tendulkar as one of the Asian Heroes.
33. In December 2006, he was named "Sports person of the Year
34. The current India Poised campaign run by The Times of India has nominated him as the Face of New India next to the likes of Amartya Sen and Mahatma Gandhi among others.
35. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 50 centuries in international cricket
36. Tendulkar was the first batsman in history to score over 75 centuries in international cricket:79 centuries
37. Has the most overall runs in cricket, (ODIs+Tests+ Twenty20s) , as of 30 June 2007 he had accumulated almost 26,000 runs overall.
38. Is second on the most number of runs in test cricket just after Brian Lara
39. Sachin Tendulkar with Sourav Ganguly hold the world record for the maximum number of runs scored by the opening partnership. They have put together 6,271 runs in 128 matches
40. The 20 century partnerships for opening pair with Sourav Ganguly is a world record
41. Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid hold the world record for the highest partnership in ODI matches when they scored 331 runs against New Zealand in 1999
42. Sachin Tendulkar has been involved in six 200 run partnerships in ODI matches - a record that he shares with Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid
43. Most Centuries in a calendar year: 9 ODI centuries in 1998
44. Only player to have over 100 innings of 50+ runs (41 Centuries and 87 Fifties)(as of 18th Nov, 2007)
45. the only player ever to cross the 13,000-14,000 and 15,000 run marks IN ODI.
46. Highest individual score among Indian batsmen (186* against New Zealand at Hyderabad in 1999).
47. The score of 186* is listed the fifth highest score recorded in ODI matches
48. Tendulkar has scored over 1000 ODI runs against all major Cricketing nations.
49. Sachin was the fastest to reach 10,000 runs taking 259 innings and has the highest batting average among batsmen with over 10,000 ODI runs
50. Most number of Stadium Appearances: 90 different Grounds
51. Consecutive ODI Appearances: 185
52. On his debut, Sachin Tendulkar was the second youngest debutant in the world
53. When Tendulkar scored his maiden century in 1990, he was the second youngest to score a century
54. Tendulkar's record of five test centuries before he turned 20 is a current world record
55. Tendulkar holds the current record (217 against NZ in 1999/00 Season) for the highest score in Test cricket by an Indian when captaining the side
56. Tendulkar has scored centuries against all test playing nations.[7] He was the third batman to achieve the distinction after Steve Waugh and Gary Kirsten
57. Tendulkar has 4 seasons in test cricket with 1000 or more runs - 2002 (1392 runs), 1999 (1088 runs), 2001 (1003 runs) and 1997 (1000 runs).[6] Gavaskar is the onlyother Indian with four seasons of 1000+ runs
58. He is second most number of seasons with over 1000 runs in world.
59. On 3 January 2007 Sachin Tendulkar (5751) edged past Brian Lara's (5736) world record of runs scored in Tests away from home
60. Tendulkar and Brian Lara are the fastest to score 10,000 runs in Test cricket history. Both of them achieved this in 195 innings
61. Second Indian after Sunil Gavaskar to make over 10,000 runs in Test matches
62. Became the first Indian to surpass the 11,000 Test run mark and the third International player behind Allan Border and Brian Lara.
63. Tendulkar is fourth on the list of players with most Test caps. Steve Waugh (168 Tests), Allan Border (158 Tests), Shane Warne (145 Tests) have appeared in more games than Tendulkar
64. Tendulkar has played the most number of Test Matches(144) for India (Kapil Dev is second with 131 Test appearances) .
65. First to 25,000 international runs
66. Tendulkar's 25,016 runs in international cricket include 14,537 runs in ODI's, 10,469 Tests runs and 10 runs in the lone Twenty20 that India has played.
67. On December 10, 2005, Tendulkar made his 35th century in Tests at Delhi against Sri Lanka. He surpassed Sunil Gavaskar's record of 34 centuries to become the man with the most number of hundreds in Test cricket.
68. Tendulkar is the only player who has 150 wkts and more than 15000 runs in ODI
69. Tendulkar is the only player who has 40 wkts and more than 11000 runs in Tests
70. Only batsman to have 100 hundreds in the first class cricket No wonder he makes us proud, not just the Indians, but all cricket lovers worldwide!

JUMBO RETIRES

Anil Kumble has announced his retirement from cricket, saying the finger injury he sustained on the third day of the Test helped him make his decision. The news was made public minutes after the tea break on the final day; Kumble then bowled four overs before the match was called off as a draw.

"The body was asking questions every day," he said. "It was not easy to keep bowling the way I have been bowling the last 18 years, to keep going. The injury I had on the third day probably helped me make the decision."

The captaincy now passes on to Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who already leads India in the shorter forms of the game.

Kumble made the formal announcement at the post-match press conference, at which he received a standing ovation from the journalists crowded into the room. He doffed his cap and sat down to speak to the media one last time as an India player and captain. He stayed composed throughout the conference, which took place minutes after the emotional farewell he had received on the field.

Kumble had decided to quit last night but took his time in letting his team-mates know, lest it took their focus off the match. "I did inform my team-mates, who I have played with all these years, one by one during the day," Kumble said. "Then I informed the chairman of the selection committee just after lunch. I did inform the board as well."

It took a "nasty injury" to finally push Kumble into retirement. He has had a shoulder injury before, and has been troubled by it, but at 38, the "pretty deep" cut proved too much. "You could see the flesh. There are 11 stitches," Kumble said. "The doctor said I had to undergo the procedure under general anesthesia. I told him, 'If you give me general anesthesia I'll lose time, I'd like to go there and bowl.' He said 'Look, it's a medical decision, not a cricketing decision."

"The stitches will come out only on November 8, which is the third day of the Nagpur Test. I don't think it was easy for me to bat or field. I wouldn't have been 100% and I didn't want to let the team down. Anyway I had more or less decided this would be my last series."

Kumble has never given the team less than 100% and he said wanted to be remembered most for that. "I definitely put the team above self, right through my career," Kumble said. "I believe Indian cricket has certainly gone further from the time when I started, in terms of results, not just in India but also abroad.

"And I am confident that with this young team, with a few of the experienced senior players still being a part of the team, we have an opportunity to dominate world cricket and be No. 1 in all forms of the game. In one-day cricket we're pretty close to the top, in Twenty20 we're No. 1, I don't think we are that far behind in Tests as well and it will be great to see that happen."

An important part of that surge towards Test leadership would be a series win against Australia. Kumble said he will there in Nagpur to see whether the team can do that. "Ideally I would have liked to finish in Nagpur," Kumble said. "At this moment, I don't think I will be traveling with the team, but I will certainly go to Nagpur. I want to see Sourav's last Test match, and also wish Laxman on his 100th. And win the series. That is the ultimate goal for all of us. I would like to be a part of that."

It has been a long road for Kumble - 18 years - on which he has come across many highs and lows. "I had to go through a lot of things in the early part of my career," Kumble said. "People questioning my ability, my fitness, my form, my bowling and the effectiveness of my bowling. I had to go through that then, now right at the end of my career, and even in the middle.

In that sense, after the shoulder surgery [in 2001], I've done exceptionally well to have played eight years. To have bowled so many overs and to have got so many wickets, the second phase was certainly more satisfying. We had a lot more victories, not just in India but also abroad: especially the Australia series in 2004, the Pakistan series after that, West Indies and England where we won. All of them were a challenge and to come out triumphant was special."

The retirement decision, in the end, came easy for Kumble. "The body tells you how far you can go," he said. "I kept challenging - as a cricketer you are always competitive, always saying, 'I can do it'. Whether you can or not only time will tell. I kept getting responses from the body saying that you can't. I fought that, I took various painkillers and tried all sorts of things, but ultimately one injury to the hand said 'enough now'. I was also not bowling at my best and you want to keep performing at a level that you are satisfied with. That was not happening so I thought this was the right time to move on."

For a moment as emotional as this, Kumble ended on a humorous note. "At this moment I would like to thank my family, my parents, who gave me all the encouragement, supported me and asked me to bowl legspin. Although I am still trying to find out how I can bowl legspin.

"Thank you all for all the support I have received right through my career. I've built some great friendships and met some fantastic people along the way. You'll probably start calling me from tomorrow for quotes about somebody else. Give me a break for a couple of days and I'll certainly take all your calls." Like he has unfailingly answered the Indian team's calls for the last 18 years.

Two of his celebrated peers, Anil Kumble and Sourav Ganguly have decided to walk into the sunset after glorious careers but Sachin Tendulkar says his body is "doing fine" and he has no plans to retire in the immediate future.

"My body is doing fine and at the moment I am not thinking of any plans to retire. Normally I prefer to think of the present, not of what I am going to do in the next four, five of six years of my life," he said.

"If I think it is time to hang up I will let everybody know. There is nothing to hide in it. I know it will make news but that I don't think it is a negative news that I have to hide from everyone," he added.

Tendulkar was non-committal when asked if he was thinking of playing in the 2011 World Cup, which will be held in the sub-continent.

"I normally prefer to think of which match I am going to play next and what sort of planning I should do and which bowling attack would be used on me.

"Even if I have to play in 2011 World Cup it is 700 days to go. For now my focus is on the next four days against Australia," he told 'Aaj Tak'.

Tendulkar, who hit his 40th Test hundred in Nagpur, said he will miss Sourav Ganguly with whom he shared a special understanding on the filed while batting.

"I will definitely miss him. It happened many a times with Sourav that when we were on the wicket and between the overs we used to know looking at each other's face that there is a lot a of stress and the situation is important or whether it is necessary to relax.

A devotional song on Dhoni hugely popular among girls in Bihar

Cashing in on the huge fan following that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is enjoying, a music company released an album featuring a devotional song on Dhoni.

The song in the recently-released album, Baba ke nagariya bada pawan lage la, (Lord Shiva's abode is sacred to us), shows girls dancing and praying to Lord Shiva to grant them a husband like Dhoni.

Singer Saloni is quite happy having sung this song and she says that the song was purposely released just ahead of Shrawan month.

"Dhoni is liked by many. He is the first choice of many girls. This has been made keeping in mind their liking for Dhoni," said Saloni, singer.

The album coincides with the ongoing month of Shrawan in the Hindu calendar when festivals and special prayers to Lord Shiva are held. Unmarried girls thronghiva temples during the month to seek suitable husbands.

Dhoni was recently assigned an all-female group of bodyguards to keep unwanted admirers away.

Tennis as the modern sport can be dated to two separate roots. Between 1859 and 1865, Major Harry Gem and his friend Augurio Perera developed a game that combined elements of rackets similar to the game of Poona or Badminton many British soldiers brought from being stationed in India and the Basque ball game pelota, which they played on Perera's croquet lawn in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1872, along with two local doctors, they founded the world's first tennis club in Leamington Spa.The Courier of 23 July 1884 recorded one of the first tennis tournaments, held in the grounds of Shrubland Hall.

The first championships at Wimbledon in London were played in 1877

The comprehensive International Lawn Tennis Federation, now known as the International Tennis Federation, rules promulgated in 1924

In 1926, promoter C.C. Pyle established the first professional tennis tour with a group of American and French tennis players playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.

In 1954, Van Alen founded the International Tennis Hall of Fame, a non-profit museum in Newport, Rhode Island.

A competent tennis player has eight basic shots in his or her repertoire: the serve, forehand, backhand, volley, half-volley, overhead smash, drop shot, and lob.

he four Grand Slam tournaments are considered to be the most prestigious tennis tournaments in the world. They are held annually and include, in chronological order, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open

The Tennis Masters Series is a group of nine tournaments that form the second-highest echelon in men's tennis.

There are three main types of court surfaces, with one less common surface. Clay, Hard, Grass