I went right back to the 50's with Doris Hart. She was one of the few players to win a Career Grand Slam singles and additionally won all the ladies doubles and mixed doubles titles in the Grand Slams. I think it is safe to say that will never be achieved again.
Close one for me here but chose Evonne Goolagong for her playing style as much as her grand slam record.
I am not a particular fan of Monica Seles and her style of tennis but she could really have been a stand out player over many years if that hideous attack had not taken place.
Close one for me here but chose Evonne Goolagong for her playing style as much as her grand slam record.
I am not a particular fan of Monica Seles and her style of tennis but she could really have been a stand out player over many years if that hideous attack had not taken place.
Yes Evonne for me too.. and I agree on Monica, it's really hard to know but she certainly looked like she could endure. Thought about Althea Gibson too, who doesn't have a vote yet.
I went right back to the 50's with Doris Hart. She was one of the few players to win a Career Grand Slam singles and additionally won all the ladies doubles and mixed doubles titles in the Grand Slams. I think it is safe to say that will never be achieved again.
Yes have just looked her record up and it is certainly some record! 67 grand slam finals, 35 titles which is tied 6th on the all time list with Louise Brough. She also suffered from osteomyelitis as a child and so had apermanently impaired right leg. Only she Court and Navratilova have won the 'boxed set' of grand slam titles - singles, doubles and mixed at all three grand slams, as you say. Hart was the first.
Althea Gibson won 5 slam titles, 3 Wimbledons, was world.nimber one in 1957, as a black woman in America.
At a time when racism and prejudice were widespread in sports and in society, Gibson was often compared to Jackie Robinson. "Her road to success was a challenging one," said Billie Jean King, "but I never saw her back down."[4] "To anyone, she was an inspiration, because of what she was able to do at a time when it was enormously difficult to play tennis at all if you were Black," said former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.[5] "I am honored to have followed in such great footsteps," wrote Venus Williams. "Her accomplishments set the stage for my success, and through players like myself and Serena and many others to come, her legacy will live on."[6]