Dinner Set

Dinner set is the set of trophies — cups and plates/dishes — players earn by winning and finishing as a runner-up at all four majors.

Whether it’s the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon or the U.S. Open, tennis’ Grand Slam tournaments each possess a distinct trophy for the male and female winners and runners-up. Each trophy takes the form of a cup or plate/dish — thus, when a player collects all eight, they are said to have a full dinner set.

With its multiple formats and tournaments, tennis is a sport that lends itself to tracking different permutations of wins. A dinner set is just one combination of wins noted by tennis fans. Consider the boxed set: winning a singles, doubles and mixed doubles title at each of the four majors. Or the triple crown, which has nothing to do with horses, but instead denotes earning singles, doubles and mixed doubles titles at the same major in one year.

Much like the lanterne rouge in the Tour de France, however, the dinner set is far from an official accolade. In fact, many in the tennis community have never even heard the term.

Indeed, the reason “dinner set” may be an extremely niche term in the world of tennis is due to the rarity of the accomplishment. Some of the all-time greats just barely missed out.

Perhaps the dinner set means more to journalists and historians than it does to the players themselves. But even if the athletes don’t care to dwell on their runner-up finishes, the dinner set still belongs in rarefied air most tennis pros will never reach.