Back in the roaring, not-so-boring '60s, Rod Laver captured the single-season Grand Slam -- twice. The dashing, red-headed Aussie ran the table in 1962 as an amateur and again in 1969, when majors were opened to professionals.
Forty-seven years later, Novak Djokovic is the first man since Laver to hold all four major trophies at once -- in order, 2015 Wimbledon and the US Open, the 2016 Australian Open and, just a few weeks ago, the French Open. Laver was actually in Paris and, it turns out, among Djokovic's greatest admirers.
"It's pretty amazing what Djokovic has accomplished last year and into this year," Laver said recently from his California home. "He's so confident. He thinks every shot he hits, 'I'll set this up for the next [winning] shot.'"
At Wimbledon, which begins Monday, Djokovic has a chance to do something Laver never did -- win a fifth consecutive Grand Slam tournament.
"Yeah," Laver said, laughing. "It isn't easy winning four in a row. Five? That's over the top. Never had the pleasure."
Don Budge, the only other man to complete the single-season Slam, in 1938, also won Wimbledon and the US Open in 1937 for an astonishing six straight Grand Slam singles titles -- not to mention leading the United States to back-to-back Davis Cup championships in that time.
No one would be terribly surprised if Djokovic defended his titles at the All England Club and the US Open, finished off the single-season Slam and equaled that gargantuan six-peat feat.
"It's incredibly flattering to know that Rod Laver is the last one that managed to do that," Djokovic said in Paris. "There is not many words that can describe it. It's one of the ultimate challenges that you have as a tennis player.
"It's very hard for me to reflect on what has happened before and what's going to happen after."
Budge might have added to those six straight major titles, but he turned professional after the 1938 season, taking him out of contention to win more majors. How close did the more modern Slam leaders come to four in a row -- or more?
In 1961, Laver won at Wimbledon, but lost to countryman Roy Emerson in the US Open final. Thus, factoring in his 1962 sweep, he was one match from winning six straight. Following up his 1969 Slam, Laver did not play in Australia or the French and was eliminated in the fourth round at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Pete Sampras won three consecutive Grand Slam titles from 1993-94 but failed to collect the one major title that always eluded him -- the French Open. Fellow American Jim Courier beat him in the quarterfinals. With three more wins in Paris in 1994, Sampras might have achieved five straight, capped by his 1994 triumph at Wimbledon.
In a torrid stretch from 2005-07, Roger Federer won six of seven Slams. The exception was a loss to Rafael Nadal in the finals of the 2006 French Open. Federer also won four of six majors from 2008-10, but was stopped by Nadal at the 2009 Australian Open and later that year by Juan Martin del Potro at the US Open.
Rafa won the last three Slams of the 2010 season, but Australia twice cost him the opportunity to hold all four trophies; Andy Murray beat him there in 2010, while David Ferrer handled him Down Under a year later. These days, Djokovic's dominance recalls the Latin plea of lawyers with a guilty defendant: Nolo contendere -- no contest.
With 16,950 ATP World Tour rankings points, Djokovic's total is nearly double that of No. 2 Andy Murray (8,915) and 10,000 better than No. 3 Federer (6,425).
Mary Carillo, the NBC and Tennis Channel analyst, can provide some context.
"The last time we'd had such a clear-cut No. 1 was Roger Federer," Carillo wrote in an email, "but then a Spanish teenager came around and a rivalry was born. So then we had years of The Big Two.
"Then Novak started to elbow his way in, and it was The Big Three. And Andy Murray made it The Big Four. But now? We're back to The Big One."
The French Open made that abundantly clear. Federer, nursing a back injury and coming off knee surgery, never made it to the line. Nadal, citing a wrist injury, bailed after two matches and is also out for Wimbledon. Murray? He actually made it to the final, where he was slowly, painfully dismantled by Djokovic after winning the first set.
"Let's review," Carillo continued. "Djokovic has beaten Rafa seven times in a row. He's won against Federer the last four times they've met at majors -- and he's beaten Murray in the last five Grand Slam matches they've contested.
"He's long been lapping the field. He has the Serena Slam. Why not suppose he can do what Serena came so close to pulling off last year?"
Indeed, why not? There's very little evidence to suggest it won't happen.