The 4 men to win Australian Open-US Open hard-court double in same year as Jannik Sinner joins the club
Only four players have won the Australian Open and US Open in the same year since the former switched to hard courts nearly four decades ago with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic achieving the feat multiple times.
The Australian Open was played on grass from 1905 until 1987, but it moved to hard courts when the tournament was relocated to Melbourne Park in 1988.
The US Open, meanwhile, has been played on hard courts since 1978 as it was first played on grass from 1881 until 1974 before switching to clay from 1975 until 1977 and finally hard courts in 1978.
Since 1988, only four men have managed to win both the Australian Open and US Open in the same year and Jannik Sinner has become the latest to join the club.
Mats Wilander – 1988
The great Mats Wilander was the first to achieve the feat and he did it at the first time of asking. The Swede won the first-ever Australian Open to be played on a hard court as he beat Pat Cash in the final at Melbourne Park final.
Nearly eight months later he completed the hard-court double when he defeated Ivan Lendl in five sets at Flushing Meadows.
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Roger Federer – 2004, 2006, 2007
Sixteen years would pass before another man would accomplish the feat and Roger Federer was the player to end the wait.
The Swiss Maestro won the first of his seven Australian Open titles in January 2004 when he beat Marat Safin in straight sets and, after winning Wimbledon in July, he went on to win his third Grand Slam of the year in New York, beating Lleyton Hewitt in the US Open final.
Two years later he became the first man to do it twice as got the better of Marcos Baghdatis at Melbourne Park and then beat Andy Roddick at the US Open.
Twice became thrice in 2007 as Federer once again won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open. At Melbourne Park he beat Fernando Gonzalez while at Flushing Meadows he defeated Novak Djokovic.
Novak Djokovic – 2011, 2015, 2023
Any Roger Federer can do, Novak Djokovic can do as well in this case.
Djokovic completed his first Australian Open-US Open double in 2011 as he first beat Andy Murray at Melbourne Park and then got the better of Rafael Nadal in New York.
He reached the final of all four Grand Slams in 2015, winning the Australian Open as he again defeated Murray while at Wimbledon and the US Open he beat Federer. Nadal stopped him from getting the calendar Slam in the French Open final.
Nearly a decade later, Djokovic won the two hard-court majors in the same year again as he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open and Daniil Medvedev at the US Open.
Djokovic also narrowly missed out on the feat in 2012 (he won Australian Open, but lost the US Open final against Murray), 2013 (won Australian Open, but lost US Open final against Nadal), 2016 (won Australian Open, but lost US Open final against Stan Wawrinka) and 2021 (won Australian Open, but lost US Open final against Medvedev.
Jannik Sinner – 2024
Jannik Sinner made it a four-man club as he started the season with a Grand Slam and finished the campaign with a Grand Slam.
The Italian won his first major at the Australian Open, defeating Daniil Medvedev in five sets in the final. Just over seven months later he completed the hard-court Grand Slam double as he beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the final.
