After Fedor Gorst won his first US Open title, Matchroom and many people in the industry have dubbed this feat as pool’s first Grand Slam, considering that Gorst also won the World 9-Ball Championship and World Pool Masters title this year. The Grand Slam concept was popularized in tennis and is unofficially awarded to a player who wins the titles of the four major tournaments of the sport in the same year. These majors are the French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, and Australian Open.
Now that 9-ball pool has named its first Grand Slam winner in Gorst, it is worth looking at these three tournaments and understanding the differences between each. It’s also worth discussing what this means for the sport going forward.
The first title of Fedor’s Grand Slam is the World Pool Masters, which was held in Germany from April 25-28, 2024. The event was first held in 1993 and has been running for 31 years. This is an invitation-only event, and for this year, the top 14 ranked players of the WNT were invited, with 2 wildcard spots added to make up the 16-player invitational tournament. This is a single-elimination format with four rounds of competition, culminating in the championship round. The first round is a race to 9, the second is a race to 10, the third is a race to 11, and the final round is a race to 13. Although this tournament only has 16 total players, it includes the best of the best on the tour and provides the highest level of competition in 9-ball. Winning this title is no easy feat, and Gorst had to defeat Mario He, Albin Ouschan, Jayson Shaw, and Joshua Filler (in the finals). Three of those players are former world champions.
The second title is the World Pool Championship, which took place in Saudi Arabia last June. For this year’s event, 128 players competed for the title. The top 100 in the rankings were given automatic spots, while the remaining 28 spots were allocated to host nation Saudi Arabia and other wildcard players. This tournament is considered the crown jewel of the World Nineball Tour, and rightfully so, as it provides the biggest prize money on the tour, with $1,000,000 in total prize fund and $250,000 going to the champion. Winning this tournament makes you the number one player in the sport, but claiming the title is another story. For Fedor, he had to come back from the loser’s side and overcome a sluggish start. Winning this title puts you on a level that only a few can reach, and as of now, only 26 players have won it in its 35-year history.
The third title is the US Open. It is the oldest of the three and, obviously, has the most history. This tournament started in 1976 with the great Mike Sigel as its first champion. Some players even consider this their favorite tournament of the three. Almost 50 years in running, this is the only Grand Slam tournament that is open to all. With the dawn of the WNT, the 128 ranked players plus another 128 unseeded players will compete for the title. Because of the vast number of participants, this tournament offers the most uncertainty for WNT-ranked pros because it opens them up for possible upsets from unseeded but very capable players. Stakes will become higher next year when the prize fund is increased to $500,000 from $300,000, with the champion getting $100,000.
Establishing the three aforementioned titles as pool’s Grand Slam is a great start for the budding World Nineball Tour. Matchroom has established a professional and well-organized tour and successfully cultivated or acquired tournaments that have developed a great following and history through the years. Two years in, WNT is showing what 9-ball can become with proper organizational support and professional guidance. Prize money is starting to go up. More regional tournaments supporting the major ones are being scheduled. And now three titles, each with at least 30 years of history, are developing into the consensus Grand Slam. A story worth following and maybe the start of modern pool’s great comeback.
