3 players who have completed the Summer Slam ft. Rafael Nadal

The Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open make up four Slams of tennis. There are various feats a player achieves when he or she wins multiple Majors in a season.

Winning the first three or the last three Majors completes a Surface Slam. The feat of winning Wimbledon and the French Open is called a Channel Slam. If a player wins any of the three Majors in a year, it is called the Three Quarter Slam.

If a player wins all four Majors, then a Career Slam is completed. Winning all four with an Olympic Gold is called the Golden Slam. Finally, winning the Golden Slam and the year-ending championship is called the Super Slam.

The US Open is the final Major of the year. In the build-up to Flushing Meadows, the US Open series sees two big events - the Canada Masters and the Cincinnati Masters. Both these Masters 1000 events have been played in back-to-back weeks.

When a player wins both the American hardcourt swing Masters events along with the US Open, the player completes a Summer Slam. In the Open Era, only three players have successfully achieved the Summer Slam.

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#1. Pat Rafter (1998)

Patrick Rafter

Pat Rafter was the third seed at the 1998 Toronto Masters. The Australian faced four seeded players en route to the finals. After receiving a bye in the first round, Rafter defeated qualifier Neville Godwin in the first round. He then defeated Mark Philippoussis, Jonas Bjorkman and Tim Henman (all in straight sets) to set up a final against sixth seed Richard Krajicek. Rafter won his maiden Masters title by beating Krajicek 7-6(3) 6-4.

Later in Cincinnati, Rafter was the fifth seed. He faced his first challenge in the quarterfinals, which he overcame by defeating third seed Petr Korda in straight sets. He made the finals, where he faced top seed and defending champion Pete Sampras. After dropping the first set 6-1, Rafter won the next two sets to clinch his second Masters title.

As the defending champion at the US Open, Rafter was the third seed. In the first round, he came back from a 0-2 deficit against Hicham Arazi to take the match in five sets. He later defeated 14th seed Goran Ivanisevic in the fourth round.

In the semis, he defeated Sampras yet again, this time in four sets. In the final, Rafter won 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 to become the first player in the Open Era to complete the Summer Slam.

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#2. Andy Roddick (2003)

Andy Roddick

Andy Roddick was the sixth seed at the 2003 Montreal Masters. After second seed Juan Carlos Ferrero's shock defeat in the third round, Roddick made the semis, defeating only one seeded player en route.

In the semis, he defeated Roger Federer in three sets before setting up a final against David Nalbandian. Roddick won his maiden Masters title after defeating the Argentine in the title clash.

As the seventh seed in Cincinnati, Roddick did not face a single seed in the entire tournament. However, he defeated quality players like Fernando Verdasco, Ivan Ljubicic, James Blake and Max Mirnyi. In the finals, he defeated his compatriot Mardy Fish to win his second Masters title.

Owing to his consecutive Masters titles, Roddick was seeded fourth at the US Open. He only dropped one set en route to the semis. In the semis, he defeated Nalbandian after trailing 0-2. In the final, he beat third seed Juan Carlos Ferrero in straight sets to win his only Major title.

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#3. Rafael Nadal (2013)

Rafael Nadal

Rafael Nadal was the fourth seed at the 2013 Rogers Cup and the Spaniard did not drop a single set until the semis. He faced top seed and two-time defending champion Novak Djokovic in the last four. The Spaniard won the match in three sets before defeating Milos Raonic in the finals to win his 25th Masters title.

In Cincinnati, Nadal defeated defending champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals in three sets. He later defeated sixth seed Tomas Berdych in straight sets before defeating John Isner 7-6(8) 7-6(3) in the finals to clinch the title. It was his first and only Cincinnati title to date.

Nadal rose to World No. 2 in the ATP rankings before the US Open. At the New York Major, the Spaniard dropped only one set en route to the finals. Facing top seed Djokovic in the finals, the Mallorcan won the contest in four sets to win his second US Open title and 13th Major overall.