5 hard-to-break records of world tennis
The tennis world today has a lot of talent and many records being created. However, in the past there were also a number of records that have long gone down in history and exist today that are very difficult for any tennis player to achieve. Let's take a look at 5 such records in tennis history.
Calendar Slam
The term "Calendar Slam" refers to a player who wins all four Grand Slam tournaments in the same calendar year. In the history of men's tennis, only two people have ever achieved this incredible achievement - Don Budge and Rod Laver. Don Budge was the first to win the Calendar Slam in 1938, when tennis was still not professional. Rod Laver also won the same Calendar Slam in 1962 during the Amateur era. Seven years later, Laver made history by becoming the first person in the Open era to win a Calendar Slam.
Over the next 4 decades, only Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic came close to this achievement, when they reached the finals of all 4 Grand Slams and won 3/4 tournaments in the same year. Federer (2006, 2007) and Djokovic (2015) won three other tournaments but lost in the final of Roland Garros. Djokovic also repeated the same achievement, but lost in the finals of the US Open (2021) and Wimbledon (2023).
In women's tennis, three players have won the Calendar Slam, with two of these occurring in the Open era. Maureen Connolly Brinker (1953) won the Calendar Slam during the Amateur era, while Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988) achieved the feat after tennis turned professional.
Serena Williams in 2015 came close to winning the Calendar Slam championship. She won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon before losing to Roberta Vinci in the US Open semi-finals.
Winning a Grand Slam the most times
115 matches at Roland Garros, 112 wins and 14 titles won. It is not difficult to guess the name of the person holding this remarkable record - clay king Raphael Nadal.
Since his Roland Garros debut in 2005, Nadal has made a habit of winning at the famous Philippe Chatrier court as if Roland Garros was born for him. In 18 years of participating in the tournament, the Spanish tennis player only lost 3 matches to 2 people at the French Open: losing to Robin Soderling in round 4 (2009), losing to Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals (2015) and round 3 (2021).
Longest winning streak
Martina Navratilova's winning streak began on February 20, 1984 at the US Indoor Championship in New Jersey and was ended by Helena Suková in the semi-finals of the Australian Open on December 7, 1984. During these 10 months, Navratilova won 74 consecutive matches as the best single season achievement by a tennis player in history. During this period, she won 13 titles, including 3 Grand Slams - Roland Garros, Wimbledon and US Open.
In men's tennis, Bjorn Borg's record of 49 consecutive wins in 1978 ranks 7th for the longest consecutive winning streak on any surface in the Open era.
Boxed Set Record
“Boxed Set” is the feat of winning all 12 titles - singles, doubles and mixed doubles - at all 4 Grand Slams.
No player has won all 12 titles in the same calendar year, but across their entire careers, three players - all women - have achieved an incredible feat. The first player to win a Boxed Set in her career was American Doris Hart, at Wimbledon 1951, all on the same day.
Later, Margaret Court and Martina Navratilova also achieved Boxed Set. Even more unbelievable, Court achieved the Boxed Set twice. In other words, she has won all three titles at all four Grand Slam tournaments multiple times.
Golden Slam
The Golden Slam is a feat where a player wins all four Grand Slam tournaments plus the Olympic gold medal in the same year. So far only Steffi Graf has done this in 1988.
Expanding to an entire career, besides Steffi Graf, only three other people have won all four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal in their career (known as Career Golden Slam). They are Andre Agassi (1996), Serena Williams (2001), Rafael Nadal (2010).
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