This article covers records concerning the shortest-ever tennis matches both in terms of number of games and duration in terms of time. Matches affected by a retirement or default are not listed.
Short times
Men
Overall
*
Jack Harper lost just one point when he defeated J. Sandiford 6–0, 6–0 at the 1946 Surrey Open Hard Court Championships in a match that lasted 18 minutes, the shortest men's singles match on record.
*
Francisco Clavet
Francisco Javier Clavet González de Castejón (; born 24 October 1968), known as Pato Clavet (), is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won eight singles titles, reached the semifinals of the 1992 Newsweek Champions Cup – Singl ...
set an ATP tournament record in Shanghai in the first round of the
2001 Heineken Open Shanghai when he defeated Jiang Shan (
Li Na
Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She was WTA rankings, ranked world No. 2 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association. Li won nine WTA Tour-level singles titles, including two Grand Slam (t ...
's husband) in 25 minutes, 6–0, 6–0.
Grand Slam tournaments
=Wimbledon
=
*The 1881 Wimbledon final in which
William Renshaw
William Charles Renshaw (3 January 1861 – 12 August 1904) was a British tennis player active during the late 19th century, who was ranked world No. 1. He won twelve Wimbledon titles: seven in singles and five in doubles. A right-hander, R ...
defeated
John Hartley, 6–0, 6–1, 6–1, lasted 36 minutes.
*
Fred Perry
Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former World number 1 male tennis player rankings, world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors, including eight Grand Slam (tennis), ...
defeated
Gottfried von Cramm
Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt Freiherr von Cramm (; 7 July 1909 – 8 November 1976) was a German tennis player who won the French Open, French Championships twice, becoming the first non American, British, Australian or French playe ...
, 6–1, 6–1, 6–0, in the
1936 Wimbledon final in 40 minutes.
*
Goran Ivanisevic
Goran may refer to:
Ethnic groups
*Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa
*Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East
*Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of southeastern Europe
Other uses
*Göran, a Swedish name
* ...
defeated
David Nainkin
David Nainkin (born 20 September 1970) is a former professional tennis player from South Africa.
Career
Nainkin never reached a final on the ATP Tour but made it into the semi-finals of the 1995 Nokia Open in Beijing, before losing to Michael ...
in the first round in the
1996 Wimbledon Championships
The 1996 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London in the United Kingdom. It was the 110th edition of the Wimbledon Championships and was held fro ...
6–2, 6–0, 6–2 in 55 minutes.
*
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
defeated
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...
in the first round in the
2019 Wimbledon Championships
The 2019 Wimbledon Championships was a Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, United Kingdom. The main tournament began on Monday 1 July 2019 and fi ...
6–2, 6–1, 6–4 in 58 minutes, though Tomic was later fined for a lack of effort.
=Masters Tour
=
*
Jarkko Nieminen
Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
won against
Bernard Tomic
Bernard Tomic (; , ; born 21 October 1992) is an Australian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Tomic has won four singles titles on the ATP To ...
at the
Miami Masters
The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters and as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is an annual professional tennis tournament held in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. It is played on outdoor hardcourts a ...
in 2014 in 28 minutes, 6–0, 6–1.
Olympics
*
John Millman
John H. Millman (born 14 June 1989) is an Australian former professional tennis player. He won one title on the ATP Tour, the 2020 Astana Open, reaching a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in October 2018. His other career high ...
became the first male in Olympic tennis history to win a match by the score of 6–0, 6–0 when he defeated
Ričardas Berankis
Ričardas Berankis (; born June 21, 1990) is a Lithuanian professional tennis player. He is the first and only Lithuanian to enter the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP top 50 rankings, making him the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis play ...
in the first round of the
tennis tournament
List of current and past men's and women's tennis tournaments.
Criteria for inclusion:
*The tournament is notable enough to have its own article on Wikipedia
*Historic tournaments are included if notability can be established by reliable third-par ...
at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...
.
There have been several Olympic men's singles matches with a
score of 6–0, 6–0, 6–1.
Women
Overall
*
Margaret Court
Margaret Court (''née'' Smith; born 16 July 1942), also known as Margaret Smith Court, is an Australian former world number 1 tennis player and a Christian minister. Her 24 women's singles major titles and total of 64 major titles (includi ...
won the 1963 Eastern Grass Court Championships crown in a record 24-minute match against
Darlene Hard
Darlene Ruth Hard (January 6, 1936 – December 2, 2021) was an American professional tennis player, known for her aggressive volleying ability and strong serves. She captured singles titles at the French Championships in 1960 and the U.S. Cha ...
, 6–1, 6–1.
*
Helen Wills
Helen Newington Wills (October 6, 1905 – January 1, 1998), also known by her married names Helen Wills Moody and Helen Wills Roark, was an American tennis player. She won 31 Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, doubles, ...
defeated
Joan Fry
Joan Craddock Fry (6 May 1906 – 29 September 1985) was a British tennis player. Fry was a finalist at the 1925 Wimbledon Championships where she lost in straight sets to Suzanne Lenglen.
She was part of the British team that won the 1930 ...
at the 1927
Wightman Cup
The Wightman Cup was an annual team tennis competition for women contested from 1923 through 1989 (except during World War II) between teams from the United States and Great Britain.
History
U.S. player Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wanted to generat ...
6–2, 6–0 in 24 minutes.
*Helen Wills, while dispatching Emily Wright 6–0, 6–0 in Beaulieu, France in 1926, won the first set in 9 minutes.
Grand Slam tournaments
=French Open
=
*
Steffi Graf
Stefanie Maria Graf ( , ; born 14 June 1969) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players, world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for a r ...
won 6–0, 6–0, against
Natasha Zvereva
Natalya "Natasha" Maratovna Zvereva (born 16 April 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Belarus. She was the first major athlete in the Soviet Union to demand publicly that she should be able to keep her tournament earnings. Zver ...
in the
1988 French Open
The 1988 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 23 May until 5 June. It was the 87th staging of the French Open, and the second Gran ...
final. The official time of the match given on the scoresheet was 34 minutes, but the match consumed just 32 minutes of playing time,
split into two periods of nine and 23 minutes because of a rain break. It is the only "
double bagel" Grand Slam singles final of the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
, and only the second time in the history of tennis (the other being at
1911 Wimbledon).
=Wimbledon
=
*During the 1969 tournament,
Sue Tutt
Susan Tutt (born 1943) is a British former professional tennis player. She competed as Sue Northen after marriage.
Tutt, a native of Leicester, was active on tour in the 1960s and 1970s. Her first round win over Marion Boundy at the 1969 Wimbled ...
beat Marion Boundy 6–2, 6–0 in 20 minutes.
*In the 1922 Wimbledon final
Suzanne Lenglen
Suzanne Rachel Flore Lenglen (; 24 May 1899 – 4 July 1938) was a French tennis player. She was the inaugural world No. 1 from 1921 to 1926, winning eight Grand Slam titles in singles and twenty-one in total. She was also a four-time World ...
defeated
Molla Mallory
Anna Margrethe "Molla" Bjurstedt Mallory ( Bjurstedt; 6 March 1884 – 22 November 1959) was a former Norwegian-American world no 2 ranked tennis player. She won a record eight singles titles at the U.S. National Championships. She was the first ...
, 6–2, 6–0, in 23 minutes. Some accounts state that the match was over in 20 minutes.
*In the 1925 Wimbledon final Lenglen defeated
Joan Fry
Joan Craddock Fry (6 May 1906 – 29 September 1985) was a British tennis player. Fry was a finalist at the 1925 Wimbledon Championships where she lost in straight sets to Suzanne Lenglen.
She was part of the British team that won the 1930 ...
in 25 minutes, 6–2, 6–0.
=US Open
=
*In the 1964 US Open final
Maria Bueno
Maria Esther Andion Bueno (11 October 1939 – 8 June 2018) was a Brazilian professional tennis player. During her 11-year career in the 1950s and 1960s, she won 19 Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, major titles (seven in women's singles, 11 in w ...
defeated
Caldwell Graebner, by 6–1, 6–0, in 19 minutes.
Fewest games
Men (triple bagel)
There have been at least 17 best-of-five-set matches which have lasted 18 games (6–0, 6–0, 6–0), colloquially referred to as a "triple bagel", in the
Open Era
The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Edgbaston, Warwickshire, England, now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today a ...
.
This is the shortest possible length for a best-of-five-set match, not including retirements or defaults.
Women (double bagel)
In women's tennis, matches featuring a minimum number of games are a more frequent occurrence. The following are women's Grand Slam singles matches which have lasted 12 games (6–0, 6–0), colloquially referred to as a "double bagel", in the Open Era. This is the shortest possible length for a best-of-three-set match, not including retirements or defaults.
Women's singles
Women's doubles
See also
*
Longest tennis match records
This article details longest tennis match records by duration or number of games.
The 1970–1973 introduction of the Tiebreak (tennis), tiebreak reduced the opportunity for such records to be broken. However, among the Grand Slam (tennis), four ...
*
Lists of tennis records and statistics
The following articles list tennis records and statistics:
__NOTOC__ General
Grand Slam
* Grand Slam
* List of Grand Slam and related tennis records
* List of Grand Slam mixed doubles champions
* List of quad wheelchair tennis champions
* ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shortest Tennis Match Records
Tennis records and statistics