Most fans know about the tennis Grand Slam: winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open in the same calendar year. On the men’s side, only Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969 have achieved it. But this year, Novak Djokovic, with his win over the weekend at Wimbledon, is three-quarters of the way there. Aside from Budge, Laver and Djokovic, only two other men, Jack Crawford in 1933 and Lew Hoad in 1956, won even the first three Slam events. Since Laver’s last Slam, only three men won even the first two events before Djokovic this year, Mats Wilander in 1988, Jim Courier in 1992 and Djokovic himself in 2016.

Source: New York Times July 12, 2021 15:11 UTC