We hear a lot about the “fifth Grand Slam” in tennis. In some ways, the phrase makes about as much sense as the “fifth Beatle” once did. Tennis has four majors, the same way pop music has a Fab Four; why mess with perfection? Yet each year during Beijing, I’m tempted to think about it again. The China Open is already dual-gender, it’s already a top-level event on the women’s side and it’s already played in the country where tennis has been working for decades to expand, and where many of its most lucrative purses can be found. The Slams are far and away the most successful events in tennis, so maybe we shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the idea of adding two more weeks of them.
For now, we’ll just chalk it up as an interesting thought that’s unlikely to go anywhere, like revamping the Davis Cup format or instituting final-set tiebreakers at Wimbledon. Beijing is pretty good the way it is, anyway; here’s a look ahead at the draws there, as well as the men’s across the pond in Tokyo.
