William Neil Scanlon, otherwise known as Bill Scanlon, never won a Grand Slam during his career, despite achieving a career-high ranking of world number nine.
Scanlon, who reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, won seven career titles and famously upset John McEnroe on his way to the 1983 US Open semi-finals.
That very same year, Scanlon achieved another momentous feat: winning a ‘golden set’ in the first round of a tournament in Delray Beach, Florida, USA. A golden set involves winning every single point in an individual set.
No other man has achieved what Scanlon did in the Open Era, which began in 1968.
Bill Scanlon’s ‘golden set’
On February 22, 1983, Bill Scanlon arrived at Delray Beach in Florida to take on Marcos Hocevar in the first round of his latest tournament.
Hocevar, ranked 39th in the world, was no pushover. However, Scanlon comfortably defeated the Brazilian in straight sets.
After winning the first set 6-2, Scanlon won the next 24 points. By doing so, he became the first man in Open Era history to win a golden set on the professional circuit.
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Scanlon opted to play with wooden rackets despite being offered the opportunity to try out graphite rackets from Wilson Sporting Goods.
He told Tennis.com in 2013: “I walked on the court against Marcos without even hitting a ball with them.”
Scanlon is not the only player to have won a golden set on the professional circuit.
Other players who have won a ‘golden set’
Danish world number 34 Tine Scheuer-Larsen won a golden set on the women’s professional circuit all the way back in 1995.
Scheuer-Larsen accomplished the feat while playing in the 1995 Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone. She defeated Mmaphala Letsatle 6-0, 6-0.
Yaroslava Shvedova also achieved the feat, becoming the first player in Open Era history to win a golden set in a Grand Slam event.
The achievement was particularly remarkable as she won the set against Sara Errani at Wimbledon. Errani, a multiple-time Grand Slam doubles champion, had reached the French Open Ladies’ Singles final a few weeks prior.
Julian Reister also won a golden set in 2015, defeating Tim Puetz 6–7, 6–4, 6–0 in the first round of US Open qualifying.
Stefano Napolitano joined the list in 2015, defeating Augusto Virgili 6-0, 6-3 in qualifying for the Distal & ITR Group Tennis Cup.
