Whatever Happened To … The Grand Slam Cup?

Not a place for Doubles

The Grand Slam Cup was an indoor carpet tournament played during the 1990s, that was known for it’s huge million dollar payouts and courts without doubles lines. Played in Munich is was a sort of rebel tournament, not recognized by the ATP with no ranking points at stake, which possibly explained the size of the prize money.

For players like Magnus Larsson, who won in 1994, it paid out in 1 day more than he had made in his whole career. The singles court was cool and there is not a tournament that I know of which uses this style of court anymore. It did throw up some good finals though with the aforementioned Larsson, Korda, Rios and Rusedski providing the most entertaining ones.

Here’s a list of the winners, courtesy of Wikipedia!

1990 Pete Sampras Brad Gilbert 6–3, 6–4, 6–2

1991 David Wheaton Michael Chang 7–5, 6–2, 6–4

1992 Michael Stich Michael Chang 6–2, 6–3, 6–2

1993 Petr Korda Michael Stich 2–6, 6–4, 7–6 (7–5), 2–6, 11–9

1994 Magnus Larsson Pete Sampras 7–6 (8–6), 4–6, 7–6 (7–5), 6–4

1995 Goran Ivanišević Todd Martin 7–6 (7–4), 6–3, 6–4

1996 Boris Becker Goran Ivanišević 6–3, 6–4, 6–4

1997 Pete Sampras Patrick Rafter 6–2, 6–4, 7–5

1998 Marcelo Ríos Andre Agassi 6–4, 2–6, 7–6 (7–1), 5–7, 6–3

1999 Greg Rusedski Tommy Haas 6–3, 6–4, 6–7 (5–7), 7–6 (7–5)

Watch: Stich v Sampras -Grand Slam Cup 1992