First tennis player to win a Grand Slam singles title in three different decades

The first woman – and the first tennis player overall – to win titles in three different decades was Blanche Bingley Hillyard (UK, 1863-1946), who won all of her six Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon – in 1886, 1889, 1894, 1897, 1899 and 1900.

Hillyard, who won her first Wimbledon title as Blanche Bingley before marrying in 1887, was also a seven-time runner-up – in 1885, 1887-88, 1891-93 and 1901. Her 13 appearances in the final is a record for Wimbledon, ahead of both Roger Federer (12) and Martina Navratilova (12).

Aged 20, Hillyard competed in the first-ever women’s singles event at Wimbledon, in 1884, when she reached the semi-finals. In all, she participated in 24 Wimbledon singles tournaments between 1884 and 1913 (when she was 49).

Ken Rosewall (Australia) was the first man to win Grand Slam singles titles in three different decades (1950s-1960s-1970s). Martina Navratilova (1970s-1980s-1990s), Serena Williams (1990s-2000s-2010s) and Novak Djokovic (2000s-2010s-2020s) subsequently joined the ‘three-decade club’ – the latter by winning the 2020 Australian Open on 2 February.