In tennis, a bagel is when the set ends with a score of 6–0.[1] An extremely rare type of bagel, where no point is lost, is called a golden set. Most bagel sets occur in the early rounds of tennis tournaments where the favorites play lower-ranked players, such as lucky losers or wild cards.
Etymology
editThe term refers to the similarity between the shape of a zero and the shape of a bagel. The tennis term was coined by player Harold Solomon, and popularized by commentator Bud Collins.[2]
Surface disparity
editStatistics of the men's singles Grand Slam tournaments from 2000 to 2016 are as follows: at Wimbledon (grass surface), 127 bagels were made; at French Open (clay surface), 267; at the US Open Tennis Championship (hard surface), 275, and at the Australian Open (hard surface), 238.[citation needed]. Björn Borg (five-time Wimbledon champion and six-time French Open champion) recorded 20 6–0 sets at the French Open, and only 5 at Wimbledon.
Double bagel
editWomen's singles
editFor women in Grand Slam tournaments, a double bagel result is possible as the matches are best of three sets. In the Open Era, there has been a women's singles Grand Slam tournament match with a double bagel every year except for in 1968 and 2005.[citation needed] The most double bagels were in the seasons of 1974 and 1993, when eight matches had a result of 6–0, 6–0.[citation needed]
The following players had at least five double-bagels in Grand Slam singles events:[citation needed]
| # | Player |
|---|---|
| 14 |  Suzanne Lenglen
|
 Margaret Court
| |
| 13 |  Chris Evert
|
| 10 | Helen Wills-Moody
|
| 7 |  Steffi Graf
|
| 6 |  Kim Clijsters
|
| Mary Pierce
| |
| 5 |  Monica Seles
|
 Conchita Martínez
| |
 Maria Sharapova
|
Between No. 1 ranked players
editMen
edit| Winner | Opponent | Event |
|---|---|---|
 Ivan Lendl
|
Jimmy Connors
|
1984 Forrest Hills[3] |
Women
editTriple bagel
edit| W | F | SF | QF | #R | RR | Q# | P# | DNQ | A | Z# | PO | G | S | B | NMS | NTI | P | NH |
- = also won the tournament.
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.[7] This is the shortest possible length for a best-of-five-set match, not including retirements or defaults.
| Year | Grand Slam | Round | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | French Open | 1R | Nikola Špear |
Daniel Contet
|
| 1973 | Davis Cup | Z1 |  Gondo Widjojo |
 Tao Po
|
| 1981 | Davis Cup | PO | Thierry Tulasne |
 Shinichi Sakamoto
|
| 1984 | Davis Cup | 1R | Emilio Sánchez |
 Kamel Harrad
|
| 1987 | French Open | 2R | Karel Nováček |
 Eduardo Bengoechea
|
| 1987 | Wimbledon | 1R |  Stefan Edberg |
Stefan Eriksson
|
| 1987 | US Open | 1R | Ivan Lendl‡ |
 Barry Moir
|
| 1989 | Davis Cup | 3R |  Hamed-ul-Haq |
 Faisal Rahman
|
| 1991 | Davis Cup | 1R | Michael Walker |
 Dishan Herath
|
| 1993 | French Open | 2R | Sergi Bruguera‡ |
Thierry Champion
|
| 1998 | Davis Cup | 2R | Gouichi Motomura |
 Teo Susnjak
|
| 1999 | Davis Cup | PO |  Lin Bing-Chao |
 Nasser Al-Khelaifi
|
| 2001 | Wimbledon | Q3 | Todd Woodbridge |
Johan Örtegren
|
| 2005 | Davis Cup | 2R |  Ricardo Mello |
 David Josepa
|
| 2009 | Davis Cup | PO |  Rui Machado |
Valentin Rahine
|
| 2011 | Davis Cup | 2R |  Andy Murray |
 Laurent Bram
|
| 2016 | Davis Cup | 1R |  Jarkko Nieminen |
 Courtney John Lock
|
| 2016 | Davis Cup | 1R |  Emilio Gómez |
 Adam Hornby
|
Records
editGrand Slam tournaments
editMen's singles
editIn the history of the Grand Slam tournaments in the men's singles category, the largest number of 6–0 sets won is the following:[8]
| # | Player |
|---|---|
| 50 | Andre Agassi
|
| 49 |  Novak Djokovic
|
| 47 | Roy Emerson
|
| 46 |  Roger Federer
|
| 44 | Jimmy Connors
|
| Rafael Nadal
| |
| 42 | Ivan Lendl
|
| 41 | John Bromwich
|
| 40 | Bill Tilden
|
| 35 | Björn Borg
|
At individual majors the players with the most 6–0 sets are:[citation needed]
- Australian Championship: 1. R. Federer – 17; 2. Jack Crawford (Australia) – 16; 3. A. Agassi; N. Djokovic – 15
- French Open: 1. R. Nadal – 24; 2–3. B. Borg, G. Vilas – 20 each; 4–5. Jaroslav Drobný (Czechoslovakia / Egypt), R. Lacoste – 17 each.
- Wimbledon: 1. R. Emerson – 15; 2–3. J. Connors, B. Tilden – to 12.
- US Championship: 1. J. Connors – 22; 2–3. I. Lendl, B. Tilden – 20 each.
Australian Neale Fraser won at least one 6–0 set in 16 Grand Slam tournaments in a row: starting with the 1957 Australian Championship and ending with the 1960 US championship.
Women's singles
editIn the women's singles, the largest number of 6–0 sets won:[citation needed]
| # | Player |
|---|---|
| 106 | Chris Evert
|
| 89 | Margaret Court
|
| 72 | Martina Navratilova
|
| 71 | Steffi Graf
|
| 64 | Serena Williams
|
| 57 | Helen Wills-Moody
|
| 54 | Monica Seles
|
| 49 | Maria Sharapova
|
| 46 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario
|
| 44 | Gabriela Sabatini
|
In terms of percentage bagels vs games played.[9]
| Percentage | Player |
|---|---|
| 16 | Ann Jones
|
| 14.6 | Chris Evert
|
| 13.2 | Margaret Court
|
| 10.9 | Steffi Graf
|
| 10.8 |  Iga Świątek
|
In individual tournaments of the Grand Slam, the largest number of 6–0 sets won is:[citation needed]
- Australian Championship: 1. M. Court – 25; 2. M. Sharapova – 16; 3. S. Williams – 14.
- French Open: 1. C. Evert – 26; 2. A. Sanchez – 22; 3. G. Sabatini – 21.
- Wimbledon: 1–2. Suzanne Lenglen (France), C. Evert – to 29; 3. M. Court – 25.
- US Championship: 1. C. Evert – 43; H. Wills-Moody – 31; 3. M. Court – 27.
All tournaments
editMen's singles
edit| # | Bagels[10] |
|---|---|
| 479 | Bill Tilden
|
| 464 | Josiah Ritchie
|
| 280 | Anthony Wilding
|
| 266 | Frank Parker
|
| 245 | Jaroslav Drobny
|
| 224 | Roy Emerson
|
| 216 | Ken Rosewall
|
| 209 | John Bromwich
|
| 197 | Jimmy Connors
|
| 186 | Gardnar Mulloy
|
| # | Double Bagels[11] |
|---|---|
| 106 | Bill Tilden
|
| 87 | Josiah Ritchie
|
| 51 | Anthony Wilding
|
| 42 | John Bromwich
|
| 37 | Frank Parker
|
| 32 | Jaroslav Drobny
|
| 25 | George Worthington
|
| 24 | Wayne Sabin
|
| # | Triple Bagels[12] |
|---|---|
| 11 | Bill Tilden
|
| 5 | Karel Kozeluh
|
| 4 | Arthur Gore
|
| Josiah Ritchie
| |
| Harry Parker
| |
| Gordon Lowe
| |
| Bob Hewitt
|
Trivia
edit- In 1910 in Brussels, Max Decugis beat Tony Wilding 3–6, 0–6, 7–5, 6–0, 6–0. Wilding was winning 6–3, 6–0, 5–0.
- In 1948 Don Budge won the first match against George Hudson 6–0, 6–0, 6–0 at the US Professional Championship, and against Jerome Adler 6–0, 6–0, 6–1 in the second round.
- In 1969, in the second round of Wimbledon, top seed Rod Laver began with the loss of the first two sets to the unseeded Indian Premjit Lall. However, the game ended in his favor with a score of 3–6, 4–6, 6–3, 6–0, 6–0.
- There are seven known cases in the history of tennis (two of which occurred in the French Open in one tournament), when the winner of the match lost 2 bagel sets:[13]
- 1935 U.S. Pro Tennis Championship: Bill Tilden – Karel Koželuh 0–6, 6–1, 6–4, 0–6, 6–4 [14]
- 1938 U.S. National Championships: Gilbert Hunt – Bobby Riggs 6–2, 0–6, 9–7, 0–6, 6–4[15]
- 1960 Italian Open: Barry MacKay - Luis Ayala 7–5 7–5 0–6 0–6 6–1
- 1962 Tasmanian Championship: Rod Laver – Neale Fraser 7–5, 0–6, 0–6, 6–1, 6–2
- 1969 French Open: Stanley Matthews – Ilie Nastase 6–3, 0–6, 0–6, 6–4, 8–6
- 1969 French Open: Dennis Ralston – Patricio Rodríguez 6–2, 6–4, 0–6, 0–6, 6–4
- 1981 US Open: José Luis Clerc – Mel Purcell 6–3, 0–6, 0–6, 6–4, 6–3
- In 1981, in the first round of the US championship Jimmy Connors, who in the mid-70s almost married Chris Evert,[citation needed] beat her then-husband[citation needed] John Lloyd with a score of 6–0, 6–0, 6–2.[16]
- Suzanne Lenglen won 9 tournaments in which she did not lose a single game in all matches.[17]
- Guillermo Vilas won 2 matches with a score of 6–0, 6–0 in 2 consecutive seasons (1980 and 1981).[18]
- Björn Borg won 116 6–0 sets during his career [19]
- Two women's finals in the history of the Grand Slam tournaments have ended with a double-bagel:[20]
- 1911 (Wimbledon) Dorothea Lambert-Chambers – Dora Boothby 6–0, 6–0
- 1988 (French Open) Steffi Graf – Natasha Zvereva 6–0, 6–0
- Swiss tennis player Martina Hingis achieved her first Olympic bagel in singles in 1996, and the second in doubles twenty years later.
- Spanish tennis player Conchita Martínez scored the first double bagel against a player inside the top ten in Hamburg in 1995 when she defeated Magdalena Maleeva.
- Polish tennis player Iga Świątek scored the first double bagel in a WTA 1000 final, defeating top ten Czech player, and former world number 1, Karolína Plíšková in Rome.
References
edit- ^ "A true champion, Williams perfects the double bagel". New York Times. Sep 4, 2013.
- ^ Bodo, Peter. "Bagel, Anyone?". Tennis.com. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
- ^ "Теннисные матчи, которые закончились с "сухим" счетом (6–0, 6–0)". Tennis-i.com. 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Results by Opponent – N | C H R I S S I E". Chrisevert.net. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Results by Opponent". Chrisevert.net. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Top ten double (and triple) bagels!". Tennishead.net. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ Barschel, Christian Albrecht (2 June 2017). "Triple Bagel – Der Alptraum aller Profis". Spox. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
- ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: More Bagels Scored Grand Slam". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ Palmer, Kevin (12 March 2024). "Iga Swiatek's incredible 'bagel' record puts her alongside the game's all-time greats". Tennis 365. Retrieved 27 May 2024.
- ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: Most Career Bagels Scored". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: Most Career Double Bagels Scored". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: TennismemSAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: Most Career Triple Bagels Scored". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Double/triple bagels in the past decade? | Talk Tennis". Tt.tennis-warehouse.com. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Karel Koželuh". Tennisfame.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Miss Jacobs and Riggs Beaten in National Tennis Upsets". New York Times. 1938-09-13.
- ^ "Shortest Slam Matches (games)". Tennis28.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ Little, Alan (2007). Suzanne Lenglen : Tennis Idol of the Twenties (2nd rev. ed.). London: Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. pp. 135–196. ISBN 9780906741436.
- ^ share (2015-07-22). "Double and triple bagels (men's tour) : tennis". Reddit.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ "Most bagels or 6–0 sets. « Tennis Planet". Tennisplanet.wordpress.com. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ^ Herman, Robin (1988-06-05). "TENNIS – Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-06-23.