Top 5 youngest tennis players to complete a Career Grand Slam

The biggest stars in tennis today—Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner on the men’s tour, and Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Świątek, and Coco Gauff on the women’s side—are all chasing the same dream: completing a Career Grand Slam. Each of them has won multiple majors, but each is still missing at least one piece of the puzzle.

Six-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz had a golden chance to finish his set at the 2025 Australian Open, which would have made him the youngest man in history to achieve a Career Grand Slam, surpassing Rafael Nadal. But destiny had other plans, and Alcaraz bowed out in the quarterfinals.

Jannik Sinner isn’t far behind. He already owns four Grand Slam titles, yet the French Open continues to elude him and remains the lone gap in his collection.

On the women’s side, Aryna Sabalenka has stamped her authority on hard courts, winning the Australian Open and US Open twice each. But Wimbledon and Roland Garros are still missing from her resume—and she’s determined to change that.

Iga Świątek has dominated nearly everything in her path—especially on clay—but the Australian Open remains the one major title missing from her résumé. Still, tennis history is full of legends who have managed to complete the elusive Career Grand Slam. 

Here are the top 5 youngest tennis players to complete a career Grand Slam.

5. Martina Navratilova: 26 Years, 328 Days

No conversation about tennis legends is complete without mentioning Martina Navratilova. The Czech-American icon is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time—not just in singles, but in doubles and mixed doubles as well. Few athletes have ever dominated every corner of the sport the way she did.

Navratilova is also one of only two players in the Open Era to achieve a “Boxed Set,” completing a career Grand Slam in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. She began her career representing Czechoslovakia, but after moving to the United States in 1976, her game reached new heights. Two years later, she captured her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in 1978.

Her success continued with her first Australian Open title in 1981 and a win at Roland-Garros in 1982. But 1983 would become truly historic: Navratilova won an astonishing 86 matches with just a single loss, finishing the year with a 98.8% win rate. That season also brought her first US Open triumph, completing her career Grand Slam in singles.

4. Maria Sharapova: 25 Years, 52 Days

Maria Sharapova was one of the most talked-about tennis stars of the 21st century. Standing at 6 feet 2 inches, she burst onto the scene as a 14-year-old in 2001 and quickly made her presence felt. Just three years later, in 2004, she captured her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon, stunning the tennis world with her power and composure on grass.

Success on hard courts soon followed, with Sharapova winning the Australian Open and the US Open over the next few years. But the French Open remained the one major title out of reach. That changed in 2012, when she reached her first Roland-Garros final and defeated Sara Errani in straight sets, completing her career Grand Slam.

Sharapova continued to excel on the Paris clay, reaching the finals in each of the next two years and winning the trophy again in 2014 — the last Grand Slam title of her illustrious career.

3. Rafael Nadal: 24 Years, 102 Days

Rafael Nadal currently holds the record as the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam. This achievement was no surprise for the Spaniard, who had been breaking records from early on. He burst onto the scene at Roland-Garros in 2005, winning the French Open on his very first attempt. Nadal went on to dominate the Paris clay, capturing the title four years in a row through 2008.

The year 2008 proved to be a turning point in his career. Nadal reached the semifinals of every Grand Slam, won his first Wimbledon title, and added an Olympic gold medal to his growing list of accomplishments. After clinching the Australian Open in 2009 and the US Open in 2010, he completed the career Grand Slam at just 24 years old.

2. Serena Williams: 21 Years, 121 Days

Serena Williams is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in modern tennis history. Born in 1981, the American star burst onto the scene by winning her first Grand Slam title at the 1999 US Open at just 18 years old.

It took her three more years to add Wimbledon and the French Open to her résumé, completing a rare “surface slam” at only 20 years and 10 months. Williams then secured her career Grand Slam in 2003 when she won the Australian Open, becoming a champion on all four major surfaces by the age of 22—a clear sign of the dominance to come.

Remarkably, she is the only player ever to achieve a career Golden Slam in both singles and doubles. By the time she retired, Williams had collected 23 Grand Slam singles titles—the most by any player in the Open Era.

1. Steffi Graf: 19 Years, 69 Days

When tennis fans hear the name Steffi Graf, the first things that come to mind are her elegance, power, and effortless athleticism. The German legend captivated audiences with her fluid movement and her ferocious forehand, a combination that left fans in awe every time she stepped on court. A natural-born athlete, Graf turned professional at just 14.

She claimed her first Grand Slam title at the 1987 French Open, delivering a performance that announced her arrival among the sport’s elite. Then came 1988—a year that would cement her place in tennis history. At only 19, Graf completed the rare “Golden Slam,” winning all four Grand Slam titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year, an achievement no player had ever accomplished before.

Cover Credits - Sky Sports