All-time list of tennis Grand Slam winners
Novak Djokovic recently defeated Roger Federer in the finals of the 2015 US Open, which helped him clinch his 10th tennis Grand Slam. The 28-year-old dispatched his experienced Swiss opponent in four sets to win his second title at Flushing Meadows since 2011, making him the fifth most successful player in tennis history and the fourth most successful in the Open Era.
Now would be as good a time as any, then, to look at the all-time list of tennis Grand Slam winners. We have put together a list which includes both men’s and women’s singles Grand Slam winners, and also includes all tennis players from both the Amateur Era and the Open Era, despite many major changes taking place over the course of the past century.
These changes include the scrapping of the challenge round, the officiation of all the majors in the calendar year and the admission of professional players to the tournaments in 1968 (the beginning of the Open Era).
From 1912-13 to 1923, only three tournaments were officially classified as tennis majors – Wimbledon, World Covered Court Championships and the World Hard Court Championship. The addition of the US Open and Australian Open as Majors in 1924, followed by the opening of the French National Championship to international participants in 1925, kick-started a new professional era in the sport, although these changes did affect the number of titles that were won by plenty of players.
With the sport improving as the years pass by and new faces coming in and pulling off upsets on a regular basis, the state of the Grand Slam winners list is something that has been subjected to plenty of changes.
The win for the Serb meant that Federer would miss out on an 18th Grand Slam title that has been eluding him for six years. He wasn’t the only one to miss out though; Serena Williams was sent packing from the women’s singles following her semifinal upset to Roberta Vinci whilst under the pressure of picking up an elusive calendar-year Slam.
The three players are yet to retire from the sport, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to continue seeing them make an impact on the list over the years to come. Let’s start off the list with the Grand Slam winners from the men’s singles competition, followed by the women’s singles:
Men’s singles
Roger Federer is on top of the men’s Grand Slam winners list with 17. The Swiss maestro had a chance to improve on that in the 2015 US Open but fell short in his bid to add another Major to his collection, which would have been his first since his win at the 2012 Wimbledon championships.
Rafael Nadal can potentially surpass the 34-year-old’s record and has had many opportunities to do so, but his fluctuating fitness and form have prevented him from picking up any Grand Slam title since his Roland Garros victory in 2014.
The ‘King of Clay’ will be itching to steer clear of Pete Sampras by winning another Slam although he has competition from current world number 1 Novak Djokovic, who seems to pack the required fitness and ability to keep winning Major titles for years to come.
The Serb has been on top of the ATP rankings for a long time and seems unstoppable at the moment, having just missed out on a calendar-year Grand Slam after losing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open. If he continues his incredible form, no one will be able to stop Djokovic from topping the list in the next few years.
| Player | Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open | Total |
| Roger Federer (SUI) | 4 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 17* |
| Pete Sampras (USA) | 2 | 0 | 7 | 5 | 14 |
| Rafael Nadal (ESP) | 1 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 14* |
| Roy Emerson (AUS) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Bjorn Borg (SWE) | 0 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 11 |
| Rod Laver (AUS) | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| Bill Tilden (USA) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| Novak Djokovic (SRB) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 10* |
| Fred Perry (ENG) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 8 |
| Andre Agassi (USA) | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
Calendar Year Grand Slam winners: Don Budge (1938), Rod Laver (1962, 1969)
Players who have won all four Grand Slams throughout their career: Don Budge, Roy Emerson, Fred Perry, Rod Laver, Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal
Women’s singles
Serena Williams is the only current women’s player on this list having won 21 titles over the course of her career, with her next competitors miles behind in the form of her sister Venus Williams (7) and Maria Sharapova (5).
Having already had a hugely successful career, the 33-year-old came close to adding another trophy to her cabinet and levelling Steffi Graf’s record of 22 Majors at the 2015 US Open. Her eventual failure at the second last hurdle meant that her plans to become the ‘greatest of all time’ have been pushed to the next year at the very least, although almost everyone will be backing the current World Number 1 to reach her eventual destination at the top of the list.
| Player | Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open | Total |
| Margaret Court (AUS) | 11 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 24 |
| Steffi Graf (GER) | 4 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 22 |
| Serena Williams (USA) | 6 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 21* |
| Helen Wills Moody (USA) | 0 | 4 | 8 | 7 | 19 |
| Chris Evert (USA) | 2 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 18 |
| Martina Navratilova (USA) | 3 | 2 | 9 | 4 | 18 |
| Billie Jean King (USA) | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 12 |
| Monica Seles (USA) | 4 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| Maureen Connolly Brinker (USA) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 9 |
| Suzanne Lenglen (FRA) | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 8 |
Calendar Year Grand Slam winners: Maureen Connolly (1953), Margaret Smith Court (1970), Steffi Graf (1988)
Players who have won all four Grand Slams throughout their career: Doris Hart, Maureen Connolly, Shirley Fry, Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova.
*Updated as of October 2015