Three Grand Slams down, one to go.
The table is set for a brilliant Flushing fortnight. Before it begins, USOpen.org is tallying up this year’s numbers from Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon.
1 – Number of successful title defenses at the Slams thus far in 2023: Iga Swiatek at Roland Garros.
1-1 – Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz have split their two Grand Slam meetings in 2023, with Djokovic prevailing in the semifinals at Roland Garros before Alcaraz returned the favor in the Wimbledon final.
1 vs. 2 – Alcaraz and Djokovic’s Wimbledon final matchup was the 51st meeting between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in a Grand Slam men’s singles final in the Open era—and the 16th at Wimbledon. It marked 2023’s only Grand Slam final—men’s or women’s—contested by the two top seeds.
If you’re scoring at home, the last time the top two men’s singles seeds met in a US Open final was 2021, when the top-seeded Djokovic fell to No. 2 seed Daniil Medvedev in straight sets.
On the women’s side, the last final between the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds was between top-seeded Serena Williams and No. 2 seed Victoria Azarenka in 2013. Williams won, 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-1.
2 — Number of first-time Grand Slam singles winners in 2023: Aryna Sabalenka (Australian Open) and Marketa Vondrousova (Wimbledon).
3 – Ons Jabeur became the first woman to record three Top 10 wins at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2012, but lost to Vondrousova in the title round to drop to 0-3 lifetime in major finals.
3:51 – Length of the longest women’s singles match held at the Grand Slams this year: Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-7(3), 6-3, 7-5, to reach the quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
4 – By winning her fourth major title at Roland Garros, Poland’s Swiatek became the fifth active player with four or more major singles titles, joining Djokovic (23), Rafael Nadal (22), Venus Williams (7) and Naomi Osaka (4).
4:05 – The thrilling second-round clash between Andy Murray and Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Australian Open finished at five minutes after 4 a.m. It was the second-latest finish in Australian Open history. (More on this epic down the page.)
5 – With his Wimbledon triumph in July, Alcaraz became the fifth male player to hold two Grand Slam titles while still under the age of 21. Mats Wilander (4), Nadal, Boris Becker and Bjorn Borg (2 each) are the other four.
5:45 – Length of the longest match of the 2023 Grand Slam season thus far: 2012 US Open champion Murray defeated Australia’s Kokkinakis, 4-6, 6-7(4), 7-6(5), 6-3, 7-5, at the Australian Open in the second round. It was the second-longest match in Aussie Open history.
6 – Vondrousova became the sixth left-handed player to reach the women’s singles final at Wimbledon in the Open Era (and the third Czech lefty), after Ann Jones, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Petra Kvitova and Angelique Kerber.
10 – Djokovic won his 10th Australian Open title in January, and joined 14-time Roland Garros champion Nadal as one of two players to win double-digit singles titles at a single Grand Slam in the Open Era.
11 – Djokovic has now won 11 major titles since turning 30, which is the all-time record.
Grand Slam titles won after the age of 30
Djokovic, 11
Serena Williams, 10
Rafael Nadal, 8
Roger Federer, Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, 4
17-2 – Sabalenka’s record at the majors in 2023 is the best on the WTA Tour.
20-1 — Djokovic’s record at the first three majors of 2023. No other player—male or female—has won more matches at the Slams this year.
23 – By winning titles at the Australian Open and Roland Garros, Djokovic took sole possession atop the men’s singles Grand Slam titles list for the first time, with 23. He is tied with legendary Serena Williams atop the all-time Open Era Grand Slam titles list and will bid to tie Margaret Court’s record of 24 major titles this year at the US Open.
Grand Slam singles titles, all-time (players with 20 or more)
Margaret Court: 24
Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams: 23
Rafael Nadal, Steffi Graf: 22
Roger Federer: 20
35 – With three major finals reached in 2023, Djokovic also holds the record for most Grand Slam finals played all-time, with 35.
36 – In Paris, 36-year-old Djokovic became the oldest Roland Garros men’s singles champion in history, surpassing Nadal.
Ken Rosewall is the oldest Open Era US Open men’s singles champion, having won the title at 35 years, 10 months, 11 days of age in 1970.
42 – The ranking of Vondrousova at Wimbledon, where the Czech became the first unseeded champion, as well as the lowest-ranked champion, in the Open Era at Wimbledon.
1974 – The nearly 16-year age gap (15 years and 348 days) between Alcaraz (20 years, 72 days) and Djokovic (36 years, 55 days) in this year’s Wimbledon final was the largest in a Grand Slam title match since Jimmy Connors defeated Ken Rosewall in the 1974 US Open final (17 years and 304 days).
1985 – By winning Wimbledon this year, Alcaraz became the youngest men’s singles champion at the All England Club since Boris Becker, 38 years ago in 1985.
2005 – At Wimbledon, wild card Elina Svitolina continued a fine comeback season by becoming the third player in the Open Era to defeat four former women’s singles Grand Slam champions in a single major, after Serena Williams at the US Open in 1999 and Justine Henin at Roland Garros in 2005.
