The Grand Slam in tennis is the achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline in a calendar year. In doubles, a Grand Slam may be achieved as a team or as an individual with different partners. Winning all four major championships consecutively but not within the same calendar year is referred to as a "non-calendar-year Grand Slam", while winning the four majors at any point during the course of a career is known as a "Career Grand Slam".[1][2]

The term Grand Slam is also attributed to the Grand Slam tournaments, usually referred to as Majors, and they are the world's four most important annual professional tennis tournaments. They offer the most ranking points, prize money, public and media attention, the greatest strength and size of the field and, in recent years, the longest matches for men (best of five sets, best of three for the women). The tournaments are overseen by the International Tennis Federation (ITF),[3] rather than the separate men's and women's tour organizing bodies, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and Women's Tennis Association (WTA), but both the ATP and WTA award ranking points based on players' performances in them.[4]

The four Grand Slam tournaments are the Australian Open in January, the French Open from late May to early June, Wimbledon in late June to early July, and the US Open in late August to early September, with each played over two weeks. The Australian and the United States tournaments are played on hard courts, the French on clay, and Wimbledon on grass. Wimbledon is the oldest tournament, founded in 1877, followed by the US in 1881, the French in 1891 (major in 1925), and the Australian in 1905, but it was not until 1925 that all four were held as officially sanctioned majors.[5]

History

The locations of the four major championships.

With the growing popularity of tennis, and with the hopes of unifying the sport's rules internationally,[5] the British and French tennis associations started discussions at their Davis Cup tie, and in October 1912 organized a meeting in Paris, joined by the Australasian, Austrian, Belgian, Spanish, and Swiss associations.[6] They subsequently formed the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF), holding their first meeting in 1913, joined by the Danish, German, Dutch, Russian, South African, and Swedish organizations.[7] Voting rights were divided based on the perceived importance of the individual countries, with Great Britain's Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) receiving the maximum six votes.[8] Three tournaments were established, being designated as "World Championships":

The LTA was given the perpetual right to organize the World Grass Court Championships, to be held at Wimbledon, and France received permission to stage the World Hard Court Championships until 1916.[10] Anthony Wilding of New Zealand won all three of these World Championships in 1913.[11]

The United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) expressed disagreement over the power distribution within the ILTF and the designation of "World Championship" status to the British and French tournaments, and thus initially refused to join the Federation, choosing instead to be bystanders to their meetings.[12][7] By the 1920s, with the World Covered Court Championships failing to attract top players and the growing success of American and Australian tennis, the ILTF worked to convince the USNLTA to join them, meeting their demand to drop the designation of "World Championships" from all three tournaments in March 1923, which led to the demise of both the World Covered Court Championships and the World Hard Court Championships.[9][13] A new category of "Official Championships" was created for the national championships of Britain, France, Australia, and the US.[14][15] By the 1930s, these four tournaments had become well defined as the most prestigious in the sport.[16]

In 1933, Jack Crawford won the Australian, French, and Wimbledon Championships, leaving him just needing to win the last major event of the year, the U.S. Championships, to become the reigning champion of all four major tournaments,[17] a feat described as "a grand slam" by sports columnist Alan J. Gould of The Reading Eagle,[18] and later that year by John Kieran of The New York Times, who stated that if Crawford won at Forest Hills it "would be something like scoring a grand slam on the courts, doubled and vulnerable."[19][20] The term 'Grand Slam' originates from the card game contract bridge, where it is used for winning all possible tricks. In golf it was used for the first time to describe a total of four wins, specifically Bobby Jones' achievement of winning the four major golf tournaments of the era, which he accomplished in 1930.[20] "Grand Slam" or "Slam" has since also become used to refer to the tournaments individually.[4] The first player to win all four majors in a calendar year and thus complete a Grand Slam was Don Budge in 1938.[21]

At the time, only amateur players were allowed to participate in the Grand Slam and other ILTF-sanctioned tournaments.[22] Amateur standing, regulated by the ILTF alongside its associated national federations, forbade players from receiving prize money, earning pay by teaching tennis, being contracted by promoters and playing paid exhibition matches, though expense payments were allowed along with certain monies from sporting goods companies or other benefactors.[22] Amateurs who "defected" to become professional were banned from competing in amateur tournaments and dropped from their national associations. The first major professional tour was established in 1926 by promoter C. C. Pyle with a troupe of American and French players, most notably Suzanne Lenglen, playing exhibition matches to paying audiences.[22][23] Over the next decades many other head-to-head tours were run and professional tournaments established,[24] with three, the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships, French Pro Championship and Wembley Championships, standing out, and considered to have been the professional majors.[25] By the 1950s, largely due to efforts of player/promoter Jack Kramer, this lucrative parallel circuit was luring in most of the star amateurs on the men's side, much to the ire of the ILTF and organizers of the Grand Slam tournaments.[26] It was an open secret that the top players who remained as amateurs were receiving undeclared under-the-table payments from tournament promoters, an arrangement tolerated by their national tennis associations to dissuade them from joining the pro ranks and secure their availability for the majors and Davis Cup. This system was derisively referred to as 'shamateurism'[27] that was seen as undermining the integrity of the sport.[28] Ramanathan Krishnan and Roy Emerson, for example declined large contract offers from the professional promoters, with the latter stating that he was better paid in the amateur circuit.[29]

Tensions over this status quo, which had been building for decades, finally came to a head in 1967. The first tournament open to professional tennis players played on Centre Court at Wimbledon, the Wimbledon Pro, was staged by the All England Lawn Tennis Club in August,[30] offering a prize fund of US$45,000.[31] The tournament was deemed very successful, with packed crowds and the play seen as being of higher quality than the amateur-only Wimbledon final held two weeks earlier.[32][33] This success in combination with large signings of top players to two new professional tours—World Championship Tennis and the National Tennis League—convinced the LTA on the need for open tennis.[28] After a British proposal for this at the annual ILTF meeting was voted down, the LTA revolted, and in its own annual meeting in December it voted overwhelmingly to admit players of all statuses to the 1968 Wimbledon Championships and other future tournaments in Britain, "come hell or high water".[34] The eventual backing of the USNLTA that came after a February 1968 vote forced the ILTF to yield and allow each nation to determine its own legislation regarding amateur and professional players, which it voted for in a special meeting in March 1968.[35] This marked the start of the Open Era of tennis,[28] with its first tournament, the 1968 British Hard Court Championships, beginning three weeks later on 22 April in Bournemouth, England,[36] while the first open Grand Slam tournament, the 1968 French Open, was held in May.[28]

Even after the advent of the Open Era, players including John McEnroe and Chris Evert have pointed out that skipping the Australian Open was the norm because of the travelling distance involved and the inconvenient dates close to Christmas and New Year.[37][38] There were also the contracted professional players who had to skip some major events like the French Open in the 1970s because they were committed to the more profitable pro circuits.[38][39] In one case, Australian players including Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall and Roy Emerson who had contracts with George MacCall's National Tennis League were prevented from participating in the 1970 Australian Open because the financial guarantees were deemed insufficient.[40]

Although it has been possible to complete a Grand Slam in most years and most disciplines since 1925, it was not possible from 1940 to 1945 because of interruptions at Wimbledon, the Australian and French Championships due to World War II,[41] the years from 1970 to 1985 when there was no Australian tournament in mixed doubles,[42] 1986 when there was no Australian Open,[42] and 2020 when Wimbledon was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[43]

Tournaments

The Grand Slam of tennis comprises these four major tournaments:

More information Event, Editions ...
Event Editions Began Venue Surface Draw sizes Format Deciding set rule Date
(2 weeks)
Prize money
Australian Open[lower-alpha 1] 112 1905[lower-alpha 2] Melbourne Park,
Melbourne
Hard[lower-alpha 3] Men's & women's events
  • 128: singles
  • 64: doubles
  • 32: mixed doubles
  • 8: wheelchair singles
  • 4: wheelchair doubles

Junior events

  • 64 singles, 32 doubles

Best of five sets:

  • Men's singles

Best of three sets:

  • Women's singles
  • Doubles events
  • Wheelchair events
  • Junior events
10-point tiebreaker
(since 2022)[44]
7–28 Jan 2024 A$86,500,000
French Open[lower-alpha 4] 123 1925[lower-alpha 5] Stade Roland Garros,
Paris
Clay 26 May−
9 Jun 2024
53,478,000[45]
Wimbledon[lower-alpha 6] 137 1877[lower-alpha 7] All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club,
London
Grass 1–14 Jul 2024 £50,000,000
US Open[lower-alpha 8] 144 1881[lower-alpha 9] USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center,
New York City
Hard[lower-alpha 10] 26 Aug−
8 Sep 2024
US$65,000,020[46]
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Australian Open

Thumb
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne Park.

The Australian Open is the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late January and early February.[lower-alpha 11][47] The inaugural edition took place in November 1905 on the grass courts of the Warehouseman's Cricket Ground in Melbourne, Australia. It was held as the Australasian Championships until 1927 and thereafter as the Australian Championships until the onset of the Open Era in 1969,[48] passing through various venues in Australia and New Zealand before settling at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club in Melbourne between 1972 and 1987.[49] Since 1988, it has been played on the hard courts of the Melbourne Park sports complex, which currently uses GreenSet as its court manufacturer.[50]

Managed by Tennis Australia, formerly the Lawn Tennis Association of Australia (LTAA), the tournament struggled until the mid-1980s to attract the top international players due to its distance from Europe and America and proximity to the Christmas and holiday season,[51][52] but it has since grown to become one of the biggest sporting events in the Southern Hemisphere and the highest attended Grand Slam tournament, with more than 1,020,000 people attending the 2024 edition.[53] Nicknamed the "Happy Slam"[54] and billed as "the Grand Slam of Asia/Pacific",[55] it has become known for its modernity and innovation, being the first Grand Slam tournament to feature indoor play and install retractable roofs on its main courts,[56] the first to schedule night-time men's singles finals,[57] and the first to substitute electronic line calling for line judges, using an expanded version of the Hawk-Eye technology known as "Hawk-Eye Live".[58]

The tournament was designated a major championship by the International Lawn Tennis Federation in 1923.[59] Nowadays, its draws host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2024 tournament being A$86,500,000.[60]

French Open

Thumb
Court Philippe Chatrier, Stade Roland Garros.

The French Open, also known as Roland Garros,[61][62] is the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late May and early June.[63] A French championships closed event (restricted to members of French clubs)[64] was first held in 1891 on the sand courts of the Societé de Sport de Île de Puteaux, in Puteaux, Île-de-France,[65][lower-alpha 12] and changed venues over the years. In 1925 the French championships became open to all amateurs and since 1928 has been held on clay courts at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris, France.[64][67] Both the venue and the tournament are named "Roland Garros" after the pioneering French aviator.[64]

Organized by the Fédération française de tennis (FFT), formerly known as the Fédération Française de Lawn Tennis until 1976,[68] the French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament played on a red clay surface.[69] It is generally considered to be the most physically demanding tennis tournament in the world.[70][71]

The World Hard Court Championships was considered the premier clay championship in France from 1912–1923 (apart from one year held in Belgium) as it admitted international competitors, and it is therefore often seen as the true precursor to the French Open before 1925.[13][72] The French championships was first held as an International Lawn Tennis Federation–sanctioned major championship in 1925.[73]

Today, it has draws that host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2024 tournament being 53,478,000.[45] The 2018 edition saw a record attendance of 480,575 spectators.[74]

Wimbledon

Thumb
Centre Court, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known as Wimbledon,[75] is the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late June and early July.[76] It was first held in 1877 at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, at the time located off Nursery Road in Wimbledon, London, England.[77] The tournament has always been contested at this club, which moved to its present site off Church Road in 1922 in order to increase its attendance capacity.[78]

Wimbledon is organized by a committee of management consisting of nineteen members, with twelve being club members and the remaining seven nominated by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).[79][80] As the world's oldest tennis event,[81] it is widely regarded as the most prestigious tennis tournament,[82] and it is known for its commitment to longstanding traditions and guidelines.[83] It is one of few tournaments and the only Grand Slam event that is still played on grass courts,[84] tennis's original surface, and where "lawn tennis" originated in the 1800s.[85] Players are required to wear all-white attire during matches,[86] and they are referred to as "Gentlemen" and "Ladies".[87] There is also a tradition where the players are asked to bow or curtsy towards the Royal Box upon entering or leaving Centre Court when either the Prince of Wales or the monarch are present.[88]

The tournament was given the title "World Grass Court Championships" by the International Lawn Tennis Federation between 1912 and 1923,[89] and was designated a major championship following the abolition of the three ILTF World Championships.[59] Since 1937, the BBC has broadcast the tournament on television in the United Kingdom,[90] with the finals shown live and in full on television in the country each year.[91] The BBC's broadcast of the 1967 edition was among the first colour television broadcasts in the UK.[92]

Today, the event has draws that host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2021 tournament being £35,016,000,[93] and 500,397 people attending the 2019 edition.[94] The tournament has some of the longest running sponsorships in sports history, having been associated with Slazenger since 1902,[95] and with the Robinsons fruit drink brand since 1935.[96]

US Open

Thumb
Arthur Ashe Stadium, USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

The US Open is the fourth and final Grand Slam tournament of the year, played annually in late August and early September. It was first held in August 1881 on grass courts at the Newport Casino in Newport, Rhode Island, United States.[97] The tournament changed venues in its early years,[98] with each discipline continuing to be held separately at various venues until 1923, when the tournament settled at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, New York City.[98] In 1978, it moved to the hardcourts of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens, where it has been contested ever since.[98][99]

Organized by the United States Tennis Association (USTA),[100] previously known as the United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USNLTA) until 1920,[101] and as United States National Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) until 1975,[102] it is the only Grand Slam tournament to have been played every year since its inception.[103] In 1997, Arthur Ashe Stadium, the largest tennis stadium in the world with a capacity of 23,771 spectators,[104][105] was opened.[106] It is named after Arthur Ashe, the winner of the 1968 tournament—the first in which professionals were allowed to compete.[107]

Over the years, the tournament has pioneered changes that other tournaments later adopted, including the introduction of a tiebreak system to decide the outcome of sets tied at 6–6 in 1970,[7] being the first Grand Slam tournament to award equal prize money to the men's and women's events in 1975,[7] the installation of floodlights in 1975 in order to allow matches to be played at night,[108] and the introduction of instant replay reviews of line calls using the Hawk-Eye computer system in 2006.[109]

The ILTF officially designated it as a major tournament in 1923.[9] Today, the event has draws that host 256 singles players, 128 doubles teams and 32 mixed doubles teams, with the total prize money for the 2020 tournament being US$53,400,000,[110] and a US television viewership of 700,000.[111][112] From 2004-2023, the tournament was preceded by the US Open Series, composed of North American hardcourt professional tournaments that lead up to and culminate with the US Open itself.[113] The season was organized by the USTA as a way to focus more attention on American tennis tournaments by getting more of them on domestic television.[46]

Grand Slam

A Grand Slam (sometimes called a Calendar-year Grand Slam, Calendar Grand Slam, or Calendar Slam) is the achievement of winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open in the same year.[114][115][116] Margaret Court is the only player to complete a Grand Slam in two disciplines, singles and mixed doubles (twice), while wheelchair players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott have completed one in both the singles and doubles disciplines of their respective classes.[1]

The following is a list of players that achieved it.[1]

AU Australian Open WB Wimbledon
FR French Open US US Open
More information No., Year ...
Able-bodied tennis
No. Year Player Discipline Major Notes Ref.
1 1938 Don Budge Men's singles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 13] [117]
2 1951 Ken McGregor Men's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 14] [118]
Frank Sedgman [lower-alpha 15]
4 1953 Maureen Connolly Women's singles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 13] [119]
5 1960 Maria Bueno Women's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 16]
6 1962 Rod Laver Men's singles AU FR WB US [120]
7 1963 Margaret Court Mixed doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 17] [121]
Ken Fletcher [lower-alpha 13]
9 1965 Margaret Court (2) Mixed doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 18]
10 1967 Owen Davidson Mixed doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 19] [122]
11 1969 Rod Laver (2) Men's singles AU FR WB US [123]
12 1970 Margaret Court (3) Women's singles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 13] [124]
13 1983 Stefan Edberg Boys' singles FR WB US AU [125]
14 1984 Martina Navratilova Women's doubles FR WB US AU [lower-alpha 20] [126]
Pam Shriver
16 1988 Steffi Graf Women's singles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 21] [127]
17 1998 Martina Hingis Women's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 22] [128]
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More information No., Year ...
Wheelchair tennis
No. Year Player Discipline Major Notes Ref.
1 2009 Esther Vergeer WC women's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 23]
Korie Homan
3 2011 Esther Vergeer (2) WC women's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 24]
Sharon Walraven [lower-alpha 14]
5 2013 Aniek van Koot WC women's doubles AU FR WB US [129]
Jiske Griffioen
7 2014 Stéphane Houdet WC men's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 25] [130]
8 2014 Yui Kamiji WC women's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 21] [131]
Jordanne Whiley
10 2019 Aniek van Koot (2) WC women's doubles AU FR WB US [132]
Diede de Groot [lower-alpha 26]
12 2019 Dylan Alcott WC quad doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 27] [133]
13 2021 Alfie Hewett WC men's doubles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 28] [134]
Gordon Reid
15 2021 Diede de Groot (2) WC women's singles AU FR WB US [135]
16 2021 Dylan Alcott (2) WC quad singles AU FR WB US [136]
17 2022 Diede de Groot (3) WC women's singles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 29] [135]
18 2023 Diede de Groot (4) WC women's singles AU FR WB US [lower-alpha 30] [137]
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Current champions

Each entry has an asterisk (*) linking to the tournament of that year.

More information Event, Australian Open ...
Event Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open
2024 2024 2024 2024
Singles Men Italy Jannik Sinner* Spain Carlos Alcaraz* Spain Carlos Alcaraz* Italy Jannik Sinner*
Women Aryna Sabalenka* Poland Iga Świątek* Czech Republic Barbora Krejčíková* Aryna Sabalenka*
Doubles Men India Rohan Bopanna*
Australia Matthew Ebden
El Salvador Marcelo Arévalo*
Croatia Mate Pavić
Finland Harri Heliövaara*
United Kingdom Henry Patten
Australia Max Purcell*
Australia Jordan Thompson
Women Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei*
Belgium Elise Mertens
United States Coco Gauff*
Czech Republic Kateřina Siniaková
Czech Republic Kateřina Siniaková*
United States Taylor Townsend
Ukraine Lyudmyla Kichenok*
Latvia Jeļena Ostapenko
Mixed Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei*
Poland Jan Zieliński
Germany Laura Siegemund*
France Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Chinese Taipei Hsieh Su-wei*
Poland Jan Zieliński
Italy Sara Errani*
Italy Andrea Vavassori
Wheelchair singles Men Japan Tokito Oda* Japan Tokito Oda* United Kingdom Alfie Hewett* United Kingdom Alfie Hewett*
Women Netherlands Diede de Groot* Netherlands Diede de Groot* Netherlands Diede de Groot* Netherlands Diede de Groot*
Quad Netherlands Sam Schröder* Israel Guy Sasson* Netherlands Niels Vink* Netherlands Sam Schröder*
Wheelchair doubles Men United Kingdom Alfie Hewett*
United Kingdom Gordon Reid
United Kingdom Alfie Hewett*
United Kingdom Gordon Reid
United Kingdom Alfie Hewett*
United Kingdom Gordon Reid
France Stéphane Houdet*
Japan Takashi Sanada
Women Netherlands Diede de Groot*
Netherlands Jiske Griffioen
Netherlands Diede de Groot*
Netherlands Aniek van Koot
Japan Yui Kamiji*
South Africa Kgothatso Montjane
Japan Yui Kamiji*
South Africa Kgothatso Montjane
Quad United Kingdom Andy Lapthorne*
United States David Wagner
Netherlands Sam Schröder*
Netherlands Niels Vink
Netherlands Sam Schröder*
Netherlands Niels Vink
Netherlands Sam Schröder*
Netherlands Niels Vink
Junior
singles
Boys Japan Rei Sakamoto* United States Kaylan Bigun* Norway Nicolai Budkov Kjær* Spain Rafael Jódar*
Girls Slovakia Renáta Jamrichová* Czech Republic Tereza Valentová* Slovakia Renáta Jamrichová* United Kingdom Mika Stojsavljevic*
Junior
doubles
Boys United States Maxwell Exsted*
United States Cooper Woestendick
Norway Nicolai Budkov Kjær*
Austria Joel Schwärzler
United States Alexander Razeghi*
Germany Max Schönhaus
Czechoslovakia Maxim Mrva*
Japan Rei Sakamoto
Girls United States Tyra Caterina Grant*
United States Iva Jovic
Slovakia Renáta Jamrichová*
Czech Republic Tereza Valentová
United States Tyra Caterina Grant*
United States Iva Jovic
Morocco Malak El Allami*
Norway Emily Sartz-Lunde
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Former champions

Per discipline

Singles finals

Non-calendar-year Grand Slam

In 1982, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) began offering a $1 million bonus to any singles player to win the four majors consecutively regardless the tournaments order of winning them while the Men's International Professional Tennis Council, which was the governing body of men's professional tennis at the time, stated that 'Grand Slam' need not necessarily be won in the same year. This revision by the Council and reportedly the ITF[138] was approved by the representatives of the four Grand Slam tournaments at Wimbledon.[139][140] Neil Amdur and Allison Danzig of the New York Times both criticised the changed definition of the term Grand Slam,[140] whereas in 1985 Hal Bock of Associated Press backed the change.[141] Despite newspaper reports claiming that ITF President Philippe Chatrier had said "the four big events no longer have to be won in the same calendar year for a player to be recognized as Grand Slam champion",[138] ITF General Secretary David Gray in a 1983 letter claimed that it was never the intention of ITF to alter anything regarding the definition of the classic Grand Slam:[142]

There seems to be some confusion. The ITF's only initiative in this matter has been the organisation of the offer of a bonus of $1 million to any player who holds all four Grand Slam titles simultaneously ... Despite all that we have read on this matter, it has never been my Committee of Management's intention to alter the basis of the classic Grand Slam i.e., the capture of all four titles in a year.

When Martina Navratilova won the 1984 French Open and became the reigning champion of all four women's singles discipline, she was the first player to receive the bonus prize in recognition of her achievement. Some media outlets said that she had won a Grand Slam.[143][144] Curry Kirkpatrick of Sports Illustrated wrote "Whether the Slam was Grand or Bland or a commercial sham tainted with an asterisk the size of a tennis ball, Martina Navratilova finally did it."[145]

When Rafael Nadal was on the verge of completing a non-calendar-year Grand Slam at the 2011 Australian Open, one writer observed, "Most traditionalists insist that the 'Grand Slam' should refer only to winning all four titles in a calendar year, although the constitution of the International Tennis Federation, the sports governing body, spells out that 'players who hold all four of these titles at the same time achieve the Grand Slam'."[146] In 2012 the ambiguity was resolved, with the ITF's current constitution stating "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 in one calendar year achieve the 'Grand Slam'."[1]

Combining the Grand Slam and the non-calendar-year Grand Slam, only eight singles players on 11 occasions achieved the feat of being the reigning champion of all four majors, three men (Don Budge, Rod Laver, Novak Djokovic)[147] and five women (Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams).[148]

The following list is for those players who achieved a non-calendar-year Grand Slam by holding the four major titles at the same time but not in the calendar year.[1] Players who completed a Grand Slam within the same streak as a non-calendar-year Grand Slam are not included here.

AU Australian Open WB Wimbledon
FR French Open US US Open
More information No., Player ...
Able-bodied tennis
No. Player Discipline Major Notes
1 Louise Brough Women's doubles 1949 FR 1949 WB 1949 US 1950 AU [lower-alpha 31]
2 Billie Jean King Mixed doubles 1967 FR 1967 WB 1967 US 1968 AU [lower-alpha 32]
3 Martina Navratilova Women's singles 1983 WB 1983 US 1983 AU 1984 FR
4 Martina Navratilova (2) Women's doubles 1986 WB 1986 US 1987 AU 1987 FR [lower-alpha 33]
Pam Shriver
6 Gigi Fernández Women's doubles 1992 FR 1992 WB 1992 US 1993 AU
Natasha Zvereva
8 Steffi Graf Women's singles 1993 FR 1993 WB 1993 US 1994 AU
9 Natasha Zvereva (2) Women's doubles 1996 US 1997 AU 1997 FR 1997 WB
10 Serena Williams Women's singles 2002 FR 2002 WB 2002 US 2003 AU
11 Serena Williams (2) Women's doubles 2009 WB 2009 US 2010 AU 2010 FR
Venus Williams
13 Bob Bryan Men's doubles 2012 US 2013 AU 2013 FR2013 WB
Mike Bryan
14 Serena Williams (3) Women's singles2014 US 2015 AU 2015 FR 2015 WB
15 Novak Djokovic Men's singles 2015 WB 2015 US 2016 AU 2016 FR
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Career Grand Slam

The career achievement of winning all four major championships in one discipline is termed a "Career Grand Slam", or "Career Slam".[149] In singles, eight men (Fred Perry, Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic) and ten women (Maureen Connolly, Doris Hart, Shirley Fry Irvin, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, and Maria Sharapova) have completed a Career Grand Slam.[2] Four men (Emerson, Laver, Djokovic, and Nadal) and five women (Court, Evert, Navratilova, Graf, Williams) have achieved the feat more than once over the course of their careers.[150][151][152]

Only six players have completed a Career Grand Slam in both singles and doubles: one male (Roy Emerson) and five females (Margaret Court, Doris Hart, Shirley Fry Irvin, Martina Navratilova, and Serena Williams).

More information Singles, Doubles ...
Number of players to complete the Career Grand Slam
Singles Doubles Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Junior singles Junior doubles
Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Quad Men Women Quad Boys Girls Boys Girls
8 10 25 23 17 2 1 1 7 8 5 1 0 1 0
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Boxed Set

A "Boxed Set" refers to winning one of every possible major title in the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles disciplines throughout a player's career.[153] Only three players have completed a Boxed Set, all females: Doris Hart, Margaret Court, and Martina Navratilova.[154] Court's second Boxed Set, completed in 1969, spans the Amateur and Open Eras, but she later completed a set entirely within the Open Era in 1973.[152]

  • The event at which the Boxed Set was completed indicated in bold.

S Singles D Doubles X Mixed doubles

More information Boxed Sets, Player ...
Boxed Sets Player Age Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open
S D X S D X S D X S D X
2 Australia Margaret Court 21 1960 1961 1963 1962 1964 1963 1963 1964 1963 1962 1963 1961
26 1961 1962 1964 1964 1965 1964 1965 1969 1965 1965 1968 1962
1 United States Doris Hart 29 1949 1950 1949 1950 1948 1951 1951 1947 1951 1954 1951 1951
1 United States Martina Navratilova 46 1981 1980 2003 1982 1975 1974 1978 1976 1985 1983 1977 1985
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Golden Slam

The term "Golden Slam" (also known as "Golden Grand Slam",[155][156][157] "Calendar-year Golden Slam"[158] or "Calendar Golden Slam")[159] refers to the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal in a calendar year. The achievement was first established in 1988,[160][161] when Steffi Graf won all the aforementioned titles in singles. She is currently the only singles able-bodied player to achieve it,[162][163] while Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott also accomplished the feat, in wheelchair singles and wheelchair quad singles respectively.[164][165]

  • Non-calendar-year Golden Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal consecutively across two calendar years.[166] It has been used since 2013, when Bob and Mike Bryan won the aforementioned titles consecutively in doubles between 2012 and 2013.[167] Their achievement was also dubbed the "Golden Bryan Slam".[168]
  • Career Golden Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors and the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal during their career.[169][166]
More information Singles, Doubles ...
Number of players to complete the Career Golden Slam
Singles Doubles Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Junior singles Junior doubles
Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Quad Men Women Quad Boys Girls Boys Girls
3 2 6 7 0 1 1 1 4 6 4 0 0 0 0
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Other concepts

  • Super Slam: Combination of the Golden Slam and year-end championship title (ATP Finals for the men's tour, WTA Finals for the women's tour, and the Wheelchair Tennis Masters for the wheelchair tennis tour) in a calendar year,[170] also known as "Calendar-year Super Slam"[164] or "Calendar Super Slam".[171] Diede de Groot is currently the only player to do so, in women's wheelchair singles in 2021.[164][172]
  • Non-calendar-year Super Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors, the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal, and the year-end championship consecutively across two calendar years.[173] Steffi Graf is currently the only one to achieve it, with her Golden Slam in 1988 following her victory at the year-end championship in 1987.[173][174]
  • Career Super Slam: refers to the achievement of winning all four majors, the Olympic or Paralympic gold medal, and the year-end championship throughout a career.[175][176]
More information Singles, Doubles ...
Number of players to complete the Career Super Slam
Singles Doubles Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles
Men Women Men Women Men Women Quad Men Women Quad
2 2 5 4 1 1 1 4 6 3
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  • Three-Quarter Slam: refers to the achievement of winning three of the four majors in a calendar year, missing out on the Grand Slam by only one title.[177][178][179]
More information Singles, Doubles ...
Number of players to complete the Three-Quarter Slam
Singles Doubles Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Junior singles Junior doubles
Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Quad Men Women Quad Boys Girls Boys Girls
11 8 15 22 12 2 3 1 4 3 2 3 2 9 11
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  • Surface Slam: refers to the achievement of winning a major title on each of three current surfaces (clay, grass and hard courts) in a calendar year.[180][181] It's been possible since 1978, when the US Open changed its playing surface from clay to hard courts.[182][183] From 1978 to 1987, the Australian Open and Wimbledon were played on grass, the French Open on clay and the US Open on hard, but since 1988 the Australian Open has also been played on hard courts.[184]
More information Singles, Doubles ...
Number of players to complete the Surface Slam
Singles Doubles Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Junior singles Junior doubles
Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Quad Men Women Quad Boys Girls Boys Girls
2 3 5 8 3 2 1 1 4 8 3 3 1 5 8
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  • Channel Slam: refers to the achievement of winning both the French Open and Wimbledon in a calendar year.[185] The name makes reference to the English Channel, the body of water separating France from the United Kingdom, the host countries of the French Open and Wimbledon.[185] These tournaments are held clay and grass courts, respectively, surfaces very different from each other,[69] usually being held a few weeks from each other,[185] meaning that players who have deep runs in the French Open have little time to adapt to the different surface conditions found at Wimbledon.[186][187]
More information Singles, Doubles ...
Number of players to complete the Channel Slam
Singles Doubles Wheelchair singles Wheelchair doubles Junior singles Junior doubles
Men Women Men Women Mixed Men Women Quad Men Women Quad Boys Girls Boys Girls
13 10 29 34 18 3 1 2 5 8 5 10 7 13 19
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Pro Slam

Before the start of the Open Era in 1968, only amateur players were allowed to compete in the four Grand Slam tournaments. Many male top players "went pro" in order to win prize money legally, competing on a professional world tour comprising completely separate events.[188] From 1927 to 1967, the three tournaments considered by many to have been the "majors" of the professional tour were:

A player who won all three in a calendar year was considered retrospectively to have achieved a "Professional Grand Slam", or "Pro Slam".[189][190] In the pre-open era the terms did not exist. The feat was accomplished by Ken Rosewall in 1963[191] and Rod Laver in 1967,[192] while Ellsworth Vines, Hans Nüsslein and Don Budge have won the three major trophies during their careers.[193] The professional majors did not have a women's draw except for the Cleveland tournament in 1953, 1955, 1956, 1959.[194][195][196]

See also

Notes

  1. Australasian Championships (1905–26),
    Australian Championships (1927–68).
  2. First women's event was in 1922.
  3. Grass (1905–1987).
  4. Championnat de France (1891–1924),
    Internationaux de France de Tennis (since 1925),
    Tournoi de Roland-Garros, alternate name (since 1928).
  5. Though the French Championships began in 1891, it was not a major international event until 1925. First women's event was in 1897.
  6. The Championships (since 1877).
  7. First women's event was in 1884.
  8. U.S. National Championship (1881–1967)
  9. First women's event was in 1887.
  10. Grass (1881–1974), Clay (1975–1977).
  11. Since 1987. Dates fluctuated between the start and end of the year before then.
  12. Some sources state the 1891 venue was Racing Club de France, Paris.[66]
  13. Part of 6 consecutive titles.
  14. Part of 7 consecutive titles.
  15. Part of 8 consecutive titles with John Bromwich in 1950 U.S. Championships.
  16. Partnered with Christine Truman and Darlene Hard.
  17. Part of 7 consecutive titles with Fred Stolle in 1962 U.S. Championships.
  18. Part of 5 consecutive titles with John Newcombe, Ken Fletcher and Fred Stolle.
  19. Part of 5 consecutive titles with Donna Floyd, Lesley Turner Bowrey and Billie Jean King.
  20. Part of 8 consecutive titles.
  21. Part of 5 consecutive titles.
  22. Part of 5 consecutive titles with Mirjana Lučić, Jana Novotná and Anna Kournikova.
  23. Part of 12 consecutive titles with Korie Homan, Jiske Griffioen and Maaike Smit between 2005 and 2008.
  24. Part of 8 consecutive titles with Marjolein Buis in 2012 French Open.
  25. Partnered with Joachim Gérard and Shingo Kunieda.
  26. Part of 7 consecutive titles with Aniek van Koot and Yui Kamiji in 2018.
  27. Part of 6 consecutive titles with Heath Davidson, David Wagner and Andy Lapthorne.
  28. Part of 10 consecutive titles.
  29. First consecutive Grand Slam achievement.
  30. Third consecutive Grand Slam achievement in the same discipline.
  31. Partnered with Owen Davidson and Dick Crealy.
  32. Part of 5 consecutive titles with Andrea Temesvári in 1986 French Open.
  33. Partnered with Stéphane Houdet and Gordon Reid.

References

Bibliography

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