Who Is The Best Womens Tennis Player Of All Time?
We take a look at the greatest female tennis players of all time and try to answer the question: who is the best?
Introduction
There is no definitive answer to this question as there are many great female tennis players who have achieved remarkable things in the sport. However, we can narrow it down to a few contenders for the title of best women’s tennis player of all time.
One such player is Serena Williams, who has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles. This puts her joint-first on the all-time list with Margaret Court. She has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, putting her second on the all-time list. In addition, she has won four Olympic gold medals, making her one of only two tennis players (male or female) to have achieved this feat.
Another contender for the title is Steffi Graf. She is one of only four players (male or female) to have won all four Grand Slam singles titles in a single calendar year, which she did in 1988. In total, she has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, which puts her second on the all-time list behind Serena Williams. She has also won 107 singles titles overall, which is more than any other player (male or female) in the Open Era.
A third player who could be considered the best ever is Martina Navratilova. She holds the record for most Wimbledon singles titles won by a woman, with nine wins overall. In addition, she has won 18 Grand Slam doubles titles and 31 major women’s doubles titles (an all-time record). She has also been ranked world No. 1 in singles and doubles for a record 237 weeks overall.
Ultimately, there is no clear answer as to who the best women’s tennis player of all time is. However, Serena Williams, Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova are certainly three of the greatest players in history and any one of them could lay claim to the title.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is considered by many to be the best female tennis player of all time. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other player in the history of the sport. In addition, she has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles (with her sister Venus Williams), and 2 mixed doubles titles. Serena has also won 4 Olympic gold medals, including 2 in singles competition.
Margaret Court
Margaret Court is widely regarded as the best women’s tennis player of all time. She won a total of 24 Grand Slam singles titles, more than any other player in history. She also holds the record for the most combined Grand Slam titles, with 62 wins (24 singles, 19 doubles, and 19 mixed doubles).
Born in Australia in 1942, Court began playing tennis at a young age. She turned professional in 1960, and quickly rose to prominence on the international tennis scene. Her first major victory came at the 1962 French Open, where she defeated reigning champion Suzanne Lenglen in straight sets. From there, she went on to win 13 more Grand Slam singles titles over the next decade.
In 1970, Court achieved the rare feat of winning all four Grand Slam singles titles in a single year. She became only the second player ever to do so (after Don Budge in 1938). She went on to win several more Grand Slam tournaments over the next few years, before finally retiring from professional tennis in 1977.
Even after her retirement, Court remained active in the tennis world. She served as president of the Women’s International Tennis Association from 1991 to 1994, and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1979. In 2003, she was named one of the “100 Greatest Players of the Twentieth Century” by Tennis magazine.
Steffi Graf
Graf is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Germany. She won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, which is an all-time record shared with Margaret Court, and was the only singles player (man or woman) to win all four Grand Slam tournaments in a calendar year, which she did in 1988. In 1999,. Graf was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Martina Navratilova is considered by many to be the best women’s tennis player of all time. She has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, 31 major women’s doubles championships (an all-time record), and 10 major mixed doubles titles. She also holds the record for the most singles and doubles matches won at the Wimbledon Championships, with 158 and 109 wins respectively.
In addition to her impressive Grand Slam record, Navratilova also holds a number of other records. She is the only player in history (male or female) to have won at least 20 Wimbledon titles across all disciplines (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles). She is also the only player to have won multiple Wimbledon titles in all three disciplines in the same year (1986).
Navratilova’s accomplishments are all the more impressive when considering that she achieved most of her success during an era when women’s tennis was dominated by a handful of players, including Chris Evert and Steffi Graf. In fact, Navratilova’s head-to-head record against both Evert and Graf is better than their records against any other player.
While there will always be debate about who is the greatest tennis player of all time (male or female), there can be no doubt that Martina Navratilova deserves to be in the conversation.
Conclusion
There is no one definitive answer to this question. While there are many great female tennis players, the title of “best” is subjective and up for debate. Some of the most successful and celebrated women’s tennis players of all time include Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Margaret Court.
