World Wide Words: Grand slam Random page Grand slam Q From Jonathan Odell: There’s been lots of talk about grand slam as a result of Andy Murray’s success in the US Open. Where did it come from? A Etymologically this slam has no connection with the word for a violent action, such as slamming a door. The immediate origin was the card game, bridge. Grand slam, to take all 13 tricks in a hand, has for more than a century been part of the vocabulary of players. Bridge became hugely popular in the US from the last years of the nineteenth century on and the term very soon began to take on other associations. It’s often said that the American journalist Allison Danzig took the card term and applied it to tennis in 1938. He was writing about the achievement of Donald Budge that year in winning all four major singles titles — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open.

(Budge wasn’t the first to win them all, Fred Perry having achieved that two years earlier with his US Open success, but Perry didn’t win all four in the same year.) Danzig’s employment of it, if he did, was beaten by five years by this: Crawford, already the holder this year of the Australian, French and British singles championships, will make his bid for the first “grand slam” in tennis history when he plays Perry tomorrow afternoon for the American title. Salt Lake City Tribune (Utah), 10 Sep. 1933. In a syndicated report by Alan Gould of the Associated Press. Crawford failed: Fred Perry beat him. This wasn’t its first use in sports. It’s said that O B Keeler of the Atlanta Journal had used grand slam to describe the success of golfer Bobby Jones, who in 1930 won all four of the major golfing titles (British amateur, US open, British open and US amateur). I can’t confirm Keeler’s use, but the term was around widely from about July that year as Jones won successive tournaments and the expectation increased that he would succeed in all four.

This is how one newspaper of many described the culmination: Bobby Jones swamped Gene Homans, 8 and 7, today in the finals of the U. S. amateur championship thereby completing his unparalleled “grand slam” in golf for 1930. Beatrice Daily Sun (Nebraska), 28 Sep. 1930. I’ve since found that it was also being used in other contexts for a team that won all its matches in a contest: it certainly appeared in reports about Davis Cup matches earlier the same year, so predating its use for the grand slam tennis singles titles. Furthermore, Paul Dickson, in The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, notes that it refers to a “home run hit with the bases loaded” and that the usage dates from an article in the New York Times on 27 May 1929: “One pinch-hitter thus producing what is known in baseball as a grand slam is enough to make a ball game momentous”. He also says it was used earlier for any hard-hit ball that scored a lot of runs, or indeed any home run.

This is the earliest baseball reference I can find: After the game had been cinched in the sixth, the Infants couldn’t stop that awful stampede by the Camels. The herd almost pushed one across in the seventh but clever work by Sterling stopped it. The eighth however, was a grand slam for the Camels. Muscatine Journal (Iowa), 15 July 1910. I’ve found it in the same year as a figurative term for a decisive or knockout blow: Lulu’s press agent, having exhausted all other schemes, advertises for a husband for his star, the idea being to give the victim the “grand slam” at the altar, thus affording the reporters a great first page story. San Antonio Light and Gazette, 20 Oct. 1910. This is from a review of a comedy play, Lulu’s Husbands by Thompson Buchanan. The venerable bridge sense seems in turn to have acquired it from whist, in which a slam (without the grand) was likewise the taking of all 13 tricks in a hand. The Oxford English Dictionary has taken this back to a book of 1660. But it’s older still.

An earlier game called ruff and honours, an ancestor of whist, had several names, one of them slam. It’s now thought that slam here is likely to be from the obsolete slampant of the previous century, which meant trickery. To give someone a slampant meant to play a trick on a person or hoodwink them. It must surely be connected with trick in the card sense, which dates from about the same time. This penumbra of sense around slam has long since vanished. The first figurative users of grand slam had slam in the bridge sense in their minds but coloured by the physical one. Today the physical sense overwhelms the other. Incidentally, grand slam in tennis, in the sense of winning all four of the major singles tournaments, is so rare an accomplishment that the term has weakened to winning any of the four titles, which are often called grand-slam titles. When this happened is hard to pin down. Andy Murray is a grand slam winner in this weaker sense — he hasn’t won any of the four majors other than the US Open, though he has been finalist or semi-finalist in all of them.

But getting Olympic gold and winning the US Open within one month is surely enough of a grand slam for anyone. Share this page Tennis’ Elusive Grand Slam - History in the Headlines Tennis’ Elusive Grand Slam July 2, 2015 By Sarah Pruitt Share this: Google The record-setting heat wave in London this week isn’t the only sizzling story at the All-England Club this year. All eyes are on Serena Williams, the top-ranked female tennis player in the world, as she goes for her sixth straight Wimbledon title, her third straight major title of the year—and the 21st major championship of her career. If Williams wins Wimbledon, she will also be three-quarters of the way to one of the most elusive tennis achievements: winning all four of the major tournaments (Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open) in one calendar year, an achievement only five singles tennis players in history can claim. Take a look back at the men and women who have made Grand Slam history. Don Budge – 1938 Growing up in Oakland, California, the young Budge loved football and soccer before focusing on tennis. He played for the U.S.

Davis Cup team from 1935-38, winning 25 of 29 matches, and in 1937 led the team to its first title since 1926. After Fred Perry, the reigning king of amateur tennis, turned pro in 1937, Budge began his domination of the all-important Grand Slam tournaments, which at the time were open only to amateur players. (Journalists began using the card-playing term “Grand Slam” to describe winning all four major tennis titles in one year in the early 1930s.) Taller (at 6’ 2”) and stronger than many of his opponents, Budge was the “big man” of tennis at the time, and became the first player to use his backhand as an offensive weapon. In 1937, he won Wimbledon and the U.S. championships; he repeated the same feat in 1938, adding the Australian and French titles to clinch the first-ever Grand Slam. After a total of 14 Grand Slam titles (six in singles, four in doubles and four in mixed doubles), Budge turned pro in 1938.

He amassed a winning record before enlisting in the Army Air Force in 1942, when an injury to his right shoulder during training hurt his future play. Maureen Connolly – 1953 A native of San Diego, Connolly began playing tennis at the age of 10, and by 15 had won more than 50 tournaments. In 1951, she won her first U.S. Open championship, at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, Queens, just before her 17th birthday. The press dubbed Connolly “Little Mo,” a reference to the World War II battleship USS Missouri, which was known as “Big Mo.” After winning Wimbledon and a second U.S. title in 1952, she hired Australian Davis Cup captain Harry Hopman as a coach, and benefited from his emphasis on physical fitness.

In 1953, Connolly made her only trip to the Australian Open, which at the time (when amateur players didn’t earn any money) attracted fewer players; she defeated Julie Sampson Haywood, a fellow Californian, in the final, then went on to beat Doris Hart of Missouri in the finals of the French, Wimbledon and U.S. championships, becoming the first woman to win a Grand Slam. In 1954, the 19-year-old Connolly was riding her horse back in San Diego when they crashed into a cement-mixing truck, crushing her right leg. From 1951 until her accident, Connolly had played in nine Grand Slam singles tournaments and won all nine, with a 50-0 record. Though she hoped to resume her tennis career after her recovery, the injury was more serious than originally thought and she announced her retirement in 1955. After marrying Norman Brinker, she had two children and worked as a tennis instructor; she died of cancer in 1969, at the age of 34.

Rod Laver – 1962 and 1969 Laver, the son of two lawn tennis players, grew up playing in the Australian outback before attracting the attention of Harry Hopman, captain of Australia’s Davis Cup team. He scored his first Grand Slam tournament wins in doubles (Australia) and mixed doubles (Wimbledon) in 1959, and triumphed in singles for the first time in Australia the following year. In addition to winning his first Grand Slam in 1962, he racked up a string of additional titles, including the German and Italian championships, earning a rare “clay court triple” with victories in France, Germany and Italy in a single season. Laver turned professional at the end of 1962, after leading Australia to a win in the Davis Cup. In 1968, the major tournaments began allowing professionals to compete with amateurs, launching what is known as the Open era. Laver won the first open Wimbledon championship that year, and the following year became the only player in singles history to win a second Grand Slam.

He is the only player to sweep the majors in a single year in both the amateur and Open eras, an extraordinary achievement that will never be matched. Laver was a force on the professional men’s tennis tour into the 1970s, and remained tennis’ all-time leading money winner until 1978. Margaret Court – 1970 Laver’s fellow Aussie Margaret Court also spanned the pre-Open and Open eras, winning her first Australian singles title in 1960, at the age of 18. Like Maureen Connolly, Court was a natural leftie, but was trained to play right-handed according to common tennis wisdom of the time. (Only later would the emergence of left-handed champs like Martina Navratilova change this practice.) The tall, gangly champion known for her powerful serve and volley game would go on to win six more consecutive titles in her native country, and a record 11 altogether. To those Australian titles Court added three Wimbledon, five French and seven U.S. singles’ titles, and in 1970 became the first woman of the Open era to win the Grand Slam.

In that year’s Wimbledon final, Court played through the pain of a sprained ankle to beat Billie Jean King 14-12, 11-9 (there were no tie-breakers at the time) in one of the greatest women’s final matches ever played at the All-England Club. Court’s Grand Slam year is particularly impressive in its intensity: She played 27 tournaments in 1970, winning 21 of them and compiling a 104-6 match record. In comparison, Connolly played 12 events in 1953, and Steffi Graf played 14 in 1988, the year she won her Grand Slam. (In a measure of how tennis changed over the years, Graf won $877,724 in prize money for her four Grand Slam titles, while Court took home $14,800.) Court is also the only player—man or woman—in history to win the Grand Slam in doubles as well as singles: She won all four major mixed doubles’ events in 1963 alongside her countryman Kenneth Fletcher and then completed the feat again in 1965 with three different partners.

Court went on to win tournaments (including the U.S. Open in 1973) after the birth of the first of her three children. Steffi Graf – 1988 German legend Graf, the last player to win the Grand Slam, earned her first international ranking at the tender age of 13. She won her first major title in 1987, beating the Czech-born American Martina Navratilova on the red clay of the French Open. (Though she never won all four major titles in a single calendar year, Navratilova made her own claim to Grand Slam immortality earlier in the ‘80s, winning six consecutive major titles from 1983’s Wimbledon to 1984’s U.S. Open.) The following year, at the age of 19, Graf defeated four very different opponents–Chris Evert in Australia, Natalia Zvereva in France, Navratilova at Wimbledon and Gabriela Sabatini in the U.S. Open—to become the third woman to capture the Grand Slam.

Just weeks after clinching her historic victory in New York, Graf also won the gold medal in the Summer Olympics in Seoul, Korea—an unmatched achievement that was dubbed a “Golden Slam.” Graf continued to dominate at Grand Slam tournaments into the late 1990s, racking up a total of 22 major titles over the course of her career. Battling injuries, Graf retired from tennis in 1999; she married fellow tennis legend Andre Agassi in 2001. What Else is at Stake for Serena Steffi Graf won Wimbledon seven times, second only to Navratilova’s nine titles there. Williams now has five Wimbledon singles titles, as does her sister Venus. By winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Serena would not only capture the Grand Slam, but also match Graf’s record of 22 titles—not to add any extra pressure. With a win at Wimbledon, she would also surpass Navratilova as the oldest woman ever to win a major singles’ title. Navratilova won Wimbledon in 1990 at 33 years and 263 days, just 12 days older than Serena was when she captured the French Open title last month.

A Wimbledon win would also mark the second time Williams has won four consecutive major titles (albeit not in the same calendar year). She last completed the so-called “Serena Slam” in 2002-03 at the age of 21. Tags Grand Slam Tennis & Tennis Game Grand Slam History The term "Grand Slam" was first used in 1933, by the American journalist John Kieran. In describing the attempt that year by Jack Crawford to win all four titles, he compared it with "a countered and vulnerable grand slam in bridge". Kieran singled out these four titles as being the biggest in tennis because, at the time, they were the main international championships held in the only four countries who had won the Davis Cup. Crawford failed to achieve the Grand Slam that year as he lost in the US Championships final to Fred Perry. It wasn't until 1938 that Donald Budge became the first person to achieve the Grand Slam. The expression Grand Slam, initially used to describe the winning of the tennis major events, was later incorporated by other sports, notably golf, to describe a similar accomplishment.

Four consecutive Grand Slam titles Though the term "Grand Slam" was originally restricted to the winning of all four tournaments in the same calendar year, the International Tennis Federation declared the official term as a player holding all four titles simultaneously, regardless of the calendar year. Copyrights: Wikipedia information about Grand Slam who was the last man to win all 4 grand slams in one season? | Talk Tennis who was the last man to win all 4 grand slams in one season? has it ever been done? one season jan-dec. all 4 slams. Rod Laver. 40 years ago. 1969, 37 years ago exactly. If he wins RG, Fed could do 6 in a row. Crazy ! Bit early though... okay...... juniors ! but these are still 4 slams !!! Laver 1962 and 1969 and Don Budge (forgot the year) are the only males to win the Grand Slam. Shabazza , Jun 7, 2006 baseliner said: Laver 1962 and 1969 and Don Budge (forgot the year) are the only males to win the Grand Slam.

Click to expand... It's a shame Laver wasn't allowed to play the slams '63-'68 - I'm positive he would have at least 1 more grand slam. Questions like this make me sad. Tennis fans are so ignorant about their sport. I can't imagine a baseball fan(however young) actually posting on a sports message board, "What player has hit the most home runs?" OrangeOne , Jun 7, 2006 Moose Malloy said: Questions like this make me sad. Tennis fans are so ignorant about their sport. I can't imagine a baseball fan(however young) actually posting on a sports message board, "What player has hit the most home runs?" Click to expand... Hmm - I was going to say - hey - there's new fans all the time and it's cool that they want to learn (and I do stand by that still ). Must say I'm a bit suprised to see that the OP has 314 posts to their name on a tennis forum, I am a little surprised at that! At least do some research before wasting a post on a obvious answer than can be found anywhere on the net.

chaognosis , Jun 7, 2006 Shabazza said: It's a shame Laver wasn't allowed to play the slams '63-'68 - I'm positive he would have at least 1 more grand slam. Click to expand... Laver was allowed to compete at several majors in 1968. He actually lost the first Open major final at the French to Ken Rosewall, then went on to win the first Open Wimbledon. Had other pros been allowed to play during the 1960s, it's unlikely Laver would have won his first Grand Slam in 1962 -- Laver did not get the upper hand over Rosewall, then the best player in the world, until 1964. He very well may have won the Grand Slam some other year, though, after he'd reached No. 1 on the pro circuit (i.e., 1965 and afterward). In 1967, Laver's most dominant year as a pro, he won all three major pro championships.

So my guess is Laver would still have two Grand Slams, even if professionals were allowed to play; however, he would undoubtedly have won more major titles overall. I did, couldnt find it. Click to expand... Just out of curiosity, where did you look? I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't get a ton of sites come up when searching google. What are you, the human tennis archive? I find out as much as I am interested. Click to expand... No worries. Its just a game after all, you don't need to know anything about it to enjoy playing it or watching it. It just puts into perspective for me the endless threads about fed being the best ever on this board. Wonder how many of those posters don't know who Laver is (or many other great players of the last century) either. simi , Jun 7, 2006 Alafter said: Lastly, thanks for all those who kindly responded with the answers. I was unable to find the answer myself. Click to expand... Entering "tennis grand slam" (with the quotes) into a Google search engine yielded this as the first hit.

titled: Tennis-Grand Slam Top Men The third hit is a pretty good page too. titled: Men's and Women's Tennis Grand Slam Records and Statistics p.s. The key to using Google is to use quotes around the exact phrase you are searching for. p.p.s. Moose is one of the guys who wears a white hat. Alafter , Jun 7, 2006 Moose Malloy said: Just out of curiosity, where did you look? I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't get a ton of sites come up when searching google. No worries. Its just a game after all, you don't need to know anything about it to enjoy playing it or watching it. It just puts into perspective for me the endless threads about fed being the best ever on this board. Wonder how many of those posters don't know who Laver is (or many other great players of the last century) either. Click to expand... I would love to see the older players in action, but I dont think it's possible in thailand. I'd have to put in too much effort to get my hands on full vids of old matches. As for fed being best ever, hard to say.

It'll be interesting to see all the known greats born into the same era, where techniques and eqs are available to all on equal basis. LowProfile , Jun 7, 2006 Alright. Remember this information and know not to ask it again. The Calendar Grand Slam (defined as winning all four majors in one calendar year) has been done three times by two different men. Don Budge in 1938 Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 It has never been done since all four majors were played on three different surfaces. The Career Grand Slam is defined as winning all four majors within one's career. It has been accomplished three times (not counting the two that made Calendar Grand Slams). Fred Perry in the 1930s Roy Emerson in the 1960s Andre Agassi in the 1990s Agassi is the only one to do it so far when the majors are played on three different surfaces. This is part of what makes his legacy so great. Shabazza , Jun 7, 2006 chaognosis said: Laver was allowed to compete at several majors in 1968.

He actually lost the first Open major final at the French to Ken Rosewall, then went on to win the first Open Wimbledon. Had other pros been allowed to play during the 1960s, it's unlikely Laver would have won his first Grand Slam in 1962 -- Laver did not get the upper hand over Rosewall, then the best player in the world, until 1964. He very well may have won the Grand Slam some other year, though, after he'd reached No. 1 on the pro circuit (i.e., 1965 and afterward). In 1967, Laver's most dominant year as a pro, he won all three major pro championships. So my guess is Laver would still have two Grand Slams, even if professionals were allowed to play; however, he would undoubtedly have won more major titles overall. Click to expand... Maybe, though I'm positive that he would have a 3rd calender GS, but for sure he would have more GS titles than Sampras...15+. But "what if's" doesn't change records and facts.

He has 2 Grand Slams and 11 slams in total...still those wasted years are a shame.... simi , Jun 7, 2006 LowProfile said: The Calendar Grand Slam (defined as winning all four majors in one calendar year) has been done three times by two different men. Click to expand... Good stuff, LowProfile. An expansion of this is called the "Golden Slam", or "Golden Grand Slam". It has only been accomplished once in history, by Steffi Graf in 1988. She won all four Grand Slams in addition to the Olympic Gold medal in singles, in the same calendar year. Andre Agassi has won a "career Golden Slam", meaning that he has won all five tournaments, but not in the same year. These are the only two. If you include doubles, the William sisters and Gigi Fernandez (with different partners) have won a doubles career golden slam. Grand Slam champions in tennis | NBC Sports Grand Slam champions in tennis / Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal advanced to the U.S.

Open final in 2010 without dropping a single set, becoming just the eighth man to reach the final of all four majors in the Open era -- and, at 24, the second youngest to do so. By beating Novak Djokovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the championship match, Nadal completed both a career Grand Slam and Golden Slam. His U.S. Open championship marked his ninth major title, as he previously has won at the French Open in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010, at Wimbledon in 2008 and 2010 and at the Australian Open in 2009. Roger Federer After losing in the French Open finals each of the previous three years, Roger Federer finally won the title in 2009. Not only was it his 14th major title, tying him with Pete Sampras for the all-time record, but it also gave Federer a career Grand Slam.

In addition to winning the Australian Open four times (2004, 2006, 2007, 2010), the French Open once (2009), Wimbledon six times (2003-2007, 2009) and the U.S. Open five times (2004-2008), Federer reached at least the semifinals of 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals. Serena Williams The most recent addition to the class of players with career Grand Slams, Serena Williams joined their ranks with an Australian Open victory in 2003. The only player still competing with wins in all four majors, Williams has four Australian Open singles titles, one at the French Open, two at Wimbledon and three at the U.S. Open. She also has eight women's doubles major titles and four mixed doubles titles at Slams.

Beginning with the 2002 French Open and ending with the 2003 Australian Open, Williams won four consecutive Grand Slam titles, a feat referred to as the "Serena Slam." Andre Agassi When Andre Agassi won the French Open singles title in 1999, the victory gave him a career Golden Slam. He had already won Wimbledon (in 1992), the U.S. Open (in 1994), the Australian Open (in 1995) and an Olympic gold (in 1996). Agassi later added four more major championships to his legacy. Until Roger Federer won his French Open title, Agassi was the only men's player to win major titles on at least three different surfaces. Steffi Graf Not content with a mere calendar-year Grand Slam, Steffi Graf earned a unique Golden Slam in 1988 by winning all four major singles titles and an Olympic gold in Seoul. In Australia, Graf didn't lost a single set. In Paris, she cruised to a 6-0, 6-0 victory in just 32 minutes in the finals. Wimbledon and the U.S.

Open proved to be a little more challenging, but she won both in three-set finals. Graf is also the only player to have won all of the majors at least four times. Martina Navratilova When Martina Navratilova won the U.S. Open for the first of four times in 1983, she added her name to the impressive list of players with career Grand Slams. Navratilova retired with a 1,442-219 singles record, 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 Grand Slam men's doubles titles and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Chris Evert In 56 Grand Slam appearances, only twice did Chris Evert fail to make it to at least the quarterfinals in the singles draw.

She had at least two titles at each of the Grand Slam events when she retired in 1989, winning the French Open in 1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985 and 1986, Wimbledon in 1974, 1976 and 1981, the U.S. Open in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980 and 1982 and the Australian Open in 1982 and 1984. Billie Jean King Although Billie Jean King had won six Grand Slam titles by the end of the 1971 season, she could not claim a career Grand Slam to her credit. That changed in 1972, when she won the French Open for the first and only time. King finished her career with 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 women's doubles titles and 11 mixed doubles titles.

Don Budge The first player ever to achieve a calendar-year Grand Slam, Don Budge lost just one set in the finals en route to winning the Australian, French, Wimbledon and U.S. Championships in 1938. The American had won both Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships the previous season as well. Budge turned professional after achieving the impressive title feat. Rod Laver As an amateur in 1962, Rod Laver won all four Grand Slam singles titles in addition to 17 other singles titles. While he was rarely challenged in three of the majors -- losing just one set at Wimbledon and two sets at the U.S. Championships -- he had a tough time at the French Championships. Laver had to win three consecutive five-setters in France to take the title. Rod Laver After becoming a professional at the end of 1962, Rod Laver was barred from the Grand Slam events until the start of the Open era in 1968. The following year, Laver repeated his calendar-year Grand Slam achievement. The Australian compiled a 106-16 win-loss record in 1969.

Maureen Connolly In 1953, Maureen Connolly (nicknamed Little Mo) entered all four Grand Slam tournaments for the first time in her career. The move paid off, as she won the singles title at each event and became the first female tennis player to earn a calendar-year Grand Slam. Connolly lost just one set during that run. Margaret Court In addition to winning a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles and 62 Grand Slam titles overall, Margaret Court was the first woman to achieve a calendar-year Grand Slam in the Open era. In 1970, the Australian player cruised to straight-set victories in the Australian and French Opens. She then outlasted Billie Jean King in a 14-12, 11-9 thriller at Wimbledon before winning the U.S. Open in three sets. Court also has a career "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles, winning all four singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles titles at some point throughout her career. Fred Perry The first player ever to achieve a career Grand Slam, Fred Perry accomplished the feat at the age of 26. After winning his first U.S.

Open title in 1933, Perry added titles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1934. The following year, he finally broke through for a singles championship at the French Open. From 1934 to 1938, Perry was the No. 1-ranked player in the world. He finished his career with a singles record of 106-12 and eight Grand Slam singles titles. Roy Emerson Included in Roy Emerson's record 28 Grand Slam titles are career Grand Slams in both singles and doubles. The Australian's best tournament was the Australian Championships, which he won in 1961, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1967. He won singles titles twice at each of the other majors: U.S. Championships in 1961 and 1964, French Championships in 1963 and 1967, and Wimbledon in 1964 (giving him the career Grand Slam) and 1965.

Doris Hart Two years after winning her first Grand Slam title (in women's doubles at Wimbledon), Doris Hart won the first of her six Grand Slam singles championships. That 1949 win was the only time she would take home the title at the Australian Championships. She later added French Championships victories in 1950 and 1952, a Wimbledon title in 1951 and completed the career Grand Slam with a U.S. Championships title in 1954. She successfully defended her title at that tournament the following year. Shirley Fry Throughout her tennis career, Shirley Fry won every Grand Slam singles and women's doubles title at least once. After earning her first Grand Slam victory in 1951 at the French Championships, Fry won Wimbledon and the U.S. Championships in 1956 and the Australian Championships in 1957. Following that achievement, she never again played in a Grand Slam event. Scouting Report: Djokovic Set To Defend Wimbledon Title | ATP World Tour | Tennis Novak Djokovic is set to defend his Wimbledon title.

Djokovic Set To Defend Wimbledon Title Jun262016 Wimbledon An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week on the ATP World Tour NOVAK EYES CALENDAR SLAM – Novak Djokovic is the first man to win four consecutive Grand Slam singles titles since Rod Laver won a calendar Grand Slam in 1969 (also in 1962). Now the World No. 1 is halfway to matching Laver’s feat from 47 years ago. The 29-year-old Serb became the eighth man to win a career Grand Slam as he lifted the Roland Garros trophy on June 5 in his 12th appearance in Paris. Djokovic enters Wimbledon on a 28-match Grand Slam tournament winning streak. He’s trying to become the first man to win five Grand Slam events in a row since Don Budge won a record six straight from 1937 Wimbledon to 1938 US Championships.

BIG FOUR DOMINATION –The Big 4 of Djokovic, Murray, Federer, and Nadal have combined to win 41 of the past 45 Grand Slam titles, with the only exceptions being the 2009 US Open (del Potro), 2014 Australian Open and 2015 Roland Garros (Wawrinka) and 2014 US Open (Cilic). During the current stretch, Nadal has won 14 titles, Federer 13, Djokovic 12 and Murray two. The last Wimbledon champion other than one of the Big Four was then-No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in 2002. The foursome also have accounted for 52 of the past 56 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles (since ’10 Monte-Carlo). TOP FOUR SEEDS TITLE HOLDERS – The last time a player seeded outside of the Top 4 won the Wimbledon title was in 2001 when No. 125th-ranked Goran Ivanisevic took advantage of a wild card opportunity to defeat Patrick Rafter in a five-set Monday final.

This is the longest current stretch of Top 4 titles of any Grand Slam tournament. Since 2002, when No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt won the title, four other players have won the Wimbledon crown – Federer (seven times), Djokovic (three times), Nadal (twice) and Andy Murray (once). In fact, only seven players in the Open Era (since 1968) not seeded among the Top 4 have won the title. TOP SEED/REIGNING CHAMP – Djokovic is the No. 1 seed for the fifth straight year at Wimbledon . Last year, he defeated Federer in four sets to win his third title at the All England Club. The 29-year-old Serb also won the Wimbledon crown in 2011 and 2014. Djokovic has a 52-8 record at the All England Club and has advanced to the semi-finals or better the past six years. He also was runner-up in 2013. He is coming off his first title at Roland Garros (d. Murray). Djokovic is the first player seeded No.

1 for five consecutive years at Wimbledon since Federer from 2004-08. At the start of the tournament, Djokovic has been No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for 104 consecutive weeks, 205 overall. He has held No. 1 every week since July 7, 2014. ROLAND GARROS-WIMBLEDON SWEEP – Djokovic is the first player to win Australian Open and Roland Garros titles in the same year since Jim Courier in 1992. He will attempt to become the fifth man in the Open Era to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles in the same year. The others to accomplish the feat are: Rod Laver in 1969, Bjorn Borg in 1978-79-80, Nadal in 2008 and 2010 and Federer in 2009. WEEKS AT NO. 1 – Djokovic is fifth on the overall weeks at No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings and fourth on the consecutive weeks at No. 1 list.

THE KING OF GRASS – Federer has an Open Era record 15 grass court titles (15-6 in finals) and the best winning percentage on grass with a career record of 147-22 (.870). He’s won at least one grass court title in 11 of the past 14 years (except 2010-11, ‘16). In 2007, he became the second player ( Bjorn Borg ) in the Open Era to capture five consecutive Wimbledon titles. Federer's 40-match unbeaten streak at Wimbledon ended to Nadal in 2008. Borg won a record 41 matches in a row at the All England Club (five titles from 1976-80 before losing in ‘81 final to McEnroe). Prior to Federer's winning streak, he had a 16-11 career record on grass from 1999-2002. Since 2003, he is 131-11 on grass.

He comes into Wimbledon with a 16-6 match record on the season (5-2 on grass) and without at least one ATP World Tour title for the first time since 2000. The 34-year-old Swiss native’s best result is a runner-up in the opening week of the season in Brisbane (l. to Raonic). In 2012, Federer won his record-tying seventh Wimbledon title, defeating Murray. Federer tied Pete Sampras and William Renshaw for the most singles titles at the All England Club. At 30, Federer became the oldest singles champion since Arthur Ashe (31) in 1975. Federer is making his 18th straight appearance at Wimbledon and he’s reached the quarter-finals or better in 12 of the past 13 years. This is the 14th straight year he’s a Top 4 seed. MURRAY ON A ROLL – Murray comes into Wimbledon with a 33-6 match record on the season and he’s won 16 of his past 17 matches, winning ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Rome (d.

Djokovic), reaching the final at Roland Garros (l. to Djokovic), his 10th in a Grand Slam tournament, and capturing a record fifth title at Queen’s Club (d. Raonic). The 2013 Wimbledon champion compiled an 18-3 match record on clay. Since the beginning of 2011, Murray has advanced to the quarter-finals or better in 20 of his past 21 Grand Slam tournaments (’15 US Open , 4R) played (DNP ’13 Roland Garros ). This is the second time Murray comes into Wimbledon as the No. 2 seed. Three years ago, Murray came in as the No. 2 seed, the highest by a British man since Bunny Austin was No. 1 in 1939. He defeated Djokovic in the final to become the first British man to win the Wimbledon title since Fred Perry in 1936. LOPEZ ACTIVE SLAM STREAK LEADER – Federer’s record of 65 consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played ended with his withdrawal at Roland Garros . Federer’s streak began at the 2000 Australian Open .

There are seven other players in the Top 10 longest consecutive Grand Slam tournaments played, led by current leader Feliciano Lopez (58). The other active players with 50+ current streaks: Fernando Verdasco (53) and Tomas Berdych (52). Here is a look at the Top 10 longest streaks in the Open Era and active players in draw. + denotes active streak including Wimbledon Rank

Question: Who was the first man to win tennis's Grand Slam, winning all four major championships in 1938?
Answer: Donald Budge