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Here's legend Rod Laver celebrating his 87th birthday Saturday - with his "True Slam" or Calendar Grand Slam, trophies.
I think these are from 1962, Afficionados might be able to tell what year these trophies are from. I believe the "Coupe des Mousquetaires changed? Cont ...
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Only 5 people have attained a "real' Grand Slam, only 2 are men, Don Budge was the first and Rod is the only to repeat - Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969).
What are the odds of someone getting a "True Calendar Grand Slam" now?
Rod did this before the US Open switched to hard court in 1978, meaning he didn't have to win on three different surfaces.
If 1978 marks the beginning of "the modern era" then there has been only "one female winner and zero male winners of the calendar Grand Slam over that time" -- Steffi Graff, who got a Golden Slam as well. In fact, winning 3 consecutive majors is rare, let alone 4 consecutive.
"In the modern era, there have been three women and one man to win three consecutive Grand Slam events in a single calendar year. These players include Martina Navratilova (1984), Steffi Graf (1993, 1995, 1996), Serena Williams (2002) and Rafael Nadal (2010)" In fact, even "If you include consecutive tournaments falling across two calendar years from 1978-87 there is still not a single instance of a player winning on all three surfaces consecutively."
UPDATE: Source I quoted missed Fed's "Surface Slam" spanning 2006-2007. Also after that article Djokovic got his Surface Slam in 2021 season and a second in 2023. After that start Nole stans were chanting "Golden Slam" but Pablo Carreno Busta twice, with help from a linesman's neck, stopped him in NY and Tokyo.
Quotes are from this article by Andrew Prochnow in 2018:
I think these are from 1962, Afficionados might be able to tell what year these trophies are from. I believe the "Coupe des Mousquetaires changed? Cont ...
filedata/fetch?id=108090&d=1754855387&type=thumb
Only 5 people have attained a "real' Grand Slam, only 2 are men, Don Budge was the first and Rod is the only to repeat - Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969).
What are the odds of someone getting a "True Calendar Grand Slam" now?
Rod did this before the US Open switched to hard court in 1978, meaning he didn't have to win on three different surfaces.
If 1978 marks the beginning of "the modern era" then there has been only "one female winner and zero male winners of the calendar Grand Slam over that time" -- Steffi Graff, who got a Golden Slam as well. In fact, winning 3 consecutive majors is rare, let alone 4 consecutive.
"In the modern era, there have been three women and one man to win three consecutive Grand Slam events in a single calendar year. These players include Martina Navratilova (1984), Steffi Graf (1993, 1995, 1996), Serena Williams (2002) and Rafael Nadal (2010)" In fact, even "If you include consecutive tournaments falling across two calendar years from 1978-87 there is still not a single instance of a player winning on all three surfaces consecutively."
UPDATE: Source I quoted missed Fed's "Surface Slam" spanning 2006-2007. Also after that article Djokovic got his Surface Slam in 2021 season and a second in 2023. After that start Nole stans were chanting "Golden Slam" but Pablo Carreno Busta twice, with help from a linesman's neck, stopped him in NY and Tokyo.
Quotes are from this article by Andrew Prochnow in 2018:
