To win a Grand Slam title is something every tennis player dreams of from the day they starting swinging their racquet.
Despite the difficulty of winning a Grand Slam tournament, a number of names have dominated on the biggest stage throughout the years.
The past two decades have in particular seen a number of names cement their place in history by winning a record number of Grand Slam titles.
What are the four Grand Slam tournaments?
In running order, the four Grand Slam events held each year are: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
The French Open is played on clay, Wimbledon on grass and remaining two are competed on hard courts.
Wimbledon is the oldest Grand Slam event, founded in 1877, followed by the US Open four years later, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905.
Who has won the most Grand Slam titles?
Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams currently hold the record for most Grand Slam titles in their respective singles fields.
Nadal only recently became the sole holder of the men’s singles record after edging past Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic with his 2022 Australian Open triumph.
Williams, meanwhile, claimed the women’s singles record in 2017 at the Australian Open and hasn’t won another Grand Slam tournament since despite making four finals.
Most men’s singles Grand Slam titles won by a player in the Open era
| Player | Grand Slam titles |
|---|---|
| Rafael Nadal | 21 |
| Roger Federer | 20 |
| Novak Djokovic | 20 |
| Pete Sampras | 14 |
| Bjorn Borg | 11 |
| Jimmy Connors | 8 |
| Ivan Lendl | 8 |
| Andre Agassi | 8 |
| John McEnrow | 7 |
| Mats Wilander | 7 |
Most women’s singles Grand Slam titles won by a player in the Open era
| Player | Grand Slam titles |
|---|---|
| Serena Williams | 23 |
| Steffi Graf | 22 |
| Chris Evert | 18 |
| Martina Navratilova | 18 |
| Monica Seles | 9 |
| Evonne Goolagong | 7 |
| Justine Henin | 7 |
| Venus Williams | 7 |
| Martina Hingis | 5 |
| Maria Sharapova | 5 |
Who has won all four Grand Slams in the same year?
The term ‘Grand Slam’ actually relates to the achievement of winning all four tournaments in the same year.
Winning one title is hard enough, but winning all four straight is extremely difficult.
American Don Budge was the first to achieve a Grand Slam in 1938, with Australian Rod Laver the only other men’s singles player to repeat the feat.
Maureen Connolly was the first woman to pull it off in the women’s singles when she did so in 1953. Margaret Court and Steffi Graf are the only other players to have done the same since.
Dylan Alcott was the last player to complete a Grand Slam in 2021 when he did so in the wheelchair quad singles.
What is a Golden Slam and who has completed it?
If a Grand Slam wasn’t rare enough, a Golden Slam requires players to also win Olympic gold on top of the four Grand Slam events in the same year.
Steffi Graf was the first to complete a Golden Slam in 1988, with only wheelchair players Diede de Groot and Dylan Alcott managing to replicate the feat since.