Who’s the Best Female Tennis Player?
We take a look at the top five female tennis players in the world and try to answer the question: who is the best?
Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American professional tennis player. The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has ranked her world No. 1 in singles on eight occasions, from 2002 to 2017. She is the only female player to have won over $100 million in prize money.
Grand Slam Titles
Serena Williams has won 23 Grand Slam titles, the most of any active female tennis player. She has won more Grand Slams in doubles than any other player, male or female. She has also been ranked world No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association on eight occasions, from 2002 to 2017.
Overall Record
Serena Williams holds several “open era” records in the women’s singles tennis. These include most Grand Slam titles (23), mostMajor titles in Open era (39), most wins in Open era (869), and most singles final appearances in Open era(155). In addition, she has set several all-time records, including the record for the most prize money won by a female athlete in a career($88 million as of February 2020), as well as the record for most Grand Slam singles matches won by a female player (244).
Head-to-Head Record
Serena Williams is widely considered to be the best female tennis player of all time. She has an impressive head-to-head record against her fellow contenders for the title, including a dominant 21-5 record against Maria Sharapova, her closest rival. Williams also has a strong record against other former World No. 1 players, including a 19-10 record against Justine Henin and a 16-11 record against Venus Williams, her older sister.
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is one of the most successful female tennis players of all time. She has won five Grand Slam singles titles, including the US Open in 2006. Sharapova has also been ranked world No. 1 by the Women’s Tennis Association on five separate occasions. She is the only Russian player to have held this ranking.
Grand Slam Titles
Maria Sharapova has won five Grand Slam titles over the course of her career. Those include the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open. She has also been a runner-up at those majors six times.
Overall Record
Maria Sharapova has been one of the most successful tennis players of the last decade. She has won five Grand Slam titles, including two at Wimbledon, and was ranked world No. 1 in singles for a total of 21 weeks. As of July 2019, she is ranked world No. 36 by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Sharapova has also been successful in doubles, winning the 2006 US Open women’s doubles title with partner Vera Zvonareva. She is one of ten women, and the only Russian, to hold the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist, having won silver in women’s singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Head-to-Head Record
According to the WTA website, Maria Sharapova has a career head-to-head record of 24-12 against Serena Williams, with their last meeting taking place in 2015. Sharapova’s biggest wins against Williams have come at the Wimbledon and French Open Grand Slams, while Williams has triumphed in most of their encounters at the US Open and Australian Open.
Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka is a professional tennis player who has been ranked number one by the Women’s Tennis Association. She is the first Asian player to ever hold the ranking. She has won three Grand Slam singles titles, and is the reigning champion of both the US Open and the Australian Open.
Grand Slam Titles
Naomi Osaka is a Japanese professional tennis player. She is the reigning women’s singles champion of the US Open and the Australian Open. She is also the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
Osaka has won four Grand Slam titles in her career, including two majors. She first reached the final of a major at the 2018 US Open, where she defeated Serena Williams in straight sets to claim her maiden Grand Slam title. In 2019, Osaka defended her US Open title with a victory over Petra Kvitová in the final, and went on to win her maiden Australian Open title with a straight-sets victory over Jennifer Brady in the final.
Overall Record
As of February 10th, 2020, Naomi Osaka has an overall record of 165-52.
Head-to-Head Record
In 2019, Osaka defeated Serena Williams in the Rogers Cup, 6–3, 6–4.
In 2018, Osaka lost to SerenaWilliams in the Wimbledon final, 6–2, 6–4.
In 2019, Osaka won the U.S. Open finals over Serena Williams in straight sets, 6–2 and then 6–4 to become not just the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam singles title but also—at just 21 years old—the youngest woman since Maria Sharapova in 2006 to take home the trophy from Flushing Meadows.
Simona Halep
Simona Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player. She is currently ranked No. 1 in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and is the first Romanian player, male or female, to hold the top ranking in singles.
Grand Slam Titles
Simona Halep has won two Grand Slam singles titles, the 2018 French Open and the 2019 Wimbledon Championships. She has also been the runner-up at three other Grand Slam singles tournaments, the 2014 French Open, the 2017 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2018 Australian Open. In 2019, she reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 1 on the WTA Tour.
Overall Record
Simona Halep is a Romanian professional tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 on the WTA Tour, having previously held this position for 64 weeks between 2017 and 2019, when she was concurrently ranked No. 1 in singles and doubles. In total, she has been ranked world No. 1 for 108 weeks, which ranks tenth in the history of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) rankings. Born into a sporting family, Halep started playing tennis at age four and competed internationally for the first time at age 14. She stepped up her game during her junior years winning back-to-back Junior Grand Slam titles, the French Open in 2008 and Wimbledon in 2009–10.
After winning her first six WTA titles in 2013–14, Halep broke into the top 10 of the WTA rankings for the first time on 11 August 2014. In August 2015, she reached her career-first major final at the Rogers Cup defeating Serena Williams en route; but ultimately lost to Belinda Bencic in straight sets. At the 2016 French Open, she was again runner-up, this time to Garbiñe Muguruza; it was her second consecutive year to reach a Grand Slam final without dropping a set. After another early loss in a major at Wimbledon 2017 to Johanna Konta, Halep finally won her maiden Grand Slam title at that year’s French Open by defeating Sloane Stephens in three sets; it ended Halep’s streak of nine consecutive losses in finals dating back to 2014. Winning Wimbledon 2019 would make her only second Romanian after Virginia Ruzici to win a Grand Slam singles title (and first since 1978).
Head-to-Head Record
Simona Halep has a career head-to-head record of 23–10 against Serena Williams, her biggest rival in the WTA. Halep has won three of their five matches on hard courts, two of their three matches on clay courts, and one of their two matches on grass courts. They have never met at a Grand Slam tournament.
Petra Kvitova
As of June 2019, Petra Kvitova is ranked No.2 in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association. She has won two Wimbledon singles titles and is a two-time Olympic medalist. She has also been ranked No.1 in the world on multiple occasions.
Grand Slam Titles
Petra Kvitova has won six Grand Slam titles in her career – two of which came at Wimbledon. Kvitova is also a former world No. 1 and is currently ranked No. 4 in the world.
Overall Record
As of February 2019, Petra Kvitova has an overall record of 624-151. She has won 30 WTA singles titles, including two Grand Slam singles titles at Wimbledon. Kvitova has also been a runner-up at Wimbledon twice and her best result at the other Grand Slam tournaments was reaching the semifinals of the Australian Open in 2012 and 2014. Petra has won five WTA Premier Mandatory singles titles and her biggest non-Grand Slam tournament victory came at the WTA Finals in 2015.
Head-to-Head Record
Petra Kvitova has a 38-17 head-to-head record against Serena Williams, however Williams has won the last six meetings between the two players.
