If nothing else, 2015 has reminded us just how special winning a calendar Grand Slam is. It’s a bloody hard feat to accomplish – if it were easy, then everybody would be doing it.
Only five people have managed to achieve winning all four majors in the one year, and the last person to do so was Steffi Graf in 1988. The German topped this off by making it a Golden Grand Slam, by adding the Olympic gold medal that year – the only person to have achieved this.
The other winners of the calendar Grand Slam are American Don Budge, in 1938, and fellow American, Maureen Connolly in 1953.
The next two are Australian tennis legends Rod Laver and Margaret Court. ‘Rocket’ Rod won it twice, in 1962 and again in 1969, while Court won it in 1970. She also has two calendar Grand Slams in mixed doubles.
It is the elusiveness of the calendar Grand Slam that makes tennis such a magical sport.
In its long history it is hard to believe that so few have achieved it. Yes, there have been many champions who have won multiple Grand Slam titles, but all four in one year is a the quest that draws many to tennis, either as players or as fans.
This year the dream of calendar Grand Slam glory ran through both the ATP and WTA narratives.
In the WTA the excitement surrounded Serena Williams achieving the feat.
Williams already has the career Grand Slam and she’s also given birth to the ‘Serena Slam’ by winning the US Open in 2014, then the Australian, French and Wimbledon all in 2015.
Williams walked away from the first three majors of the year as the title holder, leaving her with just the US Open. Had she been successful, not only would she have won all four majors in one year, she would have won the last five.
As much as she tried to talk the pressure down, by the time New York rolled around, it was palpable. For the first couple of rounds Williams was a little shaky. Bethanie Mattek-Sands had her all over the place in the first set of their second-round match, and Williams looked to be playing history rather than tennis.
Although she survived that encounter, history was not rewritten. Italian Roberta Vinci defeated the world number one in a three-set upset in the semi-finals. A gutted Williams ended her season early, skipping the WTA Finals in Singapore.
Williams is undoubtedly one of the greatest, if not the greatest women’s tennis player of all time. A calendar Grand Slam would be a magnificent achievement for a remarkable career. But the fact she has never won one doesn’t so much speak about her, it speaks to the difficulty of winning all four majors in the same year. It’s a difficulty that is too often overlooked by casual observers.
Over at the ATP there were also dreams of Grand Slam glory. Novak Djokovic is yet to achieve a career Grand Slam, with the French Open the only major missing from his trophy cabinet.
The 2015 tennis season began with the low hum of excitement that this could be the year Djokovic not only collected his career Grand Slam, but that he could achieve a calendar Grand Slam.
Particularly with Rafael Nadal on the wane, the possibility of collecting the missing French Open gained momentum. But the tennis gods are quick to remind us that nothing is certain.
Swiss number 2 Stan Wawrinka is a formidable opponent, and he confirmed that he is no one-slam wonder by snatching the coveted prize in Paris.
To date, 2015 is Djokovic’s most successful year, only losing six matches. Phenomenal.
In some ways it’s a shame such an unbelievable year wasn’t topped off with a calendar slam. Had he won the French along with all the other tournaments he won this year, Djokovic would have been the first man in the history of the sport to have won the Super Slam – the four majors and the end of year event in the same year.
But this means the record is still up for grabs, and perhaps Djokovic will make this piece of history in the coming years.
Roger Federer may still be playing great tennis but Nadal’s best days are possibly in the past. Andy Murray hasn’t been able to match Djokovic, although he’s had some good results this year. The next generation seem a long way behind the pack and are in danger of being a promising group that doesn’t quite deliver.
No one can predict what 2016 has to offer for Djokovic, but we eagerly wait the flipping of the calendar into the New Year.
2015 offered tennis fans a tantalising treat of possibilities for Grand Slam glory. Add to this the magic potential of a Golden Grand Slam in an Olympic year and 2016 should be another cracking year for those of us who hope to see history written before our eyes.
clipper
Guest
The '62 GS was a cakewalk as most of the players were in the Pro Slam camp, including Rosewall and Gonzalez, who both had good records against him. I'm sure he would've added more slams, but would've lost a few before he went pro if they other players were still there. If's a difficult equation.
Mike Huber
Roar Pro
Yes the Grand Slam is elusive however, for Rod Laver it was a cakewalk. If he hadn't turned pro in all likelihood he would of added at least 3 more slams , 12 majors - he was THAT good ! As the insert below notes, "Despite being banned from playing the Grand Slam tournaments for the five years prior to the Open Era, he still won 11 singles titles because he is the only player to twice achieve the calendar-year Grand Slam, in 1962 and 1969, and remains the only man to do so during the Open Era. He also won eight Pro Slam titles, including the calendar year Pro "Grand Slam" [12][13] in 1967, and contributed to five Davis Cup titles for Australia during an age when Davis Cup was deemed as significant as the Grand Slams.[14]"
FrozenNorth
Guest
Before the Australian Open i saw an ageing Federer, Murray dominated by Djokovic in big games, a lost Nadal and a field of nobodies so decided to put a few dollars on Novak to win the calendar slam. To my shock it was only paying $9, i couldn't get my head around that so decided not to bet, wisely in the end. But it WAS on, he fell one match short. I am very glad Serena failed, apart from her being one of the ugliest personalities in all of sport, the women's field is a dead set joke. Littered with nervous, under developed and mentally frail players , it is an epically weak WTA right now, been watching Tennis for 30 years and have never seen either tour in such dire straights talent wise.