Everybody talks about the achievements of men in tennis, and there is hardly any debate on what females have achieved so far. So let’s chat about those who have done the best for the game as a female, especially in the majors; tennis grand slams.
Serena Williams (23 Titles)
This is the name that comes out whenever you talk about women’s tennis. She has been one of the most successful tennis players in women’s history. She is leading the list with an epic record of 23 Grand Slams.
She was ranked No. 1 in the world in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) for a total of 319 weeks, including a joint-record 186 consecutive weeks, and she finished the year as the No. 1 singles player five times. She also had a famous controversy during her career when she refused to play in Indian Wells Masters for 14 straight years.
Steffi Graf (22 Titles)
Former professional tennis player Stefanie Maria Graf is from Germany. She won 22 major singles titles, the second-most since the start of the Open Era in 1968 and the third-most of all time, and was ranked No. 1 for a record 377 weeks, making her one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
By winning all four major singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year in 1988, Graf became the first tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam. In addition, she has won every major tournament at least four times, making her the only tennis player (male or female) to have done so.
Martina Navratilova (18 Titles)
Former professional tennis player Martina Navratilova is Czech-American. Navratilova won 59 titles overall, the most in the Open Era, including 18 singles titles, 31 women’s doubles titles, and 10 mixed doubles titles. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. In the 1970s and 1980s, Navratilova and Chris Evert, her greatest rival, dominated women’s tennis.
Chris Evert (18 Titles)
An American former No. 1 tennis player, Christine Marie Evert Lloyd played for the United States from 1979 to 1987. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record with seven French Open titles and six US Open titles (tied with Serena Williams). For 260 weeks, she was ranked first in the world in singles, and seven times in a row, she finished the year as the top player (1974–78, 1980, 1981). Evert dominated women’s tennis in the 1970s and 1980s, alongside her greatest rival, Martina Navratilova.
Margaret Court (11 Titles)
Margaret Smith AC MBE, often known as Margaret Court Minister, is an Australian retired former world No. 1 tennis player and Christian minister. Her 64 Grand Slam titles, including 19 Grand Slam Women’s Singles and 21 Grand Slam Mixed Doubles titles, make her one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Monica Seles (9 Titles)
A retired professional tennis player, Monica Seles has competed for the United States and Yugoslavia. She won nine Grand Slam singles titles, eight of them as a teenager while representing Yugoslavia, and the final one while representing the United States. She was a former world No. 1.
Billie Jean King (8 Titles)
Former world number one tennis player Billie Jean King is an American. King won 39 major titles throughout her career, including 12 in singles, 16 in women’s, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a key player for the United States in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. She was the United States’ Federation Cup captain for three years.
Venus Williams (7 Titles)
American professional tennis player Venus Ebony Starr Williams. Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is a former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles. One of the all-time greats in the sport, she is widely recognized.
Evonne Goolagong Cawley (7 Titles)
Former world number one tennis player Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley AC MBE is an Australian. In the 1970s and 1980s, Goolagong was among the world’s leading players.
She won the French Open singles and Australian Open doubles championships when she was just 19 years old (the latter with Margaret Court). Goolagong went on to win 14 Grand Slam tournament titles, including seven in singles, two in doubles, and one in mixed doubles. She represented Australia as captain for three consecutive years, winning the Fed Cup competitions in 1971, 1973, and 1974.
Justine Henin (7 Titles)
Former professional tennis player Justine Henin Mérite wallon is Belgian. In 2003, 2006, and 2007, she spent 117 weeks at the top in the world. With Kim Clijsters, Henin helped establish Belgium as a leading force in women’s tennis and helped the country win its first Fed Cup crown in 2001. Henin hails from a country with limited tennis success. Being one of the few female players to employ a single-handed backhand, she was known for her all-court style of play.
Maria Sharapova (5 Titles)
A former world No. 1 tennis player, Maria Yuryevna Sharapova, is Russian. She competed on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour from 2001 to 2020 and was ranked No. 1 in the world in singles for 21 weeks. The only Russian woman to achieve the Grand Slam Career Slam, she is one of just ten women in the sport. She is also an Olympic medalist, having won silver in the women’s singles event at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Martina Hingis (5 Titles)
Former professional tennis player Martina Hingis is Swiss. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world ranking of one. She spent 209 weeks as the world’s No. 1 singles and 90 weeks as the world’s No. 1 doubles, simultaneously holding both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles rankings. She won five major singles titles, 13 major doubles titles, seven mixed doubles titles, and 25 major titles. She also set a record with 17 Tier I singles titles, won an Olympic silver medal in doubles, and won the season-ending WTA Finals twice in singles and three times in doubles.
