Thursday, February 23, 2017

The Career Golden Slam in Tennis


Reem Taoz is a management professional who has overseen liquor sales and event planning at a number of Lima, Peru’s most popular nightlife destinations. When he is not working as a night shift manager, Reem Taoz enjoys following football and tennis, and particularly tennis player Rafael Nadal.

Over the history of professional tennis, only two men and two women have completed the career golden slam. This rare feat involves winning at least one championship at the sport’s four major events, an achievement known as a career slam or grand slam, as well as an Olympic gold medal. Andre Agassi was the first male tennis player to complete the career golden slam, with victories at the 1992 Wimbledon championship, the 1994 US Open, the 1995 Australian Open, the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and finally the 1999 French Open.

In 2010, Rafael Nadal joined Agassi after capturing his first US Open title. He had previously won his first major at the 2005 French Open. He added both a Wimbledon championship and Olympic gold to his resume in the summer of 2008, and early in 2009 took his first major title on a hard court at the Australian Open.

On the women’s side, Serena Williams most recently completed a career golden slam at the 2012 London Olympics. While Williams is also a career golden slam holder in doubles with sister Venus, few achievements in the sport rival that of Steffi Graf's calendar golden slam. Having won her first major at the 1987 French Open, Graf repeated as champion the following season while adding three other majors and a gold medal from the 1988 Seoul Olympics.