Has Any Tennis Player Won All Four Majors? The Grand Slam Breakdown

You hear it a lot: "He’s got multiple Grand Slams." But wait—what does that really mean? In tennis, winning all four majors—the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open—puts you in a whole different league. Few have managed it, and it’s not just about racking up trophies. It’s about owning every surface, every climate, every crazy crowd from Melbourne to Paris to London to New York.

The cool part? This isn’t something that happens every year. Actually, it's rare even among top pros. People throw around the term 'Grand Slam' all the time, but only a handful have actually won all four tournaments, and even fewer have done it in a single calendar year. Yeah, that’s called the 'Calendar Grand Slam,' and it’s even tougher than you think.

Whether you’re obsessing over stats or just getting started as a fan, knowing who conquered all four majors changes how you look at tennis history. The names on this list aren’t just champions—they’re legends.

• What Does Winning All Four Majors Mean?
• The Short List: Players Who Did It
• Calendar Slam vs. Career Slam
• The Surface Challenge: Why It's So Hard
• Fun Facts You Probably Didn’t Know
• What’s Next? Chasing the Slam in Modern Tennis

What Does Winning All Four Majors Mean?

In tennis, "winning all four majors" isn’t just a figure of speech—it’s actually about conquering the Grand Slam tournaments: the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. These are the most important events in the sport, and they each happen once per year in different corners of the world. If a player wins all four in the same calendar year, that’s called the Calendar Grand Slam. If a player wins each one at least once in their career, but in different years, that’s called a Career Grand Slam. Both are huge, but the Calendar Grand Slam is next-level rare.

Here’s what makes these tennis tournaments so tough:

• Australian Open: Hard court, blazing summer heat in January (yeah, January is summer Down Under).
• French Open: Clay court, late May to early June, sliding and grinding for hours. It’s a different style of play—brutal on the legs.
• Wimbledon: Grass, which is fast and low-bouncing. Played in July, it messes with timing and footwork.
• US Open: Back to hard courts, but steamy NYC crowds and late summer weather can turn matches into endurance marathons.

Not many tennis records stand up to the test of winning all four. The stress, travel, and sudden changes in surface make this a true test of all-around skill. Just so you get the scale, here’s a table showing basic details about each major:

Now you know: pulling off wins at each of these majors isn’t just skill—it’s adaptability, resilience, and a little stubbornness, too. That’s why when someone says a player’s "won all four," it instantly grabs respect from everyone who follows the sport.

The Short List: Players Who Did It

Let’s talk about the legends who managed to win all four Grand Slam tournaments. In the long history of tennis, hardly anybody has done it. Most pros would give anything just to win one. So here’s who actually pulled it off—and how.

• Don Budge: The original. In 1938, Budge became the first man to win all four majors in a single year. People literally didn’t think it was possible until he showed up and did it.
• Rod Laver: The only player to do it twice. Laver swept all four in both 1962 and 1969, making him the king of the Calendar Grand Slam.
• Fred Perry: The British star won each major at least once by 1935, finishing a "career Grand Slam" (not all in one year, but across his playing days).
• Roy Emerson: He got all four between 1961 and 1967, showing he could win on every surface the game threw at him.
• Andre Agassi: After grinding for years, Agassi crossed the finish line at the 1999 French Open, nailing the one title he was missing and completing his set.
• Roger Federer: For a long time, Roger was hunting the French Open. When he finally won it in 2009, he checked off his last major.
• Rafael Nadal: Everyone knows Rafa’s the king of clay, but he finished his career Slam at the 2010 US Open.
• Novak Djokovic: Djokovic grabbed his fourth different major (the French) in 2016. He’s since done it across all the majors multiple times!

Not to leave out the women—Serena Williams, Steffi Graf, Maria Sharapova, Margaret Court, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, and Billie Jean King have each won all four majors too. Steffi Graf even managed to win them all in one year (1988) and topped it off with Olympic gold for a "Golden Slam." No one else has matched that.

If you like stats, check this out:

Bottom line: winning all four majors isn’t just rare—it puts you among the greatest players in tennis history.

Calendar Slam vs. Career Slam

People toss around the term Grand Slam a lot, but there's a catch. It can mean two different things: a calendar-year Grand Slam or a career Grand Slam. Both are epic, but one is way rarer and harder to pull off.

Let’s break it down. A calendar Grand Slam happens when a player wins all four majors—the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open—in a single calendar year. It’s tennis’ holy grail. In men’s singles, only Don Budge (1938) and Rod Laver (1962 and 1969) ever managed this. On the women’s side, Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, and Steffi Graf did it. Steffi’s 1988 Slam stands out because she also grabbed Olympic gold, scoring what's called a "Golden Slam." Wild, right?

A career Grand Slam is when a player wins each of the four majors at least once over any span of years. Still impressive, but it gives you a little wiggle room—you don’t have to do it all in the same year. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic all scored career Grand Slams, but never nailed down the calendar version, which shows how brutal the challenge is. For the women, Serena Williams, Chris Evert, and Martina Navratilova bagged career Slams as well.

Want a quick look at who pulled off the real-deal calendar Slam? Check out this table:

This is why you’ll hear commentators lose their minds when a player even gets close. Winning all four majors in one year means staying healthy, focused, and pretty much invincible through every stop on the tour. A career Slam is still legendary, but knocking down the calendar Grand Slam? That’s another level.

The Surface Challenge: Why It's So Hard

If you think winning one major is tough, try winning all four on totally different surfaces. That’s where the real grind is. Each tennis major is played on a unique surface, and each one changes the way the game feels and plays. Here’s the breakdown:

• Australian Open: Hard court (acrylic)
• French Open: Clay
• Wimbledon: Grass
• US Open: Hard court (but a bit quicker than Australia)

Let’s be real—most players have a favorite surface. Some feel unstoppable on clay, others shine on grass. Clay slows the ball down and rewards patient players with killer defense, like Rafael Nadal. Grass? Complete opposite. It’s fast, favors big serves and quick points—think Pete Sampras or Roger Federer. Hard courts sit somewhere in the middle, but even these two are different: Melbourne’s bounce and speed aren’t quite the same as New York’s.

It’s brutal trying to adjust your game and strategy throughout the year. There’s even a stat for this: most all-time Grand Slam singles champs have at least one surface where they picked up way fewer wins. For example, Federer won 8 Wimbledons but only 1 French Open, and Nadal’s pile of 14 French Opens totally dwarfs his numbers elsewhere.

This isn’t just trivia. Surfaces affect everything—your footwork, the spin you can load onto the ball, how you serve, how you recover after a rally. Some seasons, a player’s injuries even come from the unique pounding of a certain court. That’s why bagging all four majors isn’t just about being talented; it’s about being the ultimate all-rounder in tennis history.

Fun Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

Sure, winning all four tennis majors is wild, but did you know Rod Laver is the only player to pull off the Calendar Grand Slam twice? He did it once as an amateur in 1962 and then again as a pro in 1969. That basically means he crushed the biggest tournaments back when tennis was a whole different ballgame—wooden rackets, grass everywhere, and way less prize money.

Here’s something else—Serena Williams held all four Grand Slam titles at the same time, but not in a single calendar year. People actually started calling that feat the "Serena Slam." She did it in 2002-03, and again in 2014-15. So, you don’t have to win them all in one year to get your own cool nickname.

Don Budge, the first guy to win all four in the same year (1938), got a parade back in his hometown. Back then, tennis was more of a niche sport, so making history landed you serious bragging rights—and a ton of free lunches.

Surfaces make a huge difference. For decades, three of the four majors were played on grass. The French Open has always been the odd one out with clay, which trips up even the best hard-court players. Andre Agassi is the only male player in the Open Era to win a career Grand Slam on all surfaces after the majors switched some of their court types.

Check out these record holders:

• The youngest to pull off a career Slam? Maria Sharapova, at just 22 years old.
• Rafael Nadal’s toughest Slam: Wimbledon, thanks to its fast grass. He still managed to grab a couple of those titles, showing just how complete his game is.
• Roger Federer came within one match of holding all four majors in 2006-07 but lost the French to Nadal. Talk about a rivalry.

Want to see how rare this is? Here’s a quick table with Grand Slam counts for singles players who pulled it off:

So next time you hear somebody talking about winning all the majors, drop one of these tennis fact bombs and watch everyone’s jaw drop.

What’s Next? Chasing the Slam in Modern Tennis

The race for the Grand Slam is still wide open, even though it feels nearly impossible these days. Players like Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Serena Williams have all flirted with winning all four majors in a single year. Djokovic came closest in 2021 but fell short at the US Open final. Nadal has all four—just not in the same calendar year, so he holds what’s called a "Career Grand Slam." Serena nearly pulled off the full set in 2015, but Roberta Vinci stopped her in a huge upset in New York.

Here’s why it’s so hard now: The game’s gotten more physical, seasons are packed, and surfaces favor different playing styles. Plus, the pressure is like nothing else. When you get close, the world starts watching. Even Djokovic said,

“If I don’t complete the Grand Slam, it’s not the end of the world, but I’m going to give everything I’ve got.” — Novak Djokovic after his near-miss in 2021

Want some hard numbers? Check out this:

Modern tennis has superstars, but snagging all four majors in a year is like winning the lottery twice. Schedules are brutal. Even one bad week wrecks the dream. Younger players like Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek have big potential, but can they handle the grind across hard, clay, and grass in one season?

Here’s the bottom line: Every season, pundits and fans love to predict the next Grand Slam champion, but the tennis calendar crushes even the best. The next person to do it will break the Internet, for sure. If you’re keeping score, let’s just say, don’t hold your breath—but never stop hoping. That’s what makes the chase so much fun to follow.