The Oldest Grand Slam Winners in Tennis

Ken Rosewall is the oldest Grand Slam singles champion of the Open era, winning the 1972 Australian Open at 37 years and 2 months old. More than half a century later, no player has won a major at an older age, which makes his record one of the most enduring in tennis.

Grand Slam tennis is a two-week, best-of-five-set ordeal for the men, and the physical demands mean champions are almost always in their 20s. Winning one deep into your 30s requires rare longevity, and only a handful of legends have managed it. Here is the full list of the oldest Grand Slam singles champions, the players behind the record, and why the modern game keeps nudging the numbers higher. All figures are as of the 2025 season and cover the Open era, which began in 1968.

The record holder: Ken Rosewall at 37

Rosewall’s 1972 Australian Open title was the eighth and final major of a career that stretched back to the 1950s. Remarkably, his first Australian crown had come as an 18-year-old in 1953, giving him a 19-year gap between first and last major titles that no one has matched. At 37 years and 2 months, he set a record for the oldest Open-era champion that still stands.

His longevity did not stop there. In 1974, aged 39, Rosewall reached both the Wimbledon and US Open finals, losing to a young Jimmy Connors each time, but becoming the oldest man to contest two major finals in the same year. He remains the benchmark for tennis longevity.

The full list of oldest Grand Slam champions

The table below ranks the oldest Grand Slam singles champions of the Open era by age at their title.

Rank	Age	Player	Grand Slam won
1	37 yr 2 mo	Ken Rosewall	1972 Australian Open
2	36 yr 5 mo	Roger Federer	2018 Australian Open
3	36 yr 3 mo	Novak Djokovic*	2023 US Open
4	35 yr 4 mo	Serena Williams	2017 Australian Open
5	34 yr 10 mo	Andres Gimeno	1972 French Open
6	33 yr 6 mo	Flavia Pennetta	2015 US Open
7	32 yr 8 mo	Andre Agassi	2003 Australian Open

*Active player whose totals could still climb.

The list mixes eras and both tours, from Rosewall and Gimeno in 1972 to the modern giants Federer, Djokovic and Serena Williams. Four of the seven entries came in this century, a sign of how careers have lengthened.

Federer, Djokovic and the modern surge

The most striking feature of the list is how much the modern era has pushed it. Roger Federer won the 2018 Australian Open at 36, and Novak Djokovic captured the 2023 US Open at the same age, giving the current generation the second and third spots behind Rosewall. Their longevity, built on modern fitness and recovery, kept them winning majors at ages that were once unthinkable. Both feature heavily in our leaderboard of the most Grand Slams in tennis and among the greatest tennis players of all time.

Serena Williams and the women’s record

Serena Williams is the oldest women’s Grand Slam champion of the Open era, winning the 2017 Australian Open at 35 while in the early weeks of pregnancy. It was her 23rd major singles title, the Open-era record, and it capped a career defined by dominance and durability. At the other end of the spectrum, the players who broke through earliest appear in our list of the youngest Grand Slam winner.

Why the record matters

The oldest-champion record measures something modern sport prizes highly: elite performance sustained far beyond an athlete’s supposed peak. Rosewall’s mark has survived the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era, when longevity reached new heights, which tells you just how extraordinary a 37-year-old major champion really is. It is a record built on decades of excellence, not a single hot fortnight.

The short version: Ken Rosewall is the oldest Grand Slam singles champion of the Open era, winning the 1972 Australian Open at 37. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic (both 36) are next, and Serena Williams (35) is the oldest women’s champion. All figures are as of the 2025 season.