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Related to today's discourse about Iga's career path: how long exactly is the average Slam-winning window of a women's ATG? Taking a historical look at the gap in time between first and last Slam won for the 9 other 5+ Slam winners to play entirely in the Open Era.
So after Iga's loss today there was a whole thread about her recent record against the top 10, with some saying that it's just a mid-career blip due to her age of 24, and others saying that some players peak very early and that 2022-2024 will remain her peak.
Of course, early bloomers might tend to also exit earlier and late bloomers might tend to play a bit longer. But what exactly does history tell us about the Slam winning window of a great player? Here's the gap between first and last Slam won for the 9 other women with 5+ Slams. Technically a new player could join this list in a few days, but I don't think Sabalenka is very relevant to this exercise given that she's obviously at her peak.
||First Slam won |Last Slam won|Gap in time |
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Serena Williams (23)**|September 1999 |January 2017 |17 years 4 months|
|**Steffi Graf (22)**|June 1987 |June 1999 |12 years |
|**Chris Evert (18)**|June 1974 |June 1986 |12 years |
|**Martina Navratilova (18)**|July 1978 |July 1990 |12 years |
|**Monica Seles (9)**|June 1990 |January 1996 |5 years 7 months|
|**Venus Williams (7)**|July 2000 |July 2008 |8 years |
|**Justine Henin (7)**|June 2003 |September 2007 |4 years 3 months |
|**Martina Hingis (5)**|January 1997 |January 1999 |2 years |
|**Maria Sharapova (5)** |July 2004 |June 2014 |9 years 11 months |
|**Iga Swiatek (6)**|October 2020|??? (currently July 2025) |Currently 4 years 9 months |
As always, there's a clear gap between the "big 4" of the women's Open Era and everyone else, with Serena even being in her own level there.
#sport
So after Iga's loss today there was a whole thread about her recent record against the top 10, with some saying that it's just a mid-career blip due to her age of 24, and others saying that some players peak very early and that 2022-2024 will remain her peak.
Of course, early bloomers might tend to also exit earlier and late bloomers might tend to play a bit longer. But what exactly does history tell us about the Slam winning window of a great player? Here's the gap between first and last Slam won for the 9 other women with 5+ Slams. Technically a new player could join this list in a few days, but I don't think Sabalenka is very relevant to this exercise given that she's obviously at her peak.
||First Slam won |Last Slam won|Gap in time |
|:-|:-|:-|:-|
|**Serena Williams (23)**|September 1999 |January 2017 |17 years 4 months|
|**Steffi Graf (22)**|June 1987 |June 1999 |12 years |
|**Chris Evert (18)**|June 1974 |June 1986 |12 years |
|**Martina Navratilova (18)**|July 1978 |July 1990 |12 years |
|**Monica Seles (9)**|June 1990 |January 1996 |5 years 7 months|
|**Venus Williams (7)**|July 2000 |July 2008 |8 years |
|**Justine Henin (7)**|June 2003 |September 2007 |4 years 3 months |
|**Martina Hingis (5)**|January 1997 |January 1999 |2 years |
|**Maria Sharapova (5)** |July 2004 |June 2014 |9 years 11 months |
|**Iga Swiatek (6)**|October 2020|??? (currently July 2025) |Currently 4 years 9 months |
As always, there's a clear gap between the "big 4" of the women's Open Era and everyone else, with Serena even being in her own level there.
#sport
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