7 female players to win the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year in the Open Era ft. Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova
Winning a Grand Slam title remains the biggest prize of a tennis player's career, but winning the "Channel Slam" - winning the French Open and Wimbledon consecutively, remains one of the biggest challenges in the game.
Following the conclusion of Roland Garros, players only have three weeks (two until 2014) to transition from clay to grass. From sliding on the slow courts in Paris, they've got to get their feet moving on the slick grass. As such, a lot of players fail to get their game together for the transition in such a short period of time. Players who did well at the French Open at times ended up crashing out early from Wimbledon.
So when someone manages to defy the odds to win the two Majors back-to-back, it's an achievement that makes them stand out. Only seven women have managed to do so in the Open Era so far, so let's have a look at who they are:
1) Margaret Court (1970)
Margaret Court's professional career was split between the Amateur and Open Eras and the Australian's results were equally impressive across both periods. She won 13 Slams in the Amateur Era and 11 in the Open Era.
She had a historic year in 1970, winning all four Majors in a single year. Court defeated Helga Niessen to successfully defend her French Open title that year. She followed it up with a win over Billie Jean King to win Wimbledon and complete the Channel Slam, becoming the first woman to do so in the Open Era.
2) Evonne Goolagong (1971)
Court's compatriot Evonne Goolagong accomplished the same achievement just a year later in 1971. She claimed her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open that year by defeating countrywoman Helen Gourlay in the final.
Goolagong then went on to win Wimbledon as well. She defeated the defending champion Court in straight sets in the final to lift her second Grand Slam title. The Australian became the second woman to win the clay and grass court Majors consecutively.
3) Billie Jean King (1972)
Billie Jean King's triumphs at Roland Garros and Wimbledon in 1972 would mark the third straight year that a player would complete the Channel Slam. She did so by defeating Evonne Goolagong, who accomplished the same in the previous year.
King defeated the Australian with identical scorelines of 6-3, 6-3 in both finals. She also achieved this feat in the women's doubles in the same year.
4) Chris Evert (1974)
After finishing as the runner-up at the 1973 French Open and Wimbledon, Chris Evert won both of them the following year, becoming the fourth woman to win the two Slams successively.
Evert defeated Olga Mozorova in both of those finals. She had three more chances to complete the Channel Slam subsequently. The American reached the final of Wimbledon after winning the French Open in 1979, 1980 and 1985, but lost on each occasion to Martina Navratilova, Evonne Goolagong and Navratilova again, respectively.
5) Martina Navratilova (1982 and 1984)
In 1982, Martina Navratilova reached her second French Open final and defeated Andrea Jaeger to win her first Roland Garros title. Navratilova then competed at Wimbledon and defeated Chris Evert in the final.
She became the fifth player to complete the Channel Slam. The American achieved this feat once again in 1984, defeating Evert again in both title clashes.
Navratilova also managed to complete the French Open-Wimbledon double in women's doubles and mixed doubles. She did so thrice in women's doubles in 1982, 1984 and 1986, while achieving the same feat in mixed doubles in 1985.
6) Steffi Graf (1988, 1993, 1995 and 1996)
In 1987, Steffi Graf won her maiden Grand Slam title at the French Open and was a finalist at Wimbledon the following month as well. The following year, she accomplished an incredible feat by winning all four Grand Slam titles and a gold medal at the Olympics to complete a "Golden Slam". Only wheelchair players Dylan Alcot and Diede de Groot have managed to do the same since then.
Australian Open 🏆
Roland Garros 🏆
Wimbledon 🏆
US Open 🏆
Olympics 🥇
On this day in 1988, Steffi Graf completed the Golden Slam. 🤩 https://t.co/S1fgLWR43l
This historic achievement completely overshadowed the fact that Graf had also won Roland Garros and Wimbledon in succession. But rather than the exception, this proved to be the norm for her. She would do the clay and grass court Major double three more times in her career - 1993, 1995 and 1996.
7) Serena Williams (2002 and 2015)
Serena Williams claimed her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open. Over the next two years, her results at the Majors were good, but they didn't reflect Serena Williams' full potential.
In 2002, Serena Williams won her second Grand Slam title at the French Open and went on to win Wimbledon the following month as well. The American would later win the next two Majors as well, to complete the "Serena Slam" and win four Majors in a row. She defeated her sister Venus Williams in all four finals.
Venus and Serena Williams are the only women to meet in 4 straight major finals
They played every final between the 2002 French Open and 2003 Australian Open.
Serena won all 4, giving her the famous "Serena Slam."
She'd win 4 straight again from 2014 US Open-2015 Wimbledon https://t.co/1TIzwwmr8r
Serena Williams won the French Open and Wimbledon in succession once again in 2015, defeating Lucie Safarova in the Roland Garros final while winning against Garbine Muguruza at SW19.
The American was vying to complete a Calendar Year Grand Slam, having defeated Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final, but lost in the US Open semifinals to Roberta Vinci in one of the biggest upsets in tennis history.
Serena Williams remains the last player to have completed the Channel Slam.
Current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek could soon be a part of this elite company. She's on a 35 match winning streak, which includes a title at the recently concluded French Open.
She bested the 40-year-old's record of 34 consecutive match wins and is a cut above the rest of the field at the moment. Swiatek is in imperious form and is the overwhelming favorite to go all the way at the grasscourt Major as well.