The 7 women to win French Open-Wimbledon double – as Iga Swiatek targets ‘Channel Slam’

Iga Swiatek has well and truly proven herself on clay courts.

With a fourth French Open title won earlier this month, the world No 1 has proven herself to be the greatest player of her generation so far.

However, the grass courts of Wimbledon have not been the happiest hunting ground for her, with just one quarter-final to her name at the All England Club.

Swiatek undoubtedly heads in as one of the favourites for the title – but can she complete the rare ‘Channel Slam’?

If she does, she will be just the eighth woman in the Open Era to win Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same season.

Margaret Court – 1970

In one of the most historic seasons in tennis, all-time great Court completed the Calendar Grand Slam in 1970.

After winning her home major in Australia, she arrived at Roland Garros and beat Helga Niessen in straight sets to win the title in Paris.

The Australian followed that up by winning her third and final Wimbledon title later that summer, beating her great rival Billie Jean King in the final – before also winning the US Open.

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Evonne Goolagong – 1971

Just a year after Court, another Australian completed the ‘Channel Slam’ in the form of Goolagong, widely considered one of the most graceful players to ever hold a racket.

At Roland Garros, Goolagong won the first of her seven major titles by beating another of her compatriots, Helen Gourlay, in straight sets in the final.

Just a few weeks later, she would down Court in straight sets to lift her first title at the All England Club, famously winning Wimbledon for the second time as a mum in 1980.

Billie Jean King – 1972

Incredibly, the ‘Channel Slam’ was completed for a third straight season in 1972 by King, a true tennis trailblazer and an icon of the sport.

King finally completed the Career Grand Slam at the French Open that year, downing defending champion Goolagong to claim her first and ultimately only victory in Paris.

And it was the exact story at SW19 a short while later, where King beat Goolagong by the exact same scoreline – 6-3, 6-3 – to capture the fourth of her six Wimbledon singles titles.

Chris Evert – 1974

In a landmark summer for women’s tennis, teenager Evert defied the odds to capture her first two major titles at Roland Garros and Wimbledon 50 years ago.

Having lost the final in Paris the previous year, the American downed Olga Morozova in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam singles title, and the first of a record seven at Roland Garros.

She again faced Morozova in the Wimbledon final later that summer, and again saw off the Russian in straight sets to capture the Venus Rosewater Dish – and kickstart an era of tennis superstars.

Martina Navratilova – 1982 and 1984

Navratilova won two French Open titles and on both occasions, she followed that up by also prevailing at Wimbledon, her most successful Slam.

In 1982, she beat American teen star Andrea Jaeger in straight sets to win her first Roland Garros title, and at the time a fourth major title.

But she made it a fifth major shortly afterwards, beating Evert in three sets in the final at SW19.

Two years later she handed Evert a heavy defeat in the 1984 French Open final, before again beating her rival for her third straight Wimbledon victory.

Steffi Graf – 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996

Quite incredibly, Graf managed to achieve the ‘Channel Slam’ in four separate seasons.

The first was in her iconic ‘Golden Slam’ season of 1988, where she double-bagelled Natasha Zvereva to defend her French Open title, before ending Navratilova’s Wimbledon reign later that summer.

Five years later she completed the double again, overcoming Mary Joe Fernandez in a three-set final, before battling back to beat Jana Novotna in an iconic Wimbledon final.

Graf would then beat the same player – Arantxa Sanchez Vicario – across the French Open and Wimbledon finals in 1995 and 1996 to complete her ‘Channel Slam’ collection.

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Serena Williams

Williams impressively managed to complete the feat 13 years apart, in 2002 and 2013.

In 2002 she beat her older sister Venus to win her second major title, kickstarting her run to the first ‘Serena Slam’ – which also saw her beat Venus to win her first Wimbledon title that summer.

And her second ‘Channel Slam’ came amid the second ‘Serena Slam,’ which had started with her 2014 US Open triumph.

At Roland Garros, Williams battled past Lucie Safarova in a three-set final, before beating future No 1 Garbine Muguruza in the Wimbledon final.

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