It is 27 years since the last calendar grand slam of winning the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open in the same 12 months was achieved by Steffi Graf.
Serena Williams will bid to match Graf when she begins her bid for a fifth successive major, having won last year’s US Open and this year’s first three slams of 2015, tomorrow when she goes up against Russian Vitalia Diatchenko in the opening round.
Graf was 19 when she completed her career grand slam at the 1988 US Open, while Williams will be 33 if she is crowned champion at New York on September 12.
Despite the big disparity in ages, there is much in common between what Graf did in 1988 and what Williams is on the verge of achieving.
When Graf had her golden year, there was a changing of the guard. Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, so long the dominant forces of women’s tennis, were nearing the end of their respective careers and their powers were fading.
Graf was at her peak but had little consistent opposition, which was demonstrated by the fact she had four different opponents in the finals.
That is the same scenario as Williams has faced, though with the situation reversed as the American is in the latter years of her career.
Williams has already won four majors in a row, dating back to last year’s US Open, but like Graf she has faced someone different in each final. It was Caroline Wozniacki in New York in 2014, Maria Sharapova in Melbourne, Lucie Safarova at Roland Garros and Garbine Muguruza at Wimbledon.
It is not as if Williams has been unbeatable in this period. She was fallible in Paris as she struggled with illness in the latter rounds, and if Heather Watson had held her nerve in the third round at Wimbledon she would have gone out when the Briton served for the match.
Williams has not had a consistent rival in recent years. Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka have both won multiple majors, but never against Williams in the final, and both have poor head-to-head records against her.
Williams can only play the competition in front of her, and that is not much at present. Until the next superstar of women’s tennis steps up, it is hard to see her not continuing her winning run over the next two weeks.
gcaygill@thenational.ae
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