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The 3 men to win Australian Open-US Open hard-court double in same year

The 3 men to win Australian Open-US Open hard-court double in same year

Only three players have won the Australian Open and US Open in the same year since the former switched to hard courts nearly four decades ago with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic achieving the feat multiple times.

The Australian Open was played on grass from 1905 until 1987, but it moved to hard courts when the tournament was relocated to Melbourne Park in 1988.

The US Open, meanwhile, has been played on hard courts since 1978 as it was first played on grass from 1881 until 1974 before switching to clay for 1975 until 1977 and finally hard courts in 1978.

Since 1988, only three men have managed to win both the Australian Open and US Open in the same year with Jannik Sinner looking to become the fourth after he won the Australian Open at the start of 2024.

Mats Wilander – 1988

The great Mats Wilander was the first to achieve the feat and he did it at the first time of asking. The Swede won the first-ever Australian Open to be played on a hard court as he beat Pat Cash in the final at Melbourne Park final.

Nearly eight months later he completed the hard-court double when he defeated Ivan Lendl in five sets at Flushing Meadows.

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Roger Federer – 2004, 2006, 2007

Sixteen years would pass before another man would accomplish the feat and Roger Federer was the player to end the wait.

The Swiss Maestro won the first of his seven Australian Open titles in January 2004 when he beat Marat Safin in straight sets and, after winning Wimbledon in July, he went on to win his third Grand Slam of the year in New York, beating Lleyton Hewitt in the US Open final.

Two years later he became the first man to do it twice as got the better of Marcos Baghdatis at Melbourne Park and then beat Andy Roddick at the US Open.

Twice became thrice in 2007 as Federer once again won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. At Melbourne Park he beat Fernando Gonzalez while at Flushing Meadows he defeated Novak Djokovic.

Novak Djokovic – 2011, 2015, 2023

Any Roger Federer can do, Novak Djokovic can do as well in this case.

Djokovic completed his first Australian Open-US Open double in 2011 as he first beat Andy Murray at Melbourne Park and then got the better of Rafael Nadal in New York.

He reached the final of all four Grand Slams in 2015, winning the Australian Open as he again defeated Murray while at Wimbledon and the US Open he beat Federer. Nadal stopped him from getting the calendar Slam in the French Open final.

Nearly a decade later, Djokovic won the two hard-court majors in the same year again as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open and Daniil Medvedev at the US Open.

Djokovic also narrowly missed out on the feat in 2012 (he won Australian Open, but lost the US Open final against Murray), 2013 (won Australian Open, but lost US Open final against Nadal), 2016 (won Australian Open, but lost US Open final against Stan Wawrinka) and 2021 (won Australian Open, but lost US Open final against Medvedev.