The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams,[1] are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Currently, both the Australian Open and the US Open are played on hard courts, while the French Open is played on clay, and Wimbledon is played on grass. The "Grand Slam" is the winning of all four Major tournaments in a single calendar year[2][3][4][5][6]; however, it has also been used for many years now to refer to any of the major tournaments,[7] (e.g., American tennis player Pete Sampras, who won 14 Major titles in his career, is often said to have won 14 "Grand Slams"—even though he did not achieve a true Grand Slam by winning all four Majors in a single year).
The Open Era of tennis began in 1968 when the Major tournaments agreed to allow professional players to compete. Wimbledon, the oldest of the Majors, was founded in 1877, followed by the US Open in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905. Beginning in 1905 and continuing to the present day, all four majors have been played yearly, with the exception of the two World Wars and 1986 for the Australian Open. The Australian Open is the 1st Major of the year (January), followed by the French Open (May–June), Wimbledon (June–July), and US Open (August–September).
A player who wins all four major tournaments, as a single or as part of a doubles team, in the same calendar year is said to have achieved the "Grand Slam". If the player wins all four consecutively, but not in the same calendar year, it is called a "Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam". Winning all four at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Grand Slam". Winning the four Majors and a gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics has been called a "Golden Slam" since 1988,[8] when Steffi Graf became the only person to accomplish that feat in a single calendar year. Winning all four plus gold at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Golden Slam". Winning the four Majors in all three disciplines a player is eligible for – singles, doubles, and mixed doubles – is considered winning a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles.
Australian Open
Tournament Dates: 17 – 30 January
Venue: Melbourne Park, Melbourne
Current Men's Single Champion: Novak Djokovic
Current Women's Single Champion: Kim Clijsters
French Open
Tournament Dates: 22 May – 5 June
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris
Current Men's Single Champion: Rafael Nadal
Current Women's Single Champion: Li Na
Wimbledon Championship
Tournament Dates: 20 June – 3 July
Venue: All England Tennis Club, London
Current Men's Single Champion: Novak Djokovic
Current Women's Single Champion: Petra Kvitová
US Open
Tournament Dates: 29 August – 12 September
Venue: USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, New York
Current Men's Single Champion: Novak Djokovic
Current Women's Single Champion: Samantha Stosur
Used in golf since 1930, the term Grand Slam was first applied to tennis by New York Times columnist John Kieran according to Total Tennis, The Ultimate Tennis Encyclopedia by Bud Collins. In the chapter about 1933, Collins writes that after the Australian player Jack Crawford had won the Australian, French, and Wimbledon Championships, speculation arose about his chances in the U.S. Championships. Kieran, who was a bridge player, wrote: "If Crawford wins, it would be something like scoring a grand slam on the courts, doubled and vulnerable." Crawford, an asthmatic, won two of the first three sets of his finals match against Fred Perry, then tired in the heat and lost the last two sets and the match.
The possibility of a Grand Slam did not exist until 1925, when the International Lawn Tennis Federation designated the Australian, French, British and American tournaments as the four Majors.
The first definitive single season Grand Slam was accomplished when Don Budge won all four men's singles Majors in 1938. To the end of the 2010 season, 14 players have completed a single season Grand Slam.
Of these players, two have multiple single season Grand Slams: Rod Laver accomplished the feat twice; Margaret Court accomplished the feat three times, in two different disciplines – once in women's singles and twice in mixed doubles.
The four Junior disciplines, boy's/girl's singles and doubles, provide limited opportunities to achieve a Grand Slam. Players are only eligible from age 13 through 18, with 18 year olds likely to hold a physical advantage. Only Stefan Edberg has completed the Grand Slam in a Junior discipline.
(Note: In 1986, Martina Navratilova won every major doubles title available – with Andrea Temesvári at the French Championships, then Pam Shriver at Wimbledon and the US Open. The Australian Championships were not played in 1986 but Navratilova won both the December 1985 and the January 1987 tournaments.)
(Note: In 1985, Martina Navratilova won every major mixed doubles title available – the French Open and the US Open with Heinz Gunthardt and Wimbledon with Paul McNamee. She could not complete the Grand Slam because the Australian Open mixed doubles championships were not played from 1970 until 1987.)
In 1982 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) redefined the Grand Slam as four consecutive victories that could span two calendar years.[9] As defined in the constitution of the ITF: "The Grand Slam titles are the championships of Australia, France, the United States of America and Wimbledon. Players who hold all four of these titles at the same time achieve the Grand Slam".[10] As this definition differs from the original definition of the Grand Slam as restricted to a single calendar year, there has been some controversy towards this redefinition in the tennis world.[11][12]
The first player to be designated a non-calendar year Grand Slam winner was Martina Navratilova, when she won the 1984 French Open to make her the reigning champion of all four women's singles Majors, winning the $1 million Grand Slam bonus in recognition of her achievement.[9]
To the end of the 2010 season, only 7 players have completed a non-calendar year Grand Slam.
Of these players, three have multiple non-calendar year Grand Slams: Natasha Zvereva accomplished the feat twice; Martina Navratilova and Serena Williams have each accomomplished the feat in two different disciplines – once each in women's singles and once each in women's doubles.
Counting the ITF's expanded definition of a Grand Slam (single year and non-calendar year), the total number of players to achieve the feat only expands to 18, with Steffi Graf and Pam Shriver now counted as two time winners (and Martina Navratilova expanding to three total).
No male players have accomplished a non-calendar year grand slam, making Laver the most recent male grand-slammer even by this more relaxed definition. Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde reached the final of the 1997 French Open holding all the other three titles, but lost to Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Daniel Vacek; in singles, Roger Federer repeated this in 2006 and 2007, ultimately losing both Paris finals to Rafael Nadal.
Don Budge (6): (1937 Wimbledon through the 1938 U.S. Championships).
Team:
Player:
Team:
Player:
Helen Wills Moody won all 16 of the Grand Slam singles tournaments she played beginning with the 1924 U.S. Championships and extending through the 1933 Wimbledon Championships (not counting her defaults in the 1926 French and Wimbledon Championships). The first 15 of those were won without losing a set. During this period, she won 6 Wimbledons, 4 French Championships, and 6 U.S. Championships. She also won the 1924 Summer Olympics during this period. Moody never entered the Australian Championships.
Doris Hart won all 13 of the Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments she played beginning with the 1951 French Championships and extending through the 1955 U.S. Championships. During this period, she won 5 Wimbledons, 3 French Championships, and 5 U.S. Championships.
Winning all four Grand Slam tournaments during a career is termed a Career Grand Slam. Seven men and nine women have accomplished this in singles play, including four men (Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal) and five women (Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams) since the beginning of the open era.
A number of high-achievement players have failed to achieve the Career Grand Slam. Björn Borg never won the US Open or the Australian Open. John McEnroe never won the Australian Open or the French Open. Ken Rosewall, Guillermo Vilas, Ivan Lendl, Monica Seles, Mats Wilander, and Justine Henin failed to win Wimbledon. Pete Sampras, John Newcombe, Arthur Ashe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Martina Hingis, and Lindsay Davenport failed to win the French Open. Evonne Goolagong Cawley never won the US Open, and Helen Wills Moody and Althea Gibson never won the Australian Open.
Among active players, Venus Williams thus far has failed to win either the Australian Open or the French Open, and Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova have not yet won the French Open.
The following lists the players who have won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments. The year in which they won their first Grand Slam singles tournament is listed first. The tournaments (or years) needed to complete their first Career Grand Slam were won are then listed. The ages of the players when their Career Grand Slam was completed are shown in square brackets.
The teams and individual players who won all four Grand Slam doubles tournaments during their careers are listed. The year in which they won their first Grand Slam doubles tournament is listed first. The years in which the tournaments needed to complete the Career Grand Slam were won are then listed.
Male doubles players who won a Career Grand Slam (7):
Female doubles players who won a Career Grand Slam (13):
In the following, the players who won all four Grand Slam mixed doubles tournaments during their careers are listed. (The year in which they won their first Grand Slam mixed doubles tournament is listed first. The years in which the tournaments needed to complete the Career Grand Slam were won are then listed.)
Male doubles players who won a Career Grand Slam:
Female doubles players who won a Career Grand Slam:
The term Golden Slam (initially "Golden Grand Slam") was coined in 1988 when Steffi Graf won all four Grand Slam singles tournaments and the singles gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics in the same calendar year. To date, she is the only player to have achieved a calendar year Golden Slam.[13]
Tennis was an Olympic sport from the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics through the 1924 Games, then was dropped for the next 64 years (except as a demonstration sport in 1968 and 1984) before returning in 1988. As there were only three Major championships designated by the International Lawn Tennis Federation before 1925, no tennis players who retired before 1988 had the chance to complete a single season Golden Slam. There was a small window for the gold medal winners from the 1920 Olympics or 1924 Olympics, if they chose to travel, to complete a career golden slam.
A player who wins all four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic gold medal during his or her career is said to have achieved a Career Golden Slam.
Players who have won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in the same year.
Another Grand Slam-related accomplishment is winning a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles – winning the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at all four Grand Slam events.
The top men's singles players have played comparatively few doubles, and very few mixed doubles. Three women have completed the "boxed set" during their careers:
Serena Williams has come closer than any other currently active player to joining this elite group. She has yet to win the mixed doubles at the Australian and French opens (finishing as the runner-up at the 1999 Australian Open and 1998 French Open)
Of the many players who have managed to win a full set of four Majors, there is a small number who have gone on to win all four Majors a second – or even multiple – times. The completion of “multiple slam sets” (MSS) has been achieved by only 17 unique players up to the end of the 2010 season. MSS players can be found in each of the 5 tennis disciplines: men's or women's singles, men's or women's doubles, and mixed doubles. Of these, 4 players have completed MSS in more than one discipline: Roy Emerson, Martina Navratilova and Frank Sedgman have MSS in 2 disciplines, Margaret Court has MSS in 3 disciplines.
This table shows each multiple occurrence of a complete MSS for each of the players who have accomplished multiple slams in a particular tennis discipline. The year shown for each of the 4 Majors is the year that particular Major win was repeated as part of that player’s achievement of their second (all 17 players) and third (7 players) and fourth (4 players) and fifth through seventh (Martina Navratilova, in women’s doubles) complete slam set of Major wins.
| Nationality | Player | MSS # | Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open | Discipline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | Frank Sedgman | 2 | 1952 | 1952 | 1951 | 1951 | MD |
| United States | Doris Hart | 2 | 1950 | 1952 | 1952 | 1952 | XD |
| Australia | Frank Sedgman | 2 | 1950 | 1952 | 1952 | 1952 | XD |
| Australia | Neale Fraser | 2 | 1958 | 1960 | 1961 | 1960 | MD |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 2 | 1964 | 1964 | 1965 | 1962 | XD |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 2 | 1961 | 1964 | 1965 | 1965 | WS |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 3 | 1965 | 1965 | 1966 | 1963 | XD |
| Australia | Roy Emerson | 2 | 1963 | 1967 | 1965 | 1964 | MS |
| Australia | Roy Emerson | 2 | 1966 | 1961 | 1961 | 1960 | MD |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 4 | 1969 | 1969 | 1968 | 1964 | XD |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 2 | 1962 | 1965 | 1969 | 1968 | WD |
| Australia | Rod Laver | 2 | 1962 | 1969 | 1962 | 1969 | MS |
| Australia | Margaret Court | 3 | 1962 | 1969 | 1970 | 1969 | WS |
| Australia | Ken Rosewall | 2 | 1956 | 1968 | 1956 | 1969 | MD |
| Australia | Roy Emerson | 3 | 1969 | 1962 | 1971 | 1965 | MD |
| Australia | John Newcombe | 2 | 1967 | 1969 | 1966 | 1971 | MD |
| Australia | John Newcombe | 3 | 1971 | 1973 | 1968 | 1973 | MD |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 2 | 1982 | 1982 | 1979 | 1978 | WD |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 2 | 1983 | 1984 | 1979 | 1984 | WS |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 3 | 1983 | 1984 | 1981 | 1980 | WD |
| United States | Chris Evert | 2 | 1984 | 1975 | 1976 | 1976 | WS |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 4 | 1984 | 1985 | 1982 | 1983 | WD |
| United States | Pam Shriver | 2 | 1983 | 1985 | 1982 | 1984 | WD |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 5 | 1985 | 1986 | 1983 | 1984 | WD |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 6 | 1987 | 1987 | 1984 | 1986 | WD |
| United States | Pam Shriver | 3 | 1984 | 1987 | 1983 | 1986 | WD |
| United States | Martina Navratilova | 7 | 1988 | 1988 | 1986 | 1987 | WD |
| United States | Pam Shriver | 4 | 1985 | 1988 | 1984 | 1987 | WD |
| West Germany | Steffi Graf | 2 | 1989 | 1988 | 1989 | 1989 | WS |
| Germany | Steffi Graf | 3 | 1990 | 1993 | 1991 | 1993 | WS |
| United States | Gigi Fernández | 2 | 1994 | 1992 | 1993 | 1990 | WD |
| Belarus | Natasha Zvereva | 2 | 1994 | 1992 | 1992 | 1992 | WD |
| Germany | Steffi Graf | 4 | 1994 | 1995 | 1992 | 1995 | WS |
| Belarus | Natasha Zvereva | 3 | 1997 | 1993 | 1993 | 1995 | WD |
| Czech Republic | Jana Novotná | 2 | 1995 | 1991 | 1990 | 1997 | WD |
| United States | Serena Williams | 2 | 2003 | 2010 | 2002 | 2009 | WD |
| United States | Venus Williams | 2 | 2003 | 2010 | 2002 | 2009 | WD |
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