Golden set

In tennis, a golden set is a set which is won without dropping a single point. This means scoring the 24 minimum points required to win a set 6–0, without conceding any points. In professional, top-tier tennis, this has been accomplished only a few times.

A golden match, in which an opponent does not lose a single point in an entire match, has only been recorded three times in the history of competitive tennis, and never in a best of 5 set match. Hazel Wightman of the United States recorded the first competitive golden match in 1910. It took over a century for the feat to be repeated, and then it occurred twice in the span of 42 days, first by Benjamin Tullou of France on 3 September 2016 at the 2016 France F17 Futures qualifying tournament, and then on 15 October 2016 by Joffrey de Schepper, also of France at the 2016 France F23 Futures qualifying event in Rodez, France. The unfortunate opponent to both of these men in their golden matches was a 55-year-old amateur, Tomas Fabian of the Czech Republic, who failed to win a single game in five different matches in the same event over two seasons. [1] Mr. de Schepper did allow Fabian an "honor point" by deliberately hitting a ball in the last game out, but he is still generally credited with a golden match. [2]

History

In 1910, the four-time Grand Slam singles winner Hazel Wightman achieved a golden match in which she did not lose a point the entire match.

With very weak opponents entering qualifying rounds, the golden set has been recorded more often in recent times.

PlayerTournamentOpponentFinal scoreDateComments
United States Hazel Wightman 1910 Washington State Championships, Washington United States Miss Huiskamp (first name unknown) 6–0, 6–0 1910 Golden match.[3]
United States Pauline Betz 1943 Tri-State tournament, Cincinnati, Ohio United States Catherine Wolf 6–0, 6–2 1943 [4]
United States Bill Scanlon 1983 Delray Beach WCT first round Brazil Marcos Hocevar 6–2, 6–0 22 Feb 1983 Recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records.
Denmark Tine Scheuer-Larsen 1995 Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Botswana Mmaphala Letsatle 6–0, 6–0 9 May 1995 [5]
Kazakhstan Yaroslava Shvedova 2012 Wimbledon Championships Italy Sara Errani 6–0, 6–4 30 Jun 2012 Only golden set in main draw of a Major.[6]
Germany Julian Reister 2013 US Open qualifying Germany Tim Pütz 6–7(3–7), 6–4, 6–0 20 Aug 2013 Only golden set in third set.[7][8]
Italy Stefano Napolitano 2015 Distal & ITR Group Tennis Cup qualifying Italy Augusto Virgili 6–0, 6–3 7 Jul 2015 [9][10]
Ukraine Katarina Zavatska 2015 Chang ITF Pro Circuit – Bangkok 25,000$ qualifying Thailand Thanyathorn Putthaun 6–0, 6–0 12 Dec 2015 [11]
China He Yecong 2016 Qingdao ATP Challenger qualifying China Wang Honghan 6–0, 6–0 7 Aug 2016 In the second set.[12][13]
France Benjamin Tullou 2016 France F17 Futures qualifying, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France Czech Republic Tomas Fabian 6–0, 6–0 3 Sep 2016 Amateur opponent. Golden match.[13]
France Joffrey de Schepper 2016 France F23 Futures qualifying, Rodez, France Czech Republic Tomas Fabian 6–0, 6–0 15 Oct 2016 Amateur opponent. Fabian won one point for honor to avoid another golden match against him.[14]
Venezuela Luis David Martínez 2017 Morelos Open qualifying Mexico Manfred Brandes Vogt 6–1, 6–0 18 Feb 2017 [15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Joffrey De Schepper beat 55-year-old Tomas Fabian 6-0 6-0 in one of the fastest matches in tennis history!".
  2. ↑ US Tennis Association archives, The United States Tennis Association Historical page www.usta.org
  3. ↑ All-Time Records, Tennis Magazine, February 1981, page 72
  4. ↑ S. Smith, Phillip (2010). From Club Court to Center Court (PDF) (2010 ed.). p. 22. ISBN 0-9712445-8-8.
  5. ↑ Politiken, 10 May 1995, 1st Section, p.10
  6. ↑ "BBC Sport – Yaroslava Shvedova joins the exclusive 'golden set'".
  7. ↑ "Tennis: Julian Reister réalise un historique "golden set"". 23 August 2013.
  8. ↑ "Match Stats". Archived from the original on 2013-09-01.
  9. ↑ "Stefano Napolitano's Golden Set (Italian)".
  10. ↑ Josh Meiseles (2015-07-09). "Thirty-Three Points Won In A Row? It Happened". Retrieved 2015-07-10.
  11. ↑ tennisnet (8 August 2016). "Ein perfekter Satz – 2 Chinesen sorgen für historisches Ereignis".
  12. ↑ Shukla, Balraj. "Saturday School: Has anyone ever won the Golden Set? - TrollTennis". trolltennis.com.
  13. 1 2 tennisnet (3 September 2016). "Weltpremiere! Franzose Benjamin Tullou spielt „Golden Match"".
  14. ↑ "Rodez (ITF) - Joffrey de Schepper pas loin du golden match". www.tennisactu.tv.
  15. ↑ "ATP Challenger Tour on Twitter".
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