Ah, tennis season is back. I just watched the men’s finals from Roland Garros. I missed the women’s.
What struck me, though, was that no one in either final was French. Which got me thinking – for each of the slams, when was the last time the victor was actually a native of the country the slam takes place in?
Methodology
For all 4 slams:
- For both the men’s and women’s finals, find the last year a native won
- Calculate how many years that’s been for each
- Add the two together
- Order the slams/countries by total number of years
US (26)
Men's – 2003 (23), Andy Roddick
- Other slam titles: none
- Fun fact: married to SI swimwear model Brooklyn Decker
I understand she has a mean backhand
Women's – 2023 (3), Coco Gauff
- Other slam titles: French (1)
- Fun fact: beat Venus Williams at Wimbledon at age 15
When your trophy is bigger than you are
Australian (55)
Men's – 1975 (51), John Newcombe
- Other slam titles: Wimbledon (4), US (2), Australian (1)
- Fun fact: ranked 15th greatest player of all time
Who knew Sean Conner played tennis?
Women's – 2022 (4), Ashleigh Barty
- Other slam titles: Wimbledon (1), French (1)
- Fun fact: took a break from tennis to play professional cricket
Wimbledon (59)
Men's – 2016 (10), Andy Murray
- Other slam titles: US (1), Wimbledon (1)
- Fun fact: won 2 gold medals at the Olympics
Women's – 1977 (49), Virginia Wade
- Other slam titles: US (1), Australian (1)
- Fun fact: grew up in South Africa
French (139)
Men's – 1946 (80), Marcel Bernard
- Other slam titles: none
- Fun fact: beat Jaroslav Drobny
Women's – 1967 (59), Francoise Durr
- Other slam titles: none
- Fun fact: had a serve that "might not have registered on a radar gun" [World Tennis Hall of Fame]
A true child of the 60s
Too bad the Italian Open isn’t a slam. Native Italians won last year’s titles (Yannik Sinner, men's) and the year before (Jasmine Paolini, women’s).
