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

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The 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

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Statistics 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

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Women's singles

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For 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

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Winner Opponent Event
  Ivan Lendl   Jimmy Connors 1984 Forrest Hills[3]

Women

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Winner Opponent Event
  Chris Evert   Martina Navratilova 1981 Amelia Island[4]
  Chris Evert   Tracy Austin 1982 East Rutherford[5]
  Steffi Graf   Tracy Austin 1994 Indian Wells
  Martina Hingis   Monica Seles 2000 Miami Open
  Lindsay Davenport   Maria Sharapova 2005 Indian Wells[6]
  Kim Clijsters   Dinara Safina 2011 Australian Open
  Iga Świątek   Karolína Plíšková 2021 Rome

Triple bagel

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Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# P# DNQ A Z# PO G S B NMS NTI P NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
  •    = 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

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Grand Slam tournaments

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Men's singles

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In 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

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In 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

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Men's singles

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# 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

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References

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  1. ^ "A true champion, Williams perfects the double bagel". New York Times. Sep 4, 2013.
  2. ^ Bodo, Peter. "Bagel, Anyone?". Tennis.com. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Теннисные матчи, которые закончились с "сухим" счетом (6–0, 6–0)". Tennis-i.com. 2016-01-23. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  4. ^ "Results by Opponent – N | C H R I S S I E". Chrisevert.net. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  5. ^ "Results by Opponent". Chrisevert.net. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  6. ^ "Top ten double (and triple) bagels!". Tennishead.net. 2010-02-26. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  7. ^ Barschel, Christian Albrecht (2 June 2017). "Triple Bagel – Der Alptraum aller Profis". Spox. Retrieved 2 September 2020.
  8. ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: More Bagels Scored Grand Slam". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: Most Career Bagels Scored". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  11. ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: Most Career Double Bagels Scored". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: TennismemSAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  12. ^ Garcia, Gabriel (2018). "Record: Most Career Triple Bagels Scored". thetennisbase.com. Madrid, Spain: Tennismem SAL. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  13. ^ "Double/triple bagels in the past decade? | Talk Tennis". Tt.tennis-warehouse.com. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  14. ^ "Karel Koželuh". Tennisfame.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  15. ^ "Miss Jacobs and Riggs Beaten in National Tennis Upsets". New York Times. 1938-09-13.
  16. ^ "Shortest Slam Matches (games)". Tennis28.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  17. ^ Little, Alan (2007). Suzanne Lenglen : Tennis Idol of the Twenties (2nd rev. ed.). London: Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum. pp. 135–196. ISBN 9780906741436.
  18. ^ share (2015-07-22). "Double and triple bagels (men's tour) : tennis". Reddit.com. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  19. ^ "Most bagels or 6–0 sets. « Tennis Planet". Tennisplanet.wordpress.com. 2007-02-27. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
  20. ^ Herman, Robin (1988-06-05). "TENNIS – Graf Shuts Out Zvereva to Gain French Open Title". The New York Times. Retrieved 2017-06-23.