5 teenagers who won multiple Grand Slams in a calendar year during the Open Era ft. Chris Evert, Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf and Chris Evert are among the players who have won multiple Grand Slams in a calendar year during the Open Era when they were teenagers. There are three more individuals to have attained this feat.
Over the years, several tennis players have graced all four Grand Slams and have left their mark in one way or another. In the Open Era, many of the sport's all-time greats have won the singles titles at the Majors and many have won them multiple times.
There aren't a lot of players who have won Slams as a teenager, but there are only a handful who have won more than one of those at that stage in their lives. On that note, let us take a look at five players who have won multiple Majors in a calendar year during the Open Era.
#1. Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Evonne Goolagong won seven Grand Slam singles titles throughout her highly successful career, two of which came when she was a teenager.
The Aussie's first Major title came at the 1971 French Open, where she was the third seed. With top two seeds Margaret Court and Virginia Wade eliminated within the first three rounds, Goolagong booked her place in the final with straight-set wins over Joan Mary Koudelka, Mary Gilchrist, Lea Percoli, sixth seed Francoise Durr, and Marijke Schaar.
Here, the Aussie beat compatriot and future doubles partner Helen Gourlay to win her maiden Grand Slam title without dropping a single set.
Just weeks later, Goolagong entered Wimbledon as the third seed and reached the quarterfinals with wins over Gail Hansen, Kristien Kemmer, Julie Heldman, and compatriot Lesley Hunt.
Here, the Aussie beat sixth seed Nancy Richey 6-3, 6-2 to set up a semifinal clash against second seed Billie Jean King. She beat the Americans 6-4, 6-4 to book her place in the final.
Goolagong was up against then-World No. 1 and her compatriot Margaret Court and registered a 6-4, 6-1 win to clinch her maiden title at Wimbledon 29 days shy of her 20th birthday.
#2. Chris Evert
The first two of Chris Evert's 18 Grand Slam singles titles came when she was 19. The American was the top seed at the 1974 French Open and entered the semifinals with straight-set wins over Regina Marsikova, Virginia Ruzici, Maria-Victoria Baldovinos, eighth seed Julie Heldman, and fourth seed Helga Masthoff. Here, she faced third seed Olga Morozova and beat her 6-1, 6-2 to win her maiden Grand Slam singles title.
Evert was the second seed at the 1974 Wimbledon Championships and dropped just one set en route to the final, beating Lesley Hunt, Maria-Isabel Fernandez de Soto, Mona Schallau, Helga Masthoff, and sixth seed Kerry Melville. Here, the American once again beat Olga Morozova, this time triumphing 6-0, 6-4.
Evert was over five months shy of her 20th birthday when she won her maiden Wimbledon title in 1974.
#3. Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf had one of the greatest years for a singles player in tennis history in 1988 when she won each of the four Grand Slams and the Olympic gold, all of these while being just a teenager.
The German entered 1988 as the World No. 1, having already won a Major the previous year, and she clinched that year's Australian Open without dropping a set after defeating Chris Evert in the final. Steffi Graf successfully defended her title at the French Open while dropping only 20 games. She thrashed Natasha Zvereva 6-0, 6-0 in the final.
Steffi Graf then won her maiden title at Wimbledon by defeating six-time defending champion Martina Navratilova 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 in the final. The German completed the Calendar Slam with her US Open triumph, beating Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
#4. Monica Seles
Before her stabbing in Hamburg, Monica Seles dominated tennis like no other during the early 1990s and won eight Grand Slams as a teenager. Seles had two years when she won three out of four Majors in a calendar year, the first of which was in 1991, when she was just 17.
She won her first title at the Australian Open after overcoming Jana Novotna 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the final. Seles then successfully defeated her title at the French Open after triumphing 6-3, 6-4 over Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the title clash. After withdrawing from that year's Wimbledon, she won the US Open after defeating Martina Navratilova 7-6(1), 6-1 in the final.
An 18-year-old Monica Seles successfully defended her title at the Australian Open in 1992 by beating Mary Joe Fernandez 6-2, 6-3 in the final before clinching her third successive title at the French Open after edging out Steffi Graf 6-2, 3-6, 10-8 in the summit clash.
She lost in the Wimbledon final but successfully defended her title at the US Open after beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
#5. Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis' 1997 season is one of the very best in tennis history, as she won three out of four Grand Slams that year, all while being just 16 years old. The Swiss won that year's Australian Open without dropping a single set, triumphing 6-2, 6-2 over Mary Pierce in the final.
Hingis' second Major came at Wimbledon, and by then, she was already the World No. 1. She did not drop a single set en route to the final, where she made a fine comeback to beat Jana Novotna 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Hingis ended her Grand Slam season in 1997 by winning the US Open without dropping a single set. The Swiss lost just 28 games throughout the tournament, beating Venus Williams in the final.