The career Grand Slam is the sport's ultimate individual honour: winning the singles titles at all three of the game's major competitions, the World Championships, the World Cup and the Olympic Games, over the course of a career. It is exceptionally rare. Liu Guoliang became the first man to achieve it, completing the set in 1999. Zhang Jike holds the record for the fastest, sweeping all three in just 445 days.
The ball was enlarged from 38mm to 40mm after the 2000 Sydney Olympics to slow rallies slightly and make the ball more visible for television, since the previous game had become extremely fast in the speed-glue era. In 2014 the material changed from flammable celluloid to a seamless 40+ plastic (poly) ball, driven by manufacturing and safety concerns as celluloid production declined.
Pick two names from this sport’s all-time list. The larger number in each shared stat is highlighted.
| Stat | Ma Long | Jan-Ove Waldner |
|---|
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The career Grand Slam is the sport's ultimate individual honour: winning the singles titles at all three of the game's major competitions, the World Championships, the World Cup and the Olympic Games, over the course of a career. It is exceptionally rare. Liu Guoliang became the first man to achieve it, completing the set in 1999. Zhang Jike holds the record for the fastest, sweeping all three in just 445 days.
The ball was enlarged from 38mm to 40mm after the 2000 Sydney Olympics to slow rallies slightly and make the ball more visible for television, since the previous game had become extremely fast in the speed-glue era. In 2014 the material changed from flammable celluloid to a seamless 40+ plastic (poly) ball, driven by manufacturing and safety concerns as celluloid production declined.
The two grips define how a player holds the racket. The shakehand grip resembles a handshake, wrapping the hand around the handle, and offers balanced power on both forehand and backhand; it dominates the modern game. The penhold grip pinches the handle between thumb and forefinger like holding a pen, historically favouring a devastating forehand and quick wrist but a weaker backhand.
Since 2001, games are played to 11 points rather than the old 21, and a player must win by at least two points, so a tight game can extend into deuce past 11. Service alternates every two points, switching to every point once the score reaches 10-10. A match is the best of an odd number of games, most commonly best of five (first to three games) or best of seven (first to four) at major events.
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