Tennis
Flawless Campaigns: The Elite Players Who Won a Grand Slam Singles Title Without Dropping a Single Set
For many tennis players, winning a Grand Slam can seem like a tall order, especially when you have to topple seven men in best-of-five-set affairs in order to clinch the title. It can be extremely difficult to get over the line when the stakes are high, but imagine achieving sporting immortality without dropping a set? Well, that is truly remarkable. There have been many dominant runs at Grand Slams, and there is never any margin for error in terms of mental lapses or a drop-off in performance levels. Perfect Grand Slam runs are the epitome of success.
Rafael Nadal of Spain//Getty Images
The purpose of this guide is to lift the lid on the rare group of male players who defied expectations and won a Grand Slam without losing a set, so let’s get straight into it!
The Rarity of Perfection
Tennis has evolved at a rapid rate during the Open era. A cursory glance at Rafael Nadal’s extraordinary French Open record and Novak Djokovic’s Grand Slam haul speaks volumes about their single-mindedness in their pursuit of success.
It’s not just the mental side of tennis that deserves special attention. The change in technology, the pace of the courts, and, of course, the rise in new talent means there is an immense amount of pressure facing the current crop of stars at Grand Slams.
Each player, naturally, has varying styles and some provide box-office viewing. Previously, serve and volleying was in vogue; it has at times become a war of attrition with players happy to exchange rallies from the baseline, and some have adapted quicker than others to make themselves worthy Grand Slam champions.
The Masters of Dominance: Grand Slam Wins Without Losing a Set
While the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz represent a bold new era for men’s tennis, only a select few in tennis history have managed to navigate the treacherous path of winning a Grand Slam without conceding a set. Here are the players who have achieved the ultimate display of dominance.
Table of Players who won Tennis Majors without Dropping a Set
| Player | Times | Australian Open | French Open | Wimbledon | US Open |
| Rafael Nadal | 4 | N/A | 2008, 2010, 2017, 2020 | N/A | N/A |
| Richard Sears | 3 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1881, 1882, 1883 |
| Tony Trabert | 3 | N/A | N/A | 1955 | 1953, 1955 |
| Björn Borg | 3 | N/A | 1978, 1980 | 1976 | N/A |
| Don Budge | 2 | 1938 | N/A | 1938 | N/A |
| Roger Federer | 2 | 2007 | N/A | 2017 | N/A |
| Laurence Doherty | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1903 |
| Holcombe Ward | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1904 |
| William Larned | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1907 |
| Anthony Wilding | 1 | 1909 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Rodney Heath | 1 | 1910 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Pat O’Hara Wood | 1 | 1923 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| John Bromwich | 1 | 1939 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Frank Parker | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1945 |
| Frank Sedgman | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1952 |
| Neale Fraser | 1 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 1960 |
| Chuck McKinley | 1 | N/A | N/A | 1963 | N/A |
| Roy Emerson | 1 | 1964 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ken Rosewall | 1 | 1971 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Ilie Năstase | 1 | N/A | 1973 | N/A | N/A |
Spotlight on the Multiple Masters of Perfection
Let’s shine a light now on the flawless Grand Slam victories, and those that gained perfection in the biggest tennis tournaments.
Rafael Nadal (King of Clay Dominance)
His stunning record of 14 French Open titles, which we touched on earlier, could well stand the test of time. Roland Garros was a home from home for Rafael Nadal, who tamed the red dirt with his irresistible groundstrokes and bullish mentality.
To underline his dominance on clay, Nadal’s win rate was staggering (90.5%), prevailing on 484 occasions, losing just 54 times, giving him the best return of any player in the game’s history.
Rafael Nadal won the French Open with no sets lost on four separate occasions, and even in retirement, he continues to be revered by the players on the ATP Tour.
The Early Era & Borg
Long before tennis was formally professionalised, there were a few early trailblazers that you may not have heard of before.
Well, we’re talking specifically about Richard Sears, who won the inaugural US Open in 1891, creating a dynasty in Newport before retiring undefeated. Tony Trabert was also highly successful at the US Open during the 1950s, and the US Open underwent various transitions in the early years, going from grass to clay. Eventually it became a hard court tournament with the opening of the Arthur Ashe Stadium in 1997 proving to be a landmark moment.
However, we ought to take a moment to pay tribute to Björn Borg. Yes, Björn Borg’s perfect Wimbledon runs in 1978 and 1980 were stunning, and he felt comfortable on grass. His ice-cold persona and on-court battles with John McEnroe, one of the greatest rivalries in tennis history, made Borg a true great.
Modern Greats
Although he ought to be included in the list of best American tennis players of all time, Don Budge etched himself into folklore by becoming the first male to achieve the Grand Slam by winning all four majors in the same calendar year. Despite his amateur status, Budge, who was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, was known for his powerful serve and finesse on court.
Fast forward the story and we find ourselves reminiscing over Roger Federer’s flawless Grand Slam run at Wimbledon which came in 2017, and he is arguably one of Wimbledon’s greatest players with eight titles to his name. He also achieved the feat in 2007 at the Australian Open, when he was at his peak, seeing off Fernando Gonzalez in straight sets. At the time, Federer joined Bill Tilden in claiming 10 Grand Slam titles, extending his winning run to 36 matches.
Key Observations
It’s worth drawing some observations from the list of players that won a major with no sets lost, and this is what we discovered:
Surface specialists – The most dominant Grand Slam wins were recorded by players who were undeniable specialists on their strongest surface. Nadal, for example, was virtually untouchable on clay. Many players arguably lost the match before stepping out on court given the Spaniard’s intense warm-ups in the tunnel. Borg, meanwhile, was a very slippery customer on grass and clay, and his game was tailor-made for both surfaces.
US Open was popular for Grand Slam tennis records – Despite undergoing several makeovers, the US Open was a popular stomping ground for players to rewrite the history books. From the late 1880s to the early 1900s, many players won this event without dropping a set, and perhaps the courts were much slower, lending themselves more favourably to this incredible feat.
Achievement is rarer in the Open Era – Compared to the pre-Open era, there were far fewer players in the 1970s who achieved a set of perfect Grand Slam wins, and that is partly owed to the change in racket technology as well as the quality of players coming through. This emphasises how the task has become that much tougher.
Conclusion
Grand Slams are the pinnacle of any player’s career, and winning one is a sign of greatness. However, within Slams, there are varying degrees of greatness. The players that feature in our list embodied absolute control and superiority on their way to achieving sporting perfection.
Nadal, Borg, and Federer are just a few names that spring out that redefined the game. The fact that they achieved this feat on multiple occasions underlines the impact they had on the game, and they continue to be held in high esteem.
As we have seen, nothing less than sheer perfection suffices to win a Grand Slam without dropping a set.
SportsBoom Suggests Bottom Line
While winning a Grand Slam without losing a set is incredibly rare and not a predictable betting outcome, a player’s historical dominance on a specific surface, like Nadal at Roland Garros, often translates to very short odds and high confidence from bettors in early rounds.
REFERENCES
- 1
Rafael Nadal’s career in numbers: Analysing Nadal’s win ratio on clay courts - https://www.rolandgarros.com/en-us/article/rafael-nadal-numbers-figures-career-records-victories-trophies-clay-grand-slam-masters-1000 Accessed May 13 2025
- 2
Richard Sears and a documented history of the US Open: Sears’ extraordinary record in the early years of the US Open - https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2024/09/02/history-of-us-open-through-newport-and-new-york/ Accessed May 13, 2025
Charles Perrin is a highly experienced sports betting content writer with over six years of working with some of the leading sportsbooks in the UK, including bet365 and William Hill.