Every professional aspires to play in the four Grand Slam events that take place every tennis season.
The Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, which is the fourth and final Grand Slam of any given season, are the four showpiece tournaments.
However, only a select few have the ability to qualify for each of those events and challenge for what is considered to be one of the biggest prizes in the game.
There are three ways in which tennis stars can qualify for a Grand Slam, with a total of 128 male and female players getting the opportunity to play in the main draw of each major.
The first of which is to be ranked inside the world’s top 104, which guarantees you entry into the chosen Grand Slam. The top 32 players in the world will be seeded, which in theory rewards them with an easier first-round match and ensures the top performers are separated until the latter stages of the competition.
Failing that, a player can come through qualifying where there are 16 places up for grabs. For a player to advance through qualifying they must win three matches, which are played over a best-of-three-set format rather than the best-of-five format adopted for the men's singles at all four Grand Slams.
The final eight places in a Grand Slam are saved for wildcards, which usually consist of home favourites or former champions that are now too lowly ranked, saving them the prospect of coming through the qualifiers.