Career grand slams, winning at least one Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open, are milestones only a few of the game’s elite reach. So how about notching all four in a single calendar year? And throw in an Olympic gold medal on top of that? And do it at the ripe old age of 19?
Steffi Graf checked all those boxes in 1988. She completed the newly named ‘Golden Slam’ at the Seoul Olympics, knocking off Gabriela Sabatini 6-3, 6-3 in the gold medal match in September. It capped a romp through the WTA tour that included losing just two sets in 27 grand slam matches (she won a walk-over at the US Open). Her dominance included a 6-0, 6-0 win over Natasha Zvereva in the French Open final that took 32 minutes.
At the Olympics, Graf dropped just one set and became the founding (and still only) member of the Golden Slam club.
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