While you might have heard of a Golden Slam in tennis, do you know what a Golden Set is? To understand this phenomenon, with examples from tennis history, read on!
A Golden Set in tennis is a monumental feat of winning a set without dropping a single point. To win a golden set, a player must win a minimum of 24 consecutive points.
While that achievement remains attainable, it is an almighty task to pull it off. It is the equivalent of a perfect set of tennis.
Does a Golden Set differ from a Bagel Set?
Short answer, yes. A golden set differs from a ‘’bagel set’’. While in both instances the player wins the set 6-0, in the latter, a player has the luxury of losing points in a set.
Literally put, to win a Golden Set, you would need to win a bagel set and not lose a single point.
Also Read:
- Why is Tennis No Longer Played on Carpet?
- Why do Players Check Different Tennis Balls Before Serving?
Which players have won a Golden Set at Tour level?
At the top level of both men’s and women’s tennis, a golden set has been won on very few occasions.
In fact, at Tour level, only two players have managed to conquer that feat in the Open Era. The most famous Golden Set in the Open Era was recorded at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships when Yaroslava Shvedova thrashed Sara Errani 6-0, 6-4 in the third round.
Errani was the No. 10 seed while Shvedova was a wild card entrant at the tournament. The first set of that match, however, will live long in the memories of ardent tennis fanatics.
Shvedova reeled off 24 points to win the first set in just 15 minutes.
On the other instance, the late Bill Scanlon won a Golden Set in his 6-2, 6-0 win over Marcos Hocevar in the first round of Delray Beach in 1983 – a feat no other man has come close to replicating in the main draw of the ATP Tour.
His achievement was engraved in the Guinness Book of World Records.
How Often Have Lower-Level Players Won a Golden Set?
In the second-tier events, Golden Sets have been won on many occasions. With the level of competition diminishing substantially, a streaky player can string together 24 points in a row.
In 2022 alone, two players posted Golden Sets. The most recent one came at the WTA 125K level qualifying draw in Contrexeville, France, when Lena Papadakis won a Golden Set 6-0 against Russia’s Natalia Vikhlyanstseva.
On the other occasion, Anastasia Sysoeva won a Golden Set over Fenni Lian at the W25 ITF event in Florida.
On the ATP Challenger Tour, two Golden Sets were won in separate matches in the qualifying draws in 2022.
Stefano Napolitano demolished countryman Augusto Virgili 6-0, 6-3 at the 2015 Distal & ITR Group Cup, while Luis David Martinez won a golden set en route a 6-1, 6-0 win over Manfred Brandes Vogt at the 2017 Morelos Open.
Also Read:
- Why do Tennis Players Carry So Many Racquets?
- Why do Tennis Players Hit Their Shoes with Their Racquets?
Two Golden Sets Make Up a Golden Match
On the rarest occasion, a player wins two Golden Sets, it will be termed a Golden Match. A player must not lose a single point in the whole match to achieve this feat. To win a golden match, a player would need to win a minimum of 48 points.
In the Open Era, this rarest of rare occurrence has only happened on the ITF circuit.