The game of tennis has evolved so much over time. Players are immersed in a regimented routine, consumed by the diet they must follow and the social stardom they must learn to balance. There are countless successful women tennis players. Choosing the Five Greatest Women’s Tennis Players Ever is tough, but here we go.
Evonne Goolagong
Starting the list off with a major throwback, Evonne Goolagong was an Australian turned pro in 1968. She had a total of 68 career titles and seven grand slams, two of those being at Wimbledon. More to her credit, she achieved one of her Wimbledon wins three years after giving birth to her daughter! Although she was overlooked at the time because there were also players like Chris Everett and Martina Navratilova, she was ranked number one in 1976 and goes down in history as someone who embodies grace and beauty on the court.
Venus Williams
You would find it very hard to meet anyone who hasn’t heard of Venus Williams, even if they had no clue what tennis was. She turned pro in 1994 and is still playing presently. She has seven grand slams to her name and forty-nine career titles. She could have had more if she wasn’t playing against her sister Serena. The pair went head to head in nine grand slams, and Serena won seven of those games. Whilst Venus might have been the ‘better’ player according to coaches, she suffered many injuries throughout her career. This being said, she was a force to be reckoned with and is still playing in duos.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf was known as a player who could do it all; she could win on any surface, and nothing held her back. Her career spanned seventeen years, and her record for weeks ranked at number one in the world is 377. More than any man or woman to this day! Graf is a remarkable woman, there was no one better than her when she was on the court. When she retired, she was still ranked number three in the world, which, to all her hardcore fans, just proves that she could have continued.
Martina Navratilova
Navratilova had her time dominating the game. She was born in Prague and is known for her extreme physical conditioning, which, whilst extreme, led her to reach amazing heights. Martina showed that women can also bring big serves and volleys to tennis and are capable of doing everything and more than the men’s game. She holds the record for her career Wimbledon titles with nine deserved championships.
Serena Williams
No list of top tennis players could be complete without Serena Williams. She is a female tennis legend and an all-around tennis star. She has the utmost respect from her peers and pundits and undying affection from her fans, and even the most popular betting site and operator would not bet against her.
This list could go on for much longer, but the only takeaway is that tennis stars should be marvelled. These women accomplished terrific things throughout their lives, all in their own style and fashion. Looking at past players, everyone should be on the edge of their seats to see what the future entails.
3 comments
I think Djokovic has more weeks as #1 than Graf (just pointing it out).
margaret court > Venus, Evonne by far.
When it comes to choose the greatest, people are focusing on the number of GS titles and whether that person was dominated by any of her/his rivals. However, I’ll go against the stream and claim that constant high performance will be my criterion. And for that I have one name: Chris Evert. I’ll start with the problem: Although she had the same number of Slam titles as her foe Martina (Both 18), since she was definitely dominated by her (With some exception on clay courts), so none considers her of the true greatest.
Well, I disagree. Chris played in 56 Grand Slams through out her long career. In 52 of them she reached semi-finals (Better than Rafa’s RG performance). Some people have a slow start on their career, many have a descending performance towards the end but she is in neither. The first time she failed to reach a GS semi final happened on the 13th year in the pro tour. For 16 years that was the only time she missed a SF. Yes, she is not the greatest ever but definitely one of the greatest, with her ever consistent high level of play.