Roger Federer records that may never be broken: Winning two different majors five straight years each

Every day until the final event of his career—the Laver Cup in a week—we’ll highlight one of Roger Federer’s records that may never be broken.

First off, it’s already extremely difficult to successfully defend a Grand Slam title, but what about winning one of them five straight years?

Our first Federer record is that, but times two:

Winning two different Grand Slams five years in a row each

By winning five consecutive Wimbledons from 2003 to 2007 and five consecutive US Opens from 2004 to 2008, Federer is actually the only player in tennis history, male or female, to win two different Grand Slams five (or more) years in a row each.

Those two runs account for half of his overall major haul of 20.

ROGER FEDERER’S 20 MAJOR TITLES, BROKEN DOWN BY MAJOR:

• 6 Australian Open titles: 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017, 2018
• 1 Roland Garros title: 2009
• 8 Wimbledon titles: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2017
• 5 US Open titles: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

Both of Federer’s five-title streaks at the majors were so close to being six-title streaks, too—as the five-time defending champion at Wimbledon in 2008, he fell to Rafael Nadal in a four-hour, 48-minute epic in the final, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-7 (8), 9-7, and as the five-time defending champion at the US Open in 2009, he was up two sets to one in the final against Juan Martin del Potro but ended up falling to the Argentine in five sets, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2, after four hours and six minutes.

While Federer is the only one to do it at two different majors, 11 other players in tennis history have won a specific major five years in a row. Novak Djokovic is close to joining this list—he’s won Wimbledon the last four years in a row (not counting the 2020 tournament, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

PLAYERS TO WIN A MAJOR FIVE YEARS IN A ROW (men and women, all-time):

• William Renshaw (GBR): 6 straight Wimbledons [1881-1886]
• Richard Sears (USA): 7 straight US Opens [1881-1887]
• Laurence Doherty (GBR): 5 straight Wimbledons [1902-1906]
• Bill Larned (USA): 5 straight US Opens [1907-1911]
• Suzanne Lenglen (FRA): 5 straight Wimbledons [1919-1923]
• Bill Tilden (USA): 6 straight US Opens [1920-1925]
• Margaret Court (AUS): 7 straight Australian Opens [1960-1966]
• Roy Emerson (AUS): 5 straight Australian Opens [1963-1967]
• Bjorn Borg (SWE): 5 straight Wimbledons [1976-1980]
• Martina Navratilova (USA): 6 straight Wimbledons [1982-1987]
• Roger Federer (SUI): 5 straight Wimbledons [2003-2007]
• Roger Federer (SUI): 5 straight US Opens [2004-2008]
• Rafael Nadal (ESP): 5 straight French Opens [2010-2014]