Winning all four Grand Slams is considered a huge achievement in tennis. It not only shows the skill and consistency of a tennis player but also offers ranking points, media attention, and prize money.
Besides, the four Grand Slams are won very rarely within a single calendar year, so this event has always been hugely celebrated by both athletes and tennis fans.
In this post, I am going to introduce you to tennis players who have won all 4 Grand Slams. Make yourself comfortable – this article is going to be a bit longer than you may be thinking!
What Are The Four Tennis Grand Slams?
Before moving onto the names of those who have conquered all four Grand Slams, I should first define what a Grand Slam is. This is important because there are several types of Grand Slams.
Without specifying which Grand Slam we are covering, the question of who has won all 4 Grand Slams is ambiguous.
Grand Slam
First up, we have the traditional Grand Slams.
The term Grand Slam refers to winning all four major tennis championships within a single calendar season. But sometimes, the phrase “Grand Slam” is used to refer to any of these major championships separately.
The four major tennis championships are:
- Australian Open in mid-January.
- French Open from late May to early June.
- Wimbledon in June-July.
- US Open in August-September.
Like other Grand Slam variations, the Grand Slam requires that the player win the four championships in a single discipline – singles, doubles, mixed doubles, or wheelchair tennis.
Career Grand Slam
A player gets a Career Grand Slam by winning each of the four major competitions throughout their career. In other words, a player doesn’t need to win the major competitions all within one calendar season to earn a Career Grand Slam.
Calendar & Career Golden Slam
The Golden Slam is when a tennis player wins all the major championships and an Olympic gold medal within a single tennis discipline.
To win a calendar Golden Slam, the player needs to win all the titles within the same calendar season. This means that one can earn the Golden Slam only in the year of the Summer Olympic Games.
There also is the non-calendar year Golden Slam (also sometimes called Career Golden Slam). To get this Golden Slam, a player needs to win Olympic gold plus all four major championships at any point in their career.
Calendar & Career Super Slam
Next, we have the Super Slam, which requires a player to win:
- The four major tennis championships.
- Olympic gold.
- The year-end championship – ATP Finals (men), WTA Finals (women), or Wheelchair Tennis Masters.
Like previous Grand Slam types, the Super Slam may be done throughout one’s career or within a single calendar season.
Three-Quarter Slam
A Three-Quarter Slam is when a player only wins three of the four major championships within the same calendar season. It doesn’t matter which championships the player wins – the only prerequisite is that the player wins at least three.
All tennis players who have won a Grand Slam had first won a Three-Quarter Slam by winning three consecutive championships.
I won’t cover Three-Quarter Slam winners in this post, but you may have a look at their names on the US Open website.
Tennis Players That Have Won All 4 Grand Slams
We are finally ready to have a look at those outstanding tennis players who’ve managed to win all the four major tennis competitions. We’ll have a look at names in the categories listed earlier.
I’ve used the US Open’s “Grand Slam All-Time Champions” and Wikipedia’s Grand Slam article as sources for the names. Some of you may argue that Wikipedia isn’t always reliable, but it seemed to be a good source I had for this particular post.
Grand Slam
So who has won all 4 Grand Slams in the same year?
So far, there have been Grand Slams in all major tennis disciplines – singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. There have been Grand Slams in wheelchair tennis as well.
Singles
Let’s start with singles. Only 5 people have won a calendar Grand Slam in singles. They are:
- Don Budge, United States, 1938.
- Maureen Connolly, United States, 1953.
- Rod Laver, Australia, 1962 and 1969. Laver is the only male player to have completed the Grand Slam twice.
- Margaret Smith Court, Australia, 1970.
- Steffi Graf, Germany, 1988.
So as you can see, only 6 Grand Slams have been won by 5 players. Not only that, but the last Grand Slam in singles has been achieved more than three decades ago!
Before Don Budge’s success, the closest anyone had to come to the Grand Slam had been Jack Crawford of Australia 5 years earlier. Crawford had won the first three Grand Slams before meeting Fred Perry in the U.S. Championships.
Interestingly, the four championships had been christened the Grand Slam on the eve of this match.
However, fatigued after nearly 5 months on the road, Crawford lost to Perry, losing the chance of being crowned the first-ever tennis player to win all 4 Grand Slams.
Doubles
Grand Slam champions in doubles have been:
- Frank Sedgman and Ken McGregor, Australia, 1951.
- Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver, United States, 1984.
- Maria Bueno (with two teammates), Brazil, 1960.
- Martina Hingis (with two teammates), Switzerland, 1998.
Mixed doubles
In mixed doubles, Grand Slam holders are as follows:
- Margaret Smith and Ken Fletcher, Australia, 1963.
- Owen Davidson (with two teammates), Australia, 1967.
Margaret Smith makes an entry here again – if you didn’t forget, she also earned a Grand Slam in singles in 1970, becoming the second female player to make a Grand Slam after Maureen Connolly.
We haven’t seen any calendar Grand Slams among non-wheelchair players since the late 1990s. This is remarkable, considering that we now have better equipment and perhaps even better training routines.
Most recently, Serena Williams was very close to achieving the calendar Grand Slam. In 2015, after winning the Australian and French Opens along with Wimbledon, Williams’ performance at the US Open was highly anticipated because she could win the Grand Slam.
However, Williams lost to Italy’s Roberta Vinci in the semifinals, ending her streak on a Three-Quarter Slam.
Wheelchair tennis
Grand Slams have been achieved in wheelchair tennis as well – in men’s and women’s wheelchair doubles, as well as in quad wheelchair doubles. In fact, the Grand Slam has been won by wheelchair tennis players very recently!
The only calendar Grand Slam in men’s wheelchair doubles was achieved by Stéphane Houdet of France in 2014. He played with Belgium’s Joachim Gérard and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda.
Aside from that, there have been 5 Grand Slams in women’s wheelchair doubles:
- Esther Vergeer and Korie Homan, the Netherlands, 2009.
- Esther Vergeer and Sharon Walraven, the Netherlands, 2011.
- Aniek van Koot and Jiske Griffioen, the Netherlands, 2013.
- Yui Kamiji (Japan) and Jordanne Whiley (the UK), 2014.
- Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot, the Netherlands, 2019.
Finally, in quad wheelchair doubles, there has only been one Grand Slam so far – in 2019. It was achieved by Dylan Alcott as part of his 6 consecutive titles with Heath Davidson (Australia), David Wagner (US), and Andrew Lapthorne (the UK).
Career Grand Slam
The Career Grand Slam is considered less impressive than the Grand Slam because it doesn’t require a tennis player to win all four championships within a single calendar season. With that, there are many more Career Grand Slam winners than Grand Slam winners.
More precisely, here is how many tennis players have achieved the Career Grand Slam:
- Men’s single: 8 athletes, including Novak Djokovic (Serbia, achieved in 2016), Rafael Nadal (Spain, 2010), Roger Federer (Switzerland, 2009), and Andre Agassi (the US, 1999).
- Women’s singles: 10 athletes, including Maria Sharapova (Russia, 2012), Serena Williams (the US, 2003), and Steffi Graf (Germany, 1988).
- Men’s doubles: 24 athletes, including 16 with a unique partner. Among those who have earned the Career Grand Slam in men’s doubles are Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France, 2019), Leander Paes (India, 2012), and Daniel Nestor (Canada, 2008).
- Women’s doubles: 21 athletes, including 10 with a unique partner. Among female winners of the Career Grand Slam in doubles are Roberta Vinci and Sara Errani (Italy, 2014), Lisa Raymond (the US, 2006), and Venus and Serena Williams (the US, 2001).
- Mixed doubles: 17 athletes, including Martina Hingis and Leander Paes (Switzerland and India, 2016), Cara Black (Zimbabwe, 2010), and Mahesh Bhupathi (India, 2006).
Career Grand Slams have also been won among boys and wheelchair players.
I decided not to list absolutely every winner of the Career Grand Slam because the post would become too heavy. The Career Grand Slam isn’t as interesting as other Grand Slam variations too, in my opinion.
Calendar & Career Golden Slam
Remarkably, only one player has completed the Golden Slam within a single calendar season. It is Germany’s Steffi Graf.
Graf achieved the Golden Slam by winning the 1988 Olympic gold medal, the 1988 Australian Open, the 1988 French Open, the 1988 Wimbledon Championships, and the 1988 US Open.
As for the Career Golden Slam, it has been won 19 times (including Steffi Graf’s Golden Slam).
Singles
In singles, the Career Golden Slam has been won by:
- Andre Agassi, United States, the competition winning the Career Golden Slam was the 1999 French Open.
- Rafael Nadal, Spain, the 2010 US Open.
- Serena Williams, United States, the 2012 Olympics.
Doubles
In doubles, the Career Golden Slam has been won by:
- Pam Shriver, United States, the 1988 Olympics.
- Gigi Fernández, United States, the 1993 Australian Open.
- Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, Australia, the 2000 French Open.
- Serena Williams and Venus Williams, United States, the 2001 Australia Open.
- Daniel Nestor, Canada, the 2008 Wimbledon.
- Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, United States, the 2012 Olympics.
Wheelchair tennis
Among men’s wheelchair doubles, Career Golden Slam winners have been:
- Shingo Kunieda, Japan, the 2008 French Open.
- Stéphane Houdet, France, the 2010 Australian Open.
- Michaël Jeremiasz, France, the 2013 Australian Open.
- Nicolas Peifer, France, the 2016 Olympics.
Among women’s wheelchair doubles, Career Golden Slam winners have been:
- Korie Homan and Esther Vergeer, the Netherlands, the 2009 Wimbledon.
- Sharon Walraven, the Netherlands, the 2011 French Open.
- Aniek van Koot and Jiske Griffioen, the Netherlands, the 2016 Olympics.
Among quad wheelchair singles, the only winner of the Career Golden Slam is Dylan Alcott of Australia. He earned the title by winning the 2019 Wimbledon.
Finally, Dylon Alcott has also earned the Career Golden Slam for quad wheelchair doubles by winning the 2019 US Open.
Calendar & Career Super Slam
Lastly, we have the Super Slam.
Remarkably, no one has ever managed to win a Super Slam within a single calendar season. However, Germany’s Steffi Graf managed to win a Super Slam within 12 months.
Graf earned the title by winning the Olympic Gold, Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open of 1988, plus the 1987 Virginia Slims Championships.
Although we are yet to see a calendar Super Slam, the Career Super Slam has been earned 16 times (including Steffi Graf).
Singles
In singles, the Career Super Slam has been earned by two people:
- Andre Agassi, United States, the competition winning the Career Super Slam was the 1999 French Open.
- Serena Williams, United States, the 2012 Olympics.
Doubles
In doubles, the following tennis players have earned the Career Super Slam:
- Pam Shriver, United States, the 1988 Olympics.
- Gigi Fernández, United States, the 1993 year-end.
- Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde, Australia, the 2000 French Open.
- Daniel Nestor, Canada, the 2008 Wimbledon.
- Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, United States, the 2012 Olympics.
Wheelchair tennis
Among men’s wheelchair doubles, the Career Super Slam has been earned by:
- Stéphane Houdet, France, the 2010 Australian Open.
- Shingo Kunieda, Japan, the 2012 year-end.
- Michaël Jeremiasz, France, the 2013 Australian Open.
- Nicolas Peifer, France, the 2016 year-end.
Among women’s wheelchair doubles, the Career Super Slam has been won by:
- Korie Homan and Esther Vergeer, the Netherlands, the 2009 Wimbledon.
- Sharon Walraven, the Netherlands, the 2011 French Open.
- Aniek van Koot and Jiske Griffioen, the Netherlands, the 2016 Olympics.
And in quad wheelchair singles, the only athlete to win the Career Super Slam is Australia’s Dylan Alcott. He earned the title by winning the 2019 Wimbledon.
Interestingly, nearly all athletes from the Career Golden Slam list have earned the Career Super Slam. Well, that’s probably because if your skill is sufficient to earn the Career Golden Slam, then you are fairly likely to win the Career Super Slam too.
The 5th Set
So as it turns out, the true calendar Grand Slam has only been achieved 12 times (if we don’t count wheelchair tennis). Even fewer people (only one player, to be precise) have achieved the calendar Golden Slam, and no one so far has achieved the calendar Super Slam.
Hopefully, we’ll see these tennis benchmarks broken in the coming years. Although since 2015, no one has contested the Grand Slam, the popularity of tennis is far, far from being over, so we’ll surely see more stars enter the sport.
