One Name, Two Games: Comparing Tennis and Baseball Grand Slam Leaderboards

Tennis Grand Slams and baseball grand slams don't have too much in common, besides both being difficult to compile a lot of in their respective sports. Only eight men and seven women in the history of professional tennis have reached double digit Grand Slams, while 16 Major League Baseball (MLB) players have smacked at least 15 grand slams. Baseball grand slams are far more common, but the highest career totals for Grand Slams vs. grand slams are remarkably similar.

Winning a Grand Slam event in tennis is akin to winning the World Series in baseball; you need to win seven consecutive matches as a draw consisting of 128 of the world's best players dwindles down to one. Each match is like a playoff series played consecutively over the course of one day, with men playing best-of-five sets and women playing best-of-three. With four Grand Slam events per year apiece for men and women, those opportunities come around more often than the annual World Series, but far less frequently than at-bats with the bases loaded, which are necessary for baseball grand slams.

The setup for a baseball grand slam is completely out of your control, as a grand slam is achieved by hitting a home run with the bases loaded. That means that three teammates first have to get on base for you to even have a chance at a grand slam. With a handful of at-bats per game over the course of 162-game annual seasons, those opportunities add up, though. For instance, Alex Rodriguez's record 25 grand slams came over the course of 256 at-bats with the bases loaded. A grand slam is noteworthy for being the only method by which a team can score four runs in one swing, but it's more of a cool accomplishment than a career-defining one, akin to a comeback from two sets down in tennis rather than a Grand Slam victory. There were 115 grand slams hit during the 2022 MLB season, and that was preceded by a record 159 grand slams in 2021.

The thought of surpassing Margaret Court's Grand Slam total may never have even crossed Alex Rodriguez's mind -- their accomplishments are completely different in all but name -- but that's exactly what A-Rod did when he homered with the bases loaded against the Twins on August 18, 2015 for his 25th and final grand slam. Rodriguez and Court are both retired in their respective sports, and while no active baseball player is close to chasing down A-Rod's record, a couple of tennis players are still within striking distance. Notably, Novak Djokovic is still racking up Grand Slams at age 36, and he'll have the opportunity to tie Court and pull within one of Rodriguez at the US Open, which begins later this week. Below is the full list of players with at least 10 Grand Slams or 15 grand slams. Baseball fans are used to seeing asterisks next to the names of steroid users and cheaters, but the asterisks below simply denote active players who could still increase their career totals.