(modern). For those who arent quite convinced Serena Williams is number one all-time just yet, the most mentioned name is Steffi Graf. An unbelievable fighter, she continued to play despite her debilitating illness, winning matches almost till the very end, retiring from professional tennis five months before her death from liver cancer. Justine Henin is one of the greatest and most underrated players in womens tennis. it destroyed her confidence. Court won as many amateur as professional slams that indicates their equivalence and she retired at the top of her game with a record unsurpassed. Christine Truman Margaret Court doubles Wimbledon By fotograaf onbekend / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL (https://creativecommons. I m talking about the real and the only Grand Slam: the wins of the four Majors within a calendar year. British tennis has produced some of the greatest tennis players of all time. In 1981, she was inducted posthumously into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. For years, however, the title most befitting a serve-and-volley player, Wimbledon, eluded her. Seles started her career young, turning pro in 1989, aged just 16. 2 who turned pro in 1968 and retired in 1986. She has never been able to move particularly well, but she has powerful strokes and a serve that is hard to beat when it is on. Although she did well on home soil, winning the French Open twice, she found her greatest success at Wimbledon, winning that event six times. he days are long and the nights are warm but, sadly, we will have to wait until next year to see the great players of our time compete at Wimbledon. Bottom line:The daughter of a Norwegian Army officer, Molla Mallory won matches with a power game atypical of her era. Finally she not only succeded at the US Open. Number 2 of the greatest female tennis player and most tennis Grand Slams womens division winners we have Steffi Graf. Our writers have had their say this week. More than 500 of you have been in touch to argue your case and as with our writers it has proven to be a game of opinions. Died: May 29, 2015, Coral Gables, Florida (Age 89). 2. its been a great career so far for Romanian Simona Halep. Injuries piled up for her early on in her career, and an automobile accident, in particular, put a damper on making any serious come back. Godfree won two Wimbledon singles titles. She was in the top 10 of the rankings before she even turned 15 years old, and it was clear that success, fame, and money was getting the best of her. Some people believe that Serena Williams still has work to do to become the greatest tennis player of all time. That lead to seven Grand Slam singles titles, and a dominant run at the French Open. She had lost her last two matches against Navratilova the Wimbledon and US Open finals of 1987 and this was her first meeting against her fellow GOAT candidate during her legendary Golden Slam-winning year. WebVirginia Wade and Andy Murray are the most successful British tennis players in the Open Era by singles titles. Martina Navratilova boasted perhaps the greatest serve-and-volley game that womens tennis has ever seen. Serena Williams; Steffi Graf; Martina Navritolova; Chris Evert; Margaret Court; Monica Seles; Billie Jean King; Venus Williams; Evonne Goolagong Cawley; Justine Henin; Martina Hingis; Helen Wills Moody; Maureen Connolly; Lindsay Davenport; Kim Clijsters; Jennifer 6 Borg, No. She was the first Latin-American woman to win a major title and paved the way to tennis becoming the global sport it is today. After retiring as a player, Sue Barker became a sports reporter. She also became a huge inspiration for a lot of mothers when she came back after giving birth. If she was a little more dedicated to fitness early in her career, she might be higher on the list. She also found success in doubles, winning at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open into her thirties, to bring her career full circle. She raised the bar in terms of physicality in the womens game and recognised the advantages of assembling a support team, each of whom had a specific role to play. Based on 2022 results, Iga Swiatek has entered the top 20. Connors and then later in Colorado the mens seniors with McEnroe, Connors , Borg and many more. She also is the most recent British woman to win a major title. Its hard for people to rap their minds around the fact that a black girl from humble beginnings out of Compton could lead this list. Coming from an Aboriginal Australian background, she overcame an environment of discrimination much similar to that faced by Althea Gibson in the United States. Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand). Jelena Jankovic was part of a wave of players that established Serbia as a tennis powerhouse for the womens game while Novak Djokovic led the charge for the Serbian men. In 2016, she won the mixed-doubles at Wimbledon, becoming the first British player to win at Wimbledon since Joanna Mary Durie in 1987. Graf gave even proof that she would have had the capacity to regain the # 1 position: After an almost 2 years injury break with back and knee surgery, she had made it already back from not being listed any more to #3 of the ranking. The other Serbian woman who emerged as a star in the 2000s, Ana Ivanovic matched Jelena Jankovic by earning the world No.1 ranking spot in 2008. Women's rankings Men's rankings Women's wheelchair rankings Men's wheelchair rankings Quad rankings British padel players Browse the profiles of Britain's top women's and men's padel players, including where they're ranked. WebTop British Female Tennis Players 1: Angela Mortimer. The best women's tennis players of all time are multiple Grand Slam champions, Olympic tennis gold medalists and simply the best ladies to ever At 15, she became the youngest from Britain to play senior Wimbledon in almost 100 years. With the record-holding 23 Grand Slam titles to her name, its hard to not put her at the No.1 spot. That record still stands today as the most ever won by a woman. From Fred Perry and Virginia Wade to Andy Murray, British Tennis success has grown and grown over the years. Her career was cut short due to injuries, but her trailblazing impact on the game remains significant. Players must track down balls and keep long rallies going to survive in a game that now takes place almost exclusively at the, Read More 10 Fastest Tennis Players In The WorldContinue, In the world today, about 10% of people are left-handed, and 1% of the population has what is called mixed-handedness or cross-dominance. She was able to win the 2009 and 2010 U.S. Open after giving birth, and that cemented her legacy on a list like this. Wades tally of 55 is particularly impressive. She also showed her fighting qualities in her epic victory against Jennifer Capriati in the US Open semi-final, when she overcame cramp and exhaustion to win not only that match but the title. It cant be done in separated parts. Li Na completed the transformation of tennis into a global game. She won four times at her home Australian Open and seven Grand Slam titles total, as well as leading Australia to three Fed Cup titles. Tennis is truly a global sport these days, with top players representing countries all around the globe. Other than the Williams sisters, she is the defining player of her generation. But what puts Steffi miles ahead of Serena is the Grand Slam and the Golden Slam. Died: Nov. 12, 1982, Kidderminster, U.K. (Age 73). Suzanne Lenglen is the greatest tennis champion that France has ever produced. With that in mind, we are spending the Wimbledon fortnight debating which of the greats is the greatest of them all. Her track record outside of that match more than stands on its own. For years, she failed to win a Grand Slam title and was unfairly branded as someone who could not perform on the biggest stages. WebShe is the face of womens tennis in the UK and took home a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Died: June 2, 1997, East Hampton, New York (Age 88). Of, Read More 15 Best Tennis CountriesContinue, Tennis, like every other sport, is a game of rivalry. She won 55 singles titles and spent nearly 100 weeks spent at No.1, the eighth-most of all time. Former British tennis player Annabel Croft had begun playing tennis at age 9. First, she came out of nowhere at Wimbledon in 2007 to make the final in a huge upset over Justine Henin in the semis. WebShe is the face of womens tennis in the UK and took home a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Monica Seles revolutionised the womens game with her power. She also won the 1925 Wightman Cup. She didnt hit hard, she was relatively small for a tennis player and she had a pretty laid-back demeanor. The best women's tennis players of all time are multiple Grand Slam champions, Olympic tennis gold medalists and simply the best ladies to ever Oh, and her backhand wasnt bad either. Ones labeled as a player who couldnt perform well in the Grand Slams, her 2018 French Open championship and 2019 Wimbledon championship changed that perception. She also holds the record for five consecutive years ending the season number one in singles. There is no question that Graf most probably would have won at least one more Major if she would have continued playing 6 more years. She retired in 2008, picking up a hugely impressive 53 career titles, including 9 Grand Slams. Kim Clijsters was often overshadowed by her fellow Belgian Justine Henin, but they both deserve a spot on this list. The top players also dominated their peers, and most of them had games that could translate into success in other eras. Born: Oct. 2, 1984, Le Puy-en-Velay, France, Plays: Right-handed (two-handed on both sides). She was clearly the best player of that time. Its a big psychological difference to win those four within the career, not within a year or that to withstand the pressure and fear not to fail just once at all the matches of the four Grand Slams which are hold within one season. Martina Hingis was a teenage tennis sensation. Women's rankings Men's rankings Women's wheelchair rankings Men's wheelchair rankings Quad rankings British padel players Browse the profiles of Britain's top women's and men's padel players, including where they're ranked. Just as Justine Henin excelled on the clay, the best surface for Clijsters was hard court. Konta achieved a steep rise in her ranking from the spring of 2015 to late 2016, climbing from 150 to inside the world's top ten, thereby becoming the first Briton to be ranked amongst the WTA's top ten since Jo Durie over 30 years previously. The daughter of British aristocrats Ralph Percy and Jane Richard, Lady Melissa Percy quit school at 14 to follow a career in tennis. This period included her best Grand more Birthplace: Sydney, Australia Nationality: Australia 98 In total, she won 3 Grand Slams, the 1955 French Open, 1958 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1961. Anita Lizanas impact on tennis has been unjustly lost to the mists of time. Her career never really recovered, but she added one more Grand Slam to her mantle at the 1996 Australian Open. In 2012, she became the first British female player to win a WTA singles title since 1988. To watch this young woman running around the tennis court beating the old pros was wonderful. There was a lot on the line. But Graf was even more dominant in her time: She hold the #1 positon for the record number of 377 weeks, Serena did so only 319 weeks (as all time third behind Steffi and Martina Navratilova). She then shocked the tennis world again by coming back and reaching new heights, winning three more Grand Slam titles. Its not impossible, but her record of 49 total grand slam titles will be very tough to beat. In an era when serve and volley still predominated, she played a counterpunching baseline style that stood out for its uniqueness. 2. Without her pioneering spirit, there would be no equality in sports. Not only did she excel as a player by winning 39 grand slam titles 12 in singles, 16 in womens doubles and 11 in mixed doubles but she is a crusader for social justice and womens equality in sports. Then, in 2013, she far surpassed that feat. She lost some of her prime years to a combination of injuries and an ugly child custody dispute that forced her to withdraw from tournaments. She won six Grand Slam titles, including a dominant stretch at Wimbledon, where she took home the championship in three consecutive years between 1948 and 1950. Billie Jean King takes on Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. When Venus Williams first came onto the scene, her father, Richard, warned the tennis world that her younger sister, Serena, was even better. Serena Williams; Steffi Graf; Martina Navritolova; Chris Evert; Margaret Court; Monica Seles; Billie Jean King; Venus Williams; Evonne Goolagong Cawley; Justine Henin; Martina Hingis; Helen Wills Moody; Maureen Connolly; Lindsay Davenport; Kim Clijsters; Jennifer Lindsay Davenport was a model of consistency at the top of the game. Justine Henin is one of the greatest and most underrated players in womens tennis. Florence Angela Margret Mortimer Berret, better known as simply Angela Mortimer, is the 2: Ann Jones. The second-most successful female British Olympian, Godfree won five Olympic medals in two Olympic Games. But she was not content to only practice against men. When the open era first started taking off in womens tennis, Evonne Goolagong Cawley was one of the first to start winning consistently. Serena has solely dominated womens tennis for over a decade and is still competing at the very highest level at the age of 38. She went on to establish herself as the undisputed queen of the U.S. Open, winning the event eight times. Its pure logic: A slam means a hit. She also beat Venus Williams to win the crown at Wimbledon. She retired in 2020, bringing her storied career to a close. Samantha Smith is a British retired professional tennis player. If a player has a great serve, they have the chance to consistently win their games. Top 5 British Tennis Players of All Time 1. In total, she won 3 Grand Slams, the 1955 French Open, 1958 Australian Open and Wimbledon in 1961. The list of the failing ones is prominent: among them even most of the all time greats: Evert, Navratilova, Seles, Serena, Federer, Djokovic. Some weeks later she reached the finalof Wimbledon. After her playing career, she became a coach and broke through a major glass ceiling by coaching Andy Murray, one of the first women to ever coach a top-ranked man. She has also won four doubles and 11 singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. Ranker Tennis. This guy was the tennis pro of the 90s. Talk about a child prodigy Tim Henman. At 23, she was only ranked No. Born: March 8, 1990, Bilovec, Czhechoslovakia. These rankings determine who holds the crown. Before her, the game was seen as the exclusive domain of the elite, West European-American world. The United Kingdom is regarded as the birthplace of tennis, and no one fulfilled that countrys championship hopes more than Virginia Wade. She has redefined athleticism in womens tennis. She won her first Grand Slam in doubles at age 15 and her first in singles at age 16, taking home the Australian Open. Ranker Tennis. As we get ready for the 2020 season, heres how things look. In 1998, she fulfilled her longtime dream and won that title, the last of her style to do so. The United States was credited with the most great players (38), followed by Australia (17), France (7), Great Britain (6) and Czechoslovakia (5). You as fellow tennis players and tennis commentators, they will say Serena is the best female tennis player of all times. Serena NEVER had the level of consistent competition that Martina and Chris Evert gave each other. Conchita Martinez played a decisive role in different Wimbledon championships more than two decades apart. Chris Evert won 90% of the singles matches she played, a record for men or women. Died: July 4, 1938, Paris, France (Age 39). Registered as the most versatile sportswoman in the Guinness Book of Records, she was also skilled in a host of sports, such as skiing, golf, archery, and field hockey. Cause everybody expected her to win after she had won the second Masters of the year ( 6:0 6:0). She has won 23 grand slams the most of any active tennis player, male or female. Graf, the only player to have won all four majors at least four times, finished with 22 Grand Slam singles titles despite playing about a decade less than Williams. Evert gave American fans an incredible champion to cheer for as she won 157 titles and 18 Grand Slams. Female athletes continue to fight for equality in sports, and tennis players have been at the forefront of that struggle for decades. Born: June 8, 1976, Palos Verdes, California. Totally agree and Graf was far more mobile at 29 than Serena. A former world No. Here is the full list of the greatest female tennis players of all time. I loved the mens game & got to see many of the greats in person up in NH. Monica Seles took the tennis world by storm with a unique playing style two-handed groundstrokes on both sides that she used to devastating effect. Some weeks later she crowned her Grand Slam with the Olympic Gold becoming the only player ever to achieve the Golden Slam. This week our writers have made the case for Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles. Serena Williams is the greatest of all tines in North America. Reehan Miah. The game has had many great female players, pioneers and trailblazers, but only one gets the all-time top ranking. Still, winning a total of nine grand slam singles titles is pretty impressive. Talk about a child prodigy Tim Henman. Female athletes continue to fight for equality in sports, and tennis players have been at the forefront of that struggle for decades. Bottom line: Maria Bueno compiled the best Grand Slam resume of any South American woman to ever play, winning Wimbledon three times and the U.S. Open four times. Female athletes continue to fight for equality in sports, and tennis players have been at the forefront of that struggle for decades. WebEasily one of the most successful female British tennis players, Virginia Wade is a three-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. Born: July 5, 1979, Saint-Germain-En-Laye, France. Top 5 British Tennis Players of All Time 1. Female athletes continue to fight for equality in sports, and tennis players have been at the forefront of that struggle for decades. She was able to excel as someone who could counterpunch her way to titles at times, and although she didnt hit with a ton of power, she could dial it in once in a while. She has been world No 1 for 319 weeks. And shortly after Wimbledon, she retired in the relatively young age of 30. She was able to win the Golden Grand Slam, taking home all four major titles, as well as the Olympic gold in the Seoul Olympics. The United States was credited with the most great players (38), followed by Australia (17), France (7), Great Britain (6) and Czechoslovakia (5). This will always come down to racial divides. Country: Germany. All rights reserved. 92 in the world when she broke out by reaching the U.S. Open semifinal. The TenWho are the 10 best women's tennis players of all time? Helen Wills was the undisputed greatest player of her era. 2 Nadal, No. At just 56 tall, she has a very well-rounded game compared to other modern players. "Chrissie" was the signature star of 1970s tennis, a time when the game was exploding in popularity in the United States. WebShe is the face of womens tennis in the UK and took home a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. I'm Fred, the guy behind TennisPredict. In 2012, she became the first British female player to win a WTA singles title since 1988. After retiring as a player, Samantha Smith started working as a commentator for various sports networks.