Only one player holds the rare record of completing the Golden Slam in the history of tennis
Former World No.1 Steffi Graf remains the only player in the history of tennis to achieve the rare feat of completing the Golden Slam.
A former professional from Germany, Graf won 22 Grand Slam titles and also holds the rare record of winning all four Grand Slams at least four times.
She also held on to the World no.1 spot for a record 377 weeks. Meanwhile, there are three different types of such slams in tennis.
Calendar Year Golden Slam
When a player wins all four Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold in a single year, that is technically known as Calendar Year Golden Slam, or colloquially, just Golden Slam.
Graf, holds the rare honour of being the only player to have attained this when she won all four Grand Slams and an Olympics singles gold medal in the year 1988.
Non-Calendar Year Golden Slam
The second one, called the Non-Calendar Year Golden Slam refers to a player winning all four Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold within twelve months but not in the same year.
Only two players have managed to do so – the Bryan brothers from USA. The famed doubles pairing of brothers involving Bob and Mike Bryan accomplished this feat by emerging winners in all the Grand Slams between the 2012 Olympics to 2013 Wimbledon.
Career Golden Slam
The third and final type, however, is an honour that many players have already accomplished in the game of tennis. Technically named the Career Golden Slam – the third type is a feat achieved by any player who wins all four Grand Slams and an Olympic Gold over the course of their career.
However, this also includes Paralympic gold medal winners and has been won by as many as 24 tennis players over the period of history. Of the 24, 11 have been conquered by wheelchair tennis players.
Former US doubles specialist Pam Shriver was the first recipient of this feat when she won the doubles gold in the 1988 Olympics. Another US star – Serena Williams remains the latest player in the normal category to have achieved this feat.
Former World No.1 Serena completed this milestone when she won the singles gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
Other prominent names to have won this honour include former US star and Graf’s husband Andre Agassi, Spanish tennis star and current World No.2 Rafael Nadal, and Serena’s sister Venus Williams.
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