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Forget Calendar Slam, ‘Surface Slam’ Almost as Rare
Published: February 20, 2013
The holy grail of professional tennis is, without question, the calendar Grand Slam.
In this sport, a calendar Grand Slam is achieved when a player wins four consecutive Grand Slam events in the same calendar year. Although they have, at times, gone by different names, these four tournaments are now best known as the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
Winning even one of these tournaments in a year is a coveted achievement, but winning all four in a row instantly transforms a player into a living legend.
In the history of tennis, only five players have won the calendar Grand Slam. On the men's side of the game, there are two who can claim this achievement: Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969).
For the women, there are three players who have achieved this great milestone: Maureen Connolly Brinker (1953), Margaret Court (1970) and Steffi Graf (1988).
The fact that only five players have achieved this feat in a set of tournaments originating over 100 years ago speaks volumes to the degree of difficulty involved.
When looking at the modern era of the sport, the list of calendar Grand Slam champions becomes even more exclusive. Tennis has several clear demarcations in its history, attributable to differences in the nature of the professional tour and eligibility/surface aspects of the tournaments we now refer to as Grand Slams.
Notably, prior to 1968 only amateurs could enter the Grand Slam tournaments. This was changed in 1968, after which both professionals and amateurs could compete for the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open.
While this was an important change, there were still several important aspects of even this so-called "Open Era" that differ from today's modern era. Most importantly, from the start of the Open Era through 1...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Tennis
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