In tennis, what does Golden Set mean?

Yaroslava Shvedova

What is it?

It’s the perfect set of tennis, a dream seldom fulfilled. To achieve this, a player must take a set without dropping a single point. In other words, it’s winning 24 straight points – the minimum required to complete a set (six games, four points per game).

How rare is it?

Many club-level players claim to have done it, but it has happened fewer than ten times in the professional game. At the highest level – a Major – it’s happened just once: Yaroslava Shvedova’s 6-0, 6-4 defeat of Sara Errani at Wimbledon in 2012.

Has anyone done it on separate occasions?

No, but Shvedova has come incredibly close. Before her achievement at the Championships, she had won the first 23 points of her match against Amy Frazier in 2006 to set a WTA record. Even more incredibly, Shvedova lost 1-6, 6-0, 6-0!

Who did it first?

Four-time Major winner Hazel Wightman reportedly won a golden match (48 straight points) at the Washington State Championships in 1910 against a Miss Huiskamp. On the men’s side, Bill Scanlon beat Marcos Hocevar 6-2, 6-0 at Delray Beach in 1983.