If you’ve ever watched, played or been around tennis in any capacity, the chances are you’ve heard of a Grand Slam.
But, what is a Grand Slam in tennis anyway?
Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to take a closer look at Grand Slams, who has won them and work out exactly what that means.
Let’s get to it.
What is a Grand Slam in Tennis?
The term “Grand Slam” was originally used to describe the achievement of winning all four major tennis championships within 1 calendar season. These four championships are:
As time progressed, each of these 4 tournaments (also called Majors) became known as Grand Slam events.
It’s also worth mentioning that to win a Grand Slam, you must win all 4 events in the same form of competition, whether that’s single or doubles, mixed double etc…
Types of Grand Slams & Other Slams
Season Grand Slam
This is the most prestigious type of Grand Slam, where a competitor must win all 4 major tournaments in one calendar year.
Career Grand Slam
As the name suggests, this is where a tennis player wins all 4 Grand Slam events throughout their career. While lest prestigious, still a major achievement.
Three-Quarter Slam
For those unfortunate enough to miss out on a Grand Slam by one tournament, they are still rewarded with what is known as a three-quarter slam. Named for obvious reasons, this is where three out of the 4 major Grand Slam events are won by a player or doubles pair in the same calendar season.
Golden Slam (Calendar and Career)
The Golden Slam takes things to the next level, requiring a player to win both all 4 Grand Slam events, as well as winning gold in the Olympics. For obvious reasons, this can only happen every 4 years, making it one of the hardest achievements in sports.
Super Slam (Calendar and Career)
Another notorious slam is the Super Slam, which comes once every blue moon…at the least. This requires a player to win all 4 Grand Slam events, Olympic Gold and the year-end championship (ATP Finals for men and WTA Finals for women).
Boxed Set Slam
Another ridiculous, yet achievable slam is the Boxed Set Slam. This requires an individual to win all 4 Grand Slam events in singles, doubles and mixed doubles… that’s a lot of winning.
Grand Slam Winners
Right then, who has won a Grand Slam in tennis?
Below you’ll find a list of athletes who have managed to achieve the variety of different slams you’ll find in tennis.
Calendar Grand Slam Winners
Singles
| Name | Date |
| Don Budge | 1938 |
| Maureen Connolly | 1953 |
| Rod Laver X2 | 1962 & 1969 |
| Margaret Smith Court | 1970 |
| Steffi Graf | 1988 |
Don Budge was the first tennis player to win all four major events in the same calendar year.
Interestingly, the term “Grand Slam” was created 5 years earlier, when Jack Crawford faced Fred Perry in the final of the US Open. Should Crawford have won that match, he would have been crowned the first Grand Slam winner.
Leading up to the match, the term Grand Slam was first used to describe the feat, should Crawford have beaten Perry.
It’s also worth noting here that Margaret Court currently holds the record for the most Women’s Grand Slam event wins, with 24 in total. She is closely followed by Serena Williams, who has won a total of 23 Grand Slam events.
Doubles
| Names | Date |
| Frank Sedgman & Ken McGregor | 1951 |
| Marina Bueno & Two Teammates* | 1960 |
| Martina Navratilova & Pam Shriver | 1984 |
| Martina Hingis & Two Teammates** | 1998 |
*Marina Bueno won the Grand Slam in 1960 playing with two different team mates. These were Christine Truman Janes and Darlene Hard. Bueno won the Australian Open with Truman Janes, whilst winning the remaining Grand Slam events with Darlene Hard.
**Martina Hingis won the Grand Slam in 1998 playing alongside two different teammates. She won the Australian open with Croatia’s Mirjana Lučić and the remaining 3 events with Jana Novotná.
Mixed Doubles
| Names | Date |
| Margaret Smith & Ken Fletcher | 1963 |
| Owen Davidson & Two Teammates* | 1967 |
Owen Davidson won the Australian Open with Lesley Turner Bowrey and won the remaining three events with Billie Jean King.
Wheelchair Tennis
| Names | Date |
| Esther Vergeer & Korie Homan | 2009 |
| Esther Vergeer & Sharon Walraven | 2011 |
| Aniek van Koot & Jiske Griffioen | 2013 |
| Stéphane Houdet & Two Teammates* | 2014 |
| Yui Kamiji & Jordanne Whiley | 2014 |
| Diede de Groot & Aniek van Koot | 2019 |
No singles wheelchair tennis players have currently won a Grand Slam. While a number of players have achieved a three-quarter Slam, a full Grand Slam is yet to be one in singles wheelchair tennis.
*Stéphane Houdet won the 2014 doubles Grand Slam playing alongside Joachim Gérard for the French Open and Japan’s Shingo Kunieda for the other three events.
Career Grand Slam Winners
It’s worth noting here that the date stated below is the date that they won the 4th of the 4 Grand Slam events in their career.
So let’s take a look at which tennis players have managed to win a career Grand Slam.
Men’s Singles
| Name | Date |
| Fred Perry | 1935 |
| Don Budge | 1938 |
| Rod Laver* | 1962 |
| Roy Emerson* | 1964 |
| Andre Agassi | 1999 |
| Roger Federer | 2009 |
| Rafael Nadal | 2010 |
| Novak Djokovic | 2016 |
*Rod Laver and Roy Emerson are the only men’s singles tennis players to have won two career Grand Slams at the time of writing.
Women’s Singles
| Name | Date |
| Doris Hart | 1954 |
| Shirley Fry | 1957 |
| Billie Jean King | 1972 |
| Chris Evert | 1982 |
| Martina Navratilova | 1983 |
| Serena Williams | 2003 |
| Maria Sharapova | 2013 |
Men’s Doubles
| Name | Date |
| Adrian Quist | 1939 |
| Frank Sedgman | 1951 |
| Ken McGregor | 1951 |
| Lew Hoad | 1956 |
| Ken Rosewall | 1956 |
| Neale Fraser | 1959 |
| Fred Stolle | 1965 |
| John Newcombe | 1967 |
| Tony Roche | 1967 |
| Bob Hewitt | 1977 |
| John Fitzgerald | 1989 |
| Anders Järryd | 1989 |
| Jacco Eltingh | 1998 |
| Paul Haarhuis | 1998 |
| Mark Woodforde | 2000 |
| Todd Woodbridge | 2000 |
| Jonas Björkman | 2005 |
| Bob Bryan | 2006 |
| Mike Bryan | 2006 |
| Daniel Nestor | 2008 |
| Leander Paes | 2012 |
| Pierre-Hugues Herbert | 2019 |
| Nicolas Mahut | 2019 |
A total of 23 players have won a Career Grand Slam in men’s doubles. Adrian Quist was the first person to win a Career Grand Slam in men’s doubles. Winning the US Open in 1939 marked the achievement for Quist.
The Bryan Brothers, Bob, and Mike currently own the record for the most Grand Slam doubles titles per team, clocking in a whopping 17 titles, 7 of which were won consecutively.
Women’s Doubles
21 female tennis players have been able to add the doubles career Grand Slam to their accolades. These include Doris Hart, Shirley Fry, Pam Shriver, and more recently, the Williams sisters, Serena and Venus.
Louise Brough Clapp was the first tennis player to win all 4 Grand Slam events in women’s doubles. She achieved this by winning the Australian Open in 1950, playing alongside Dorris Hart.
Mixed Doubles
In terms of mixed doubles, a total of 17 tennis players have won the career Grand Slam. These include Martina Navratilova (2003), Martina Hingis and Leander Paes.
Three-Quarter Slam (Calendar)
We’ll just be taking a look at who has won a three-quarter slam in the same calendar season, otherwise the list would be insanely long.
Men’s Singles
| Name | Date | Gand Slams Won |
| Jack Crawford | 1933 | Australian, French, Wimbledon |
| Fred Perry | 1934 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Tony Trabert | 1955 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Lew Hoad | 1956 | Australian, French, Wimbledon |
| Ashley Cooper | 1958 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Roy Emerson | 1964 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Jimmy Connors | 1974 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Mats Wilander | 1988 | Australian, French, U.S |
| Roger Federer | 2004 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Roger Federer | 2006 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Roger Federer | 2007 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Rafael Nadal | 2010 | French, Wimbledon, U.S.) |
| Novak Djokovic | 2011 | Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open |
| Novak Djokovic | 2015 | Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open |
As you can see, as of recent years, Djokovic has come close to winning a Calendar Grand Slam a couple of times, however has just fallen short at the French Open, to the king of clay himself, Nadal.
If anyone is going to win a Calendar Grand Slam in the coming years, my money would be on Djokovic. He’s won on clay before, and can definitely do it again.
Women’s Singles
Below is a list of women’s tennis players, from all eras who have won the three-quarter slam in a single calendar season.
| Name | Date | Grand Slams Won |
| Helen Wills Moody | 1928 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Margaret Smith | 1962 | Australian, French, U.S |
| Margaret Smith | 1965 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Margaret Smith | 1969 | Australian, French, U.S |
| Billie Jean King | 1972 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Margaret Smit | 1973 | Australian, French, U.S |
| Martina Navratilova | 1983 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Steffi Graf | 1989 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Monica Seles | 1991 | Australian, French, U.S |
| Monica Seles | 1992 | Australian, French, U.S |
| Steffi Graf | 1993 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Steffi Graf | 1995 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Steffi Graf | 1996 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Martina Hingis | 1997 | Australian, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Serena Williams | 2002 | French, Wimbledon, U.S |
| Serena Williams | 2015 | Australian, French, Wimbledon |
Don’t feel too bad for Steffi Graf coming close to a Calendar Grand Slam on three separate occasions. She managed to achieve this in 1988 when she was finally able to conquer the Australian open alongside the other 3 Majors.
Golden Slam Winners
Just as a quick refresher, a Golden Slam winner is someone who has achieved a Grand Slam as well as won an Olympic Gold medal.
Only one tennis player, Steffi Graf, has been able to achieve a Calendar Golden Slam. She did this in 1988, winning all 4 of the Majors as well as the Seoul Olympics – absolutely incredible.
Other players who have managed to achieve a Career Golden Slam are as follows.
Singles
It’s worth noting that the dates specified below, are the dates that the players achieved their Golden Slam by winning the last tournament out of the 5 required.
| Name | Date |
| Andre Agassi | 1999 by winning French Open |
| Rafael Nadal | 2010 by winning US Open |
| Serena Williams | 2012 by winning the Olympics |
Doubles
| Name | Date |
| Pam Shriver | 1988 by winning the Olympics |
| Gigi Fernandez | 1993 by winning Australian Open |
| Daniel Nestor | 2008 by winning the Wimbledon |
| Bob & Make Bryan | 2012 by winning the Olympics |
| Serena & Venus Williams | 2001 by winning Australian Open |
| Tod Woodbridge | 2000 by winning the French Open |
| Mark Woodforde | 2000 by winning the French Open |
Serena Williams is the only tennis player to have one the career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles tennis. This is an incredible achievement, one that we’re not likely to see again for a long time.
Super Slam Winners
Before we dive into this section, it’s worth mentioning that no tennis player has managed to win a Calendar Super Slam. With that in mind, the players listed below have managed to achieve a Super Slam throughout the duration of their career.
The closest any player has come to a Calendar Super Slam, was when Steffi Graf was able to win all required tournaments within a 12-month period. These were won in different calendar seasons however, meaning that the Graf wasn’t able to add the Calendar Super Slam to her list of remarkable achievements. Still though, winning any kind of Super Slam is nothing short of incredible.
Singles
| Name | Date |
| Andre Agassi | 1999 by winning French Open |
| Serena Williams | 2012 by winning the Olympics |
Doubles
| Name | Date |
| Pam Shriver | 1998 by winning the Olympics |
| Gigi Fernández | 1993 by winning WTA Year End |
| Todd Woodbridge | 2000 by winning the French Open |
| Mark Woodforde | 2000 by winning the French Open |
| Daniel Nestor | 2008 by winning Wimbledon |
| Bob & Mike Bryan | 2012 by winning the Olympics |
Boxed Set Slam
Lastly we have the Boxed Set Slam, which requires a player to win all 4 Majors in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. No male tennis player has ever achieved this, however 3 women’s players have managed to do complete the Boxed Set Slam. These are:
- Margaret Court
- Doris Hart
- Martina Navratilova
In recent memory, Serena Williams is the closet to achieving the Boxed Set Slam. The only 2 championships she has not won are the mixed doubles at the French and Australian Opens.
Final Thoughts
There we have it folks. Hopefully you’ve got a better idea of what a Grand Slam in tennis is, as well as a good understanding of who has won a Grand Slam in tennis.
If you’ve got any questions at all, please feel free to get in touch via the comment seciton below.
Thanks for stopping by.
Recommended Reading:
- How to Play Tennis: a Beginners Guide
- 4 Types of Tennis Player and How to Beat Them
- Tennis Glossary: Over 200 Tennis Terms You Should Know
- What is Seeding in Tennis?
