Ashleigh Barty and Emma Raducanu match Serena and Venus Williams with dominant slam titles

With Emma Raducanu and Ashleigh Barty winning the US Open and Australian Open respectively both without dropping a set, the pair have achieved a feat last accomplished by Serena and Venus Williams

The last time back-to-back women’s Slams were won with the champion not dropping a set came nearly 14 years ago in 2008. That year, Venus won Wimbledon in such fashion, defeating Serena in the final. Serena then did the same at the US Open soon after, getting revenge on Venus in the quarter-finals before ousting Jelena Janković in the final.

At last year’s US Open, Raducanu famously emerged from qualifying to completely dismantle the field. The young Brit did not drop a set not only across her seven main draw matches but also in her three qualifying matches, claiming 10 match wins consecutively without dropping a set.

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Now, in Melbourne, Barty has achieved the same main draw feat, winning the Australian Open having only been pushed to drop more than four games in a set in the final against Danielle Collins, dropping just 30 games over seven matches. Before the Williams sisters won consecutive flawless titles in 2008, Serena did it all on her own by winning Wimbledon and then the US Open consecutively without dropping a set in 2002.

Turning to the men’s tour, the feat has been achieved just once in the Open Era, when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer won Roland Garros and Wimbledon respectively in 2017.