Grand Slam (tennis)

In tennis, a singles player or doubles team is said to have achieved the Grand Slam if they succeed in winning all four of the following championship titles in the same year:

Winners

True Grand Slam

The winners of the Grand Slam (all four tournaments in the same calendar year) in singles are:

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• Don Budge (1938)
• Maureen Connolly (1953)
• Rod Laver (1962)
• Rod Laver (1969)
• Margaret Smith Court (1970)
• Steffi Graf (1988) (also the Olympic Gold medal, thus winning a Golden Slam)

The doubles teams that won the Grand Slam are:

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• Frank Sedgman & Ken McGregor (1951)
• Margaret Smith & Ken Fletcher (1963)
• Martina Navratilova & Pam Shriver (1984)

Additionally, three players won all four Doubles Grand Slam titles, but switched partners after the Australian Open:

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• Maria Bueno (1960), with Christine Truman then Darlene Hard.
• Owen Davidson (1967), with Lesley Turner then Billie Jean King.
• Martina Hingis (1998), with Mirjana Lucic then Jana Novotna.

Margaret Smith also won one more True Grand Slam, switching partners twice:

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• Margaret Smith (1965), with John Newcombe, then Ken Fletcher and finally, Fred Stolle.

The winner of the Grand Slam (all four tournaments in the same calendar year) in Junior singles is:

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• Stefan Edberg (1983)

Four consecutive Grand Slam titles

Though the term was originally restricted to the winning of all four tournaments in the same calendar year, it is now sometimes used for holding all four titles simultaneously, regardless of the calendar. During an interview with Serena Williams at the U.S. Open, after she had won the title, an interviewer coined the term "Serena Slam" for this achievement. Serena did indeed succeed in winning this honour, but counter to Martina Navratilova before her, she had to leave it at four titles.

Related Topics:
Calendar year - Serena Williams - Serena Slam

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Winners of all four Grand Slam tournaments consecutively, but not in a single calendar year, were:

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• Martina Navratilova (1983-84) (six consecutive tournaments)
• Note: The Australian Open was held in December from 1977 through 1985, returning to its original January date in 1987. Her streak was Wimbledon, US, and Australian in 1983, followed by French, Wimbledon, and US in 1984.
• Steffi Graf (1993-94) Note: Graf also holds a True Grand Slam in 1988.
• Serena Williams (2002-03)

Career Grand Slam

Winning all four Grand Slam tournaments non-consecutively is described as a "career Grand Slam."

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Singles

Players who won all four Grand Slam tournaments but not in a row include (age between square brackets):

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• Fred Perry (1933-34-35)
• Doris Hart (1949-50-51-54)
• Shirley Fry (1951-56-57)
• Roy Emerson (1961-63-64)
• Billie Jean King (1966-67-68-72)
• Chris Evert (1974-75-82)
• Andre Agassi (1992-94-95-99)

Especially in the men's game, a number of dominant players of their eras have failed to achieve the Career Grand Slam because of their inability to win a particular tournament, usually due to that tournament being ill-suited to the player's game. John Newcombe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, and Pete Sampras all failed to win the French Open, while Ken Rosewall, Ivan Lendl, and Mats Wilander all failed to win Wimbledon.

Related Topics:
John Newcombe - Jimmy Connors - Boris Becker - Stefan Edberg - Pete Sampras - Ken Rosewall - Ivan Lendl - Mats Wilander

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Andre Agassi is the only male player to win the four Grand Slams on four different surfaces. The previous players won the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open on grass courts and the French Open on clay courts; whereas Agassi won the Australian Open on Rebound Ace, the French Open on clay, Wimbledon on grass, and the US Open on hardcourts.

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Doubles

Teams that have won a Career Grand Slam:

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• Todd Woodbridge & Mark Woodforde (1992-93-95-2000)
• Jacco Eltingh & Paul Haarhuis (1994-95-98)
• Serena Williams & Venus Williams (1999-2000-01)

Players who won a Career Grand Slam:

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• Doris Hart (1947-48-50-51)
• Shirley Fry (1950-51-57)
• Roy Emerson (1959-60-62)
• John Fitzgerald (1982-84-86-89)
• Anders Jarryd (1983-87-89)
• Jacco Eltingh (1994-95-98)
• Paul Haarhuis (1994-95-98)
• Jonas Bjorkman (1998-2002-03-05)

Mixed Doubles

Players who won a Career Grand Slam in mixed doubles:

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• Billie Jean King (1967-68)
• Martina Navratilova (1974-85-2003)
• Daniela Hantuchova (2001-02-05)

Serena and Venus Williams won what could be called "Williams family Slam" in mixed doubles in 1998 when they held all 4 mixed doubles Grand Slam titles.

Related Topics:
Serena - Venus Williams - 1998

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