5 youngest tennis players to complete the career Grand Slam ft. Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf

Grand Slams are the pinnacle of tennis. Winning seven matches in a tournament in the best-of-five format for men is considered the ultimate test in the sport. Moreover, the four majors are played across three different surfaces, which means that winning all of them is a very difficult task.

So far, only a handful of players have been able to win a career Grand Slam, which consists of winning all four majors across their careers. Three of the four 2025 Wimbledon men's and women's singles finalists, Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, are tipped to achieve this feat in future.

So, let's take a look at the five youngest tennis players, men or women, to achieve this remarkable feat in the singles category:

#5 Martina Navratilova (26 years 10 months)

The American legend holds the record for the most singles titles among women and boasts a record nine Wimbledon titles. She was most comfortable playing on grass and was an exponent of serve-and-volley.

However, Navratilova had to wait until the US Open in 1983 to complete her career Grand Slam. She had already won seven majors prior to that. Navratilova finished her career with 18 major singles titles, which was a record that she held with Chris Evert at that time.

#4 Maria Sharapova (25 years 1 month)

Sharapova burst into the tennis scene as a precocious teenager, winning Wimbledon as a 17-year-old in 2004. Her career did not finish the way it had taken off, but she still managed to win five major titles and achieve a career Grand Slam feat.

The Russian star completed her career Grand Slam by winning the French Open title in 2012, eight years after her triumph at Wimbledon. Sharapova retired from the game in 2020, leaving a lasting legacy.

#3 Rafael Nadal (24 years 3 months)

Nadal is the clay-court GOAT, having won an unthinkable 14 titles at the French Open. However, he managed to win eight majors on other courts as well, which goes on to show how well-rounded his game was.

Nadal won his first French Open title as a teenager in 2005, but had to wait until 2010 to complete his career Grand Slam. The Spaniard won the first of his four US Open titles in that year to achieve all four majors. Nadal retired in 2024 with 22 major titles.

#2 Serena Williams (21 years 4 months)

Serena Williams reigned over women's tennis from the late 1990s to the mid-2010s. She has the record for the most major singles titles (23) and has also achieved a Golden Slam in both singles and doubles.

She won her first major in 1999 at the US Open. However, she had to wait for four more years to complete the career Grand Slam title. In 2003, she won her first Australian Open title to achieve this feat. Williams had an illustrious career that lasted for more than two decades.

#1 Steffi Graf's career Grand Slam (19 years 2 months)

Steffi Graf was the queen of women's tennis in the late 1980s and early 1990s. She remains the only player to achieve the career Grand Slam while still being a teenager.

Graf won the Golden Slam in 1988, winning all four major and also the Olympic Gold in singles. She remains the only player, male or female, to achieve a Golden Slam in the same year.

By winning the US Open title in 1988, the German became the youngest player ever to complete the career Grand Slam. Graf retired in 1999 with 22 major singles titles in the open era, a record that was later broken by Serena Williams in 2017.