I was watching Wimbledon highlights last night, munching on stale crackers, when my buddy Dave texted: “Dude what’s the rarest thing ever done in tennis?” Honestly? I had no clue. So I grabbed my laptop, spilled coffee on the keyboard (classic), and started digging like a dog burying bones at the beach.
First stop was tennis forums. Scrolled through pages of arguments about who’s GOAT while ignoring actual answers. Then I remembered Steffi Graf’s name popping up somewhere. Typed “wild tennis records” into search. Bam! Found out about the Golden Slam thing – winning all four majors AND Olympic gold in one year. Only Steffi did it back in 1988. Mind blown. My greatest achievement last year was keeping a cactus alive for three months.
But wait – next discovered something crazier: the Golden Set. Winning a set without losing a single point! Felt impossible until I read about American Bill Scanlon doing it in 1983. Guy literally played 24 perfect points straight. Tried imagining this while eating cereal. Dropped three Cheerios on my shirt immediately. Pros are aliens.
Then stumbled upon the craziest stat ever: Robert Falkenburg winning Wimbledon in 1948 by saving seven championship points against John Bromwich. Seven! When I lose two points in ping-pong I start blaming the paddles.
My favorite rabbit holes:
- That time in 1997 when Marcelo Ríos became world #1 without winning any Grand Slam. Dude played the consistency game like a boss.
- Players winning majors after coming back from 0-2 sets down (looking at you, Henri Cochet at 1927 Wimbledon). Modern tennis folks barely recover from losing their towel.
- Serena’s “Serena Slam” – holding all four majors consecutively across 2014-2015. Still think someone should’ve given her a sword for that.
Got so hyped I dragged my neighbor’s kid to hit balls. Tried doing an underhand serve like that Kyrgios trick. Nearly took out Mrs. Henderson’s garden gnome instead. Guess rare tennis feats stay rare for a reason. Might stick to writing about them. With snacks.
