Grand Slam tournaments attract immense media attention, massive fan following and offer attractive prizes for winners. The four majors include the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open and French Open. A total of 128 players qualify for the Grand Slam tournament. Discussed below are the ways a player can be eligible for this tournament.
Ranking
Among the 128 players who participate in majors, 104 are selected through ranking. The players ranked best 104 in the world qualify for the majors. However, it is important to note the protected ranking. This means players might be injured for more than six months, which makes them unable to play; hence they are not among the 104 ranked players; they may still participate in the tournament due to their protected ranking. This will disqualify a player rated among the best 104 players.
Qualifiers
A total of 16 players get to the Grand Slam tournament through Qualifiers. The four majors hold the Qualifying tournament, and for a player to qualify, he/she has to win three matches in the qualifying tournament. Also, for a player to participate in the qualifying tournament, he/she has to be between 105-232th best-ranked players worldwide.
Wildcards
The other eight players gain a ticket to the Grand Slam tournament via Wildcards. Wildcards are given to certain players such as fan specific, young talents, home county players, previously ranked high among others. Wildcards are, however, not granted to players who have participated in the qualifiers.
Exchange Wildcards
The Wildcards can also be attained via exchanges. For instance, Australian Open tournament directors give a French player the Wildcard, a ticket to their tournament. Then during the French Open, French directors give Wildcard to an Australian player.
There you have it, folks, the four ways players qualify for the Grand Slam tournament. Now you know the long journey it takes to be a champion.