Shortest tennis match records
This article covers records concerning the shortest-ever tennis matches both in terms of number of games and duration in terms of time. Matches affected by a retirement or default are not listed.
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Steffi Graf won the quickest-ever Open Era Grand Slam Final in 32 minutes.
[1][2][3][4]Short times
Men
Overall
- Jack Harper lost just one point when he defeated J. Sandiford 6–0, 6–0 at the 1946 Surrey Open Hard Court Championships in a match that lasted 18 minutes, the shortest men's singles match on record.[5]
- Francisco Clavet set an ATP tournament record in Shanghai in the first round of the 2001 Heineken Open Shanghai when he defeated Jiang Shan (Li Na's husband) in 25 minutes, 6–0, 6–0.[6]
Grand Slam tournaments
Wimbledon
- The 1881 Wimbledon final in which William Renshaw defeated John Hartley, 6–0, 6–1, 6–1, lasted 36 minutes.[7]
- Fred Perry defeated Gottfried von Cramm, 6–1, 6–1, 6–0, in the 1936 Wimbledon final in 40 minutes.[8]
- Jo-Wilfried Tsonga defeated Bernard Tomic in the first round in the 2019 Wimbledon Championships 6–2, 6–1, 6–4 in 58 minutes, though Tomic was later fined for a lack of effort.[9]
Masters Tour
- Jarkko Nieminen won against Bernard Tomic at the Miami Masters in 2014 in 28 minutes, 6–0, 6–1.[10]
Olympics
- John Millman became the first male in Olympic tennis history to win a match by the score of 6–0, 6–0 when he defeated Ričardas Berankis in the first round of the tennis tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[11] There have been several Olympic men's singles matches with a score of 6–0, 6–0, 6–1.
Women
Overall
- Margaret Court won the 1963 Eastern Grass Court Championships crown in a record 24-minute match against Darlene Hard, 6–1, 6–1.[12]
- Helen Wills defeated Joan Fry at the 1927 Wightman Cup 6–2, 6–0 in 24 minutes.[13]
- Helen Wills, while dispatching Emily Wright 6–0, 6–0 in Beaulieu, France in 1926, won the first set in 9 minutes.[14]
Grand Slam tournaments
French Open
- Steffi Graf won 6–0, 6–0, against Natasha Zvereva in the 1988 French Open final. The official time of the match given on the scoresheet was 34 minutes,[15][16][17] but the match consumed just 32 minutes of playing time,[1] split into two periods of nine and 23 minutes because of a rain break. It is the only "double bagel" Grand Slam singles final of the Open Era, and only the second time in the history of tennis (the other being at 1911 Wimbledon).[18]
Wimbledon
- During the 1969 tournament, Sue Tutt beat Marion Boundy 6–2, 6–0 in 20 minutes.[19]
- In the 1922 Wimbledon final Suzanne Lenglen defeated Molla Mallory, 6–2, 6–0, in 23 minutes. Some accounts state that the match was over in 20 minutes.[20]
- In the 1925 Wimbledon final Lenglen defeated Joan Fry in 25 minutes, 6–2, 6–0.[20]
Fewest games
| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
- = winner of the match also won the tournament.
Men (triple bagel)
There have been at least 17 best-of-five-set matches which have lasted 18 games (6–0, 6–0, 6–0), colloquially referred to as a "triple bagel", in the Open Era.[21] This is the shortest possible length for a best-of-five-set match, not including retirements or defaults.
| Year | Grand Slam | Round | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | French Open | 1R |  Nikola Špear |
 Daniel Contet
|
| 1973 | Davis Cup | Z1 |  Gondo Widjojo |
 Tao Po
|
| 1981 | Davis Cup | PO | Thierry Tulasne |
 Shinichi Sakamoto
|
| 1984 | Davis Cup | 1R |  Emilio Sánchez |
 Kamel Harrad
|
| 1987 | French Open | 2R |  Karel Nováček |
 Eduardo Bengoechea
|
| 1987 | Wimbledon | 1R |  Stefan Edberg |
Stefan Eriksson
|
| 1987 | US Open | 1R | Ivan Lendl |
 Barry Moir
|
| 1989 | Davis Cup | 3R |  Hamed-ul-Haq |
 Faisal Rahman
|
| 1991 | Davis Cup | 1R | Michael Walker |
 Dishan Herath
|
| 1993 | French Open | 2R | Sergi Bruguera |
Thierry Champion
|
| 1998 | Davis Cup | 2R | Gouichi Motomura |
 Teo Susnjak
|
| 1999 | Davis Cup | PO |  Lin Bing-Chao |
 Nasser Al-Khelaifi
|
| 2001 | Wimbledon | Q3 |  Todd Woodbridge |
Johan Örtegren
|
| 2005 | Davis Cup | 2R |  Ricardo Mello |
 David Josepa
|
| 2009 | Davis Cup | PO |  Rui Machado |
Valentin Rahine
|
| 2011 | Davis Cup | 2R |  Andy Murray |
 Laurent Bram
|
| 2016 | Davis Cup | 1R |  Jarkko Nieminen |
 Courtney John Lock
|
| 2016 | Davis Cup | 1R |  Emilio Gómez |
 Adam Hornby
|
Women (double bagel)
In women's tennis, matches featuring a minimum number of games are a more frequent occurrence. The following are women's Grand Slam singles matches which have lasted 12 games (6–0, 6–0), colloquially referred to as a "double bagel", in the Open Era.[citation needed] This is the shortest possible length for a best-of-three-set match, not including retirements or defaults.
Women's singles
 |
Women's doubles
|
| Year | Grand Slam | Round | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | US Open | 1R | Květa Peschke  Francesca Schiavone |
Sofia Arvidsson  Martina Müller
|
| 2007 | Australian Open | QF | Chan Yung-jan Chuang Chia-jung |
 Ashley Harkleroad  Galina Voskoboeva
|
| 2009 | Wimbledon | 3R | Serena Williams Venus Williams |
 Yan Zi Zheng Jie
|
| 2017 | Wimbledon | F | Ekaterina Makarova Elena Vesnina |
Chan Hao-Ching  Monica Niculescu
|
See also
References
- ^ a b Times, Robin Herman and Special To the New York (5 June 1988). "TENNIS; Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-03-25. Retrieved 2015-03-04.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ "- YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ Tingay, Lance (1983). The Guinness Book of Tennis : Facts & Feats. Enfield: Guinness Superlatives. p. 27. ISBN 9780851122687.
- ^ "Match facts". www.atpworldtour.com. Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP).
- ^ Medlycott, James (1977). 100 years of the Wimbledon tennis championships. Internet Archive. New York : Crescent Books. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-517-22425-0.
- ^ "Fred Perry". wimbledon.org. Retrieved 2011-01-18.
- ^ "Wimbledon 2019: Bernard Tomic fined for not meeting 'professional standards'". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2019-07-08.
- ^ "Match Facts". www.atpworldtour.com. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
- ^ Chammas, Michael (6 August 2016). "John Millman creates history at Rio Olympics with 6–0, 6–0 win". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2018.
- ^ "Margaret Smith gets net record" (Press release). The Louisiana Shreveport Journal.
- ^ "The Evening News from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on August 13, 1927". Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "Helen Wills gain in Beaulieu tournament". Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ "The 1988 French Open: How Agassi arrived, Graf ruled and Wilander won". TheGuardian.com. 27 May 2014.
- ^ "1988 French Open Ladies final". YouTube.
- ^ "Chicago Tribune: Chicago news, sports, weather, entertainment". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ "Wilding wins all-England cup". The Sydney Morning Herald (Press release). 10 July 1911.
- ^ "Tennis Facts Trivia". Retrieved 20 September 2016.
- ^ a b Lynch, Steven (10 May 2010). "A game of two balls, and tennis' shortest finals". ESPN. Archived from the original on 4 Feb 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2012.
- ^ Barschel, Christian Albrecht (2 June 2017). "Triple Bagel – Der Alptraum aller Profis". Spox. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ "Clijsters steamrollers Safina". Sky Sports. 2011-01-18. Retrieved 2011-01-17.