One of the best things about the sport of tennis is the fact that women in the sport get just as much credit and recognition for their talents as men. Unlike in many other sports, female tennis players are recognized as being equally as talented as males, if not more so.
Tennis is one of the world’s most popular sports, and fans love to watch women play tennis every bit as much as men. Furthermore, it’s one of the only elite sports where men and women can compete against each other in some instances (mixed doubles, for starters).
Over the years, tennis has produced some truly incredible stars, many of whom are female. Today, we’re very much embracing ‘girl power’ and are celebrating women in tennis.
While this list is subjective, and while there may be some names you don’t agree with, here is our list of who we consider to be the best female tennis players of all time.
11. Venus Williams
Kicking things off at number 11, we have Venus Williams.
Come on, you honestly didn’t think we’d look at the best female tennis players of all time and not talk about at least one of the Williams sisters, did you?
The Williams sisters are considered two of the best tennis players of all time, so of course, they make it to the list.
While Venus is considered to be less successful than her sister Serena, at least in terms of singles titles, Venus Williams is still an incredible talent, and had it not been for her sister, she would have more Grand Slam titles to her name. The sisters have faced each other in 9 Grand Slam finals, 7 of which were won by Serena.
Venus Williams turned pro in 1994, aged just 14, and has won 7 Grand Slam titles, as well as 49 career titles, including 14 women’s doubles major titles with her sister Serena. Together, the formidable siblings are actually unbeaten in the Grand Slam doubles finals, which in itself is a huge achievement.
Another thing we love about Venus is the fact that all of her success came over a career spanning decades that was plagued with injury.
Despite a dip in form, the 42-year-old tennis pro continues to compete and still brings in the crowds.
10. Justine Henin
At number 10 on our list, we have Belgian tennis star, Justine Henin.
Justine Henin was renowned for her tenacity and mental toughness on the tennis court as well as her natural athleticism.
Turning pro in 1999, she racked up a hugely impressive 50 career titles, including 7 Grand Slams (4 French Open, 1 Australian Open, 2 US Open). This is even more remarkable, considering she had a career that lasted little over a decade.
In 2008, Henin shocked the tennis world when aged just 25 and ranked No.1 in the world, she announced her retirement from tennis. She cited the need for a release from a sport that had dominated much of her life.
After 16 months, however, she made a comeback in 2010. Her comeback didn’t go quite as planned, and it was clear she had lost a step and that something was wrong. She was still young, in fantastic shape, and hadn’t been away from the sport for so long, so many speculated on an injury. It turns out that they were correct.
In 2011, despite starting the year strong, she still wasn’t right and was forced to retire for good in late January. She cited a chronic elbow injury she sustained the previous year while competing at Wimbledon.
Despite her short career, the amount of success that Justine enjoyed while competing gained her a spot on this list. If she had stayed with tennis and had avoided or rehabbed her injury, she would have had all the makings of one of the greatest ever.
9. Evonne Goolagong
Australian tennis star Evonne Goolagong is next on our list of the best female tennis players of all time.
Evonne turned professional in 1968 and had a career that spanned little more than 15 years. During this career, however, she enjoyed an enormous amount of success.
Evonne won 68 career titles, including 7 Grand Slams. She enjoyed the most success of her career at the Australian Open, where she won 4 of her 7 Grand Slams. The other 3 came thanks to 1 French Open and 2 Wimbledon titles. The only major that eluded her was the US Open, despite her reaching the final 4 times. She also proved herself to be a very confident doubles star, winning 7 doubles Grand Slam titles.
Evonne played during the era of names such as Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, and to reach world No. 1 status during this era is nothing short of amazing.
8. Billie Jean King
The word ‘legend’ is used a lot in sports these days, but when we say that Billie Jean King is a legend of women’s tennis, you best believe that we really mean it.
Billie Jean King is a former US pro tennis player who turned pro in 1968, before retiring in 1983. During her amazing career, she racked up an astounding 129 career titles, including 12 Grand Slam singles titles.
She won all four Grand Slams, though she enjoyed the most success at Wimbledon, where she won the tournament 6 times.
She has done so much for women’s tennis that without her, who knows if women’s tennis would be where it’s at today. She is an advocate for equality in tennis and women’s sport and was the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF).
She is also well known for the legendary ‘Battle of the Sexes’ in which she defeated former world No. 1 male tennis star Bobby Riggs, who believed women’s tennis was inferior to men’s. She won $100,000, with the match proving a huge hit, being watched by more than 50 million people worldwide. In 2017, the Hollywood movie ‘Battle of the Sexes’ was based upon this very match and featured Emma Stone and Steve Carell.
7. Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a part-Hungarian, part-Yugoslavian, and part-American former women’s tennis pro who had all the makings of one of the greatest tennis players to ever live.
Seles started her career young, turning pro in 1989, aged just 16. She retired in 2008, picking up a hugely impressive 53 career titles, including 9 Grand Slams. Her rivalry with Steffi Graf made for one of the greatest sporting rivalries in the history of tennis.
Seles became the youngest ever French Open winner when she won aged just 16. 8 of her 9 Grand Slam titles came when she was still a teenager, so that alone shows just how great she was.
Had it not been for a tragic incident in 1993, Seles would almost certainly have many more titles to her name. In a truly shocking incident, while playing a match on April 30, 1993, a psychotic fan of Steffi Graf ran onto the court and stabbed Monica in the back.
Monica spent 2 years away from tennis, and when she did return, she wasn’t quite the same. She did, however, win her final Grand Slam in 1996.
In the early 90s, Monica was the most dominant women’s tennis player, and her matches against Steffi Graf were absolute classics.
6. Chris Evert
Chris Evert is another name in women’s tennis that you simply cannot overlook.
Evert turned pro in 1972, before retiring in 1989. Over the course of her career, she picked up an incredible 157 career titles, including 18 Grand Slam titles, and won all four major tournaments.
She enjoyed her most success at the French Open, where she won 7 titles.
Every time Evert took to the court, she made it look effortless. Her double-handed backhand shot was the stuff of legend and for much of her career, she looked unbeatable.
While Evert was the woman to beat, she did face stiff competition from some other legends of the sport. Her biggest rivalry, however, was against Martina Navratilova. The two met each other 13 times in finals at every major. Evert only managed to win 3 of their 13 showdowns.
Despite this, Evert is still considered an absolute legend of women’s tennis and is one of the most dominant female players to ever pick up a racket.
5. Helen Wills Moody
Helen Wills Moody is vastly underrated.
This pre-Open era star from the USA picked up a hugely impressive 19 Grand Slam singles titles, along with 2 Olympic Gold Medals in the 1924 Olympic Games.
Moody took to grass like a duck to water, enjoying her most success at Wimbledon, winning 8 Grand Slams here. She also won 7 at home at the US Championship, along with 4 victories at the French Championship.
If it had not been for her struggles in Australia, Helen could very well have been higher on our list. Australia proved to be her Achilles heel, however, as she failed to even make a final there.
4. Margaret Court
Now, this next female tennis player we’ll be looking at today may be controversial to some, as many consider the aptly named Margaret Court to potentially be the best ever.
While we certainly believe she is up there, we feel that in this day and age, she may have struggled to achieve quite as much success as she did in her day.
This legendary tennis player turned pro in 1960 before retiring in 1977. She enjoyed one of the most dominant spells in tennis history, winning 192, yes 192, career titles, including 24 Grand Slams. She enjoyed the most success on home soil, as she won the Australian Open 11 times.
If you factor in her doubles and mixed doubles success as well, Margaret has 62 Majors to her name.
She is also one of only 5 tennis players to ever win a Calendar Grand Slam. She achieved this feat in 1970, which was her most dominant year in the sport.
3. Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova was a Czechoslovakian tennis superstar who competed for nearly two decades between the 1970s and 1990s.
Turning pro in 1975 and retiring in 1994, she clocked up 167 career titles, including 18 Grand Slams. She proved to be most successful on grass, as she won 9 Wimbledon titles, the most ever recorded by a player and a record that still stands to this day.
From the late 70s through to the late 80s, Martina dominated women’s tennis and proved to be the woman to beat.
Martina was a physical specimen. She was lean, athletic, and had the stamina for days. She also proved that the volley and big serves belonged in women’s tennis as well as men’s.
Martina’s Grand Slam totals, including doubles and mixed doubles, come in at a mind-blowing 59. Martina proved to be just as dominant as a doubles player as she was a singles player, and that is no small feat.
Some would, and do, consider her the best ever.
2. Serena Williams
The penultimate female tennis player on our list today is Serena Williams.
We’ve looked at Venus, and as great as she was, Serena is considered to be even better.
Serena was born in 1981 and turned pro in 1995 before retiring in late 2022. She leaves behind a tennis legacy that few will ever dream of coming close to.
Serena won 73 career titles and 23 Grand Slams, winning all four majors multiple times.
For two decades, the Williams sisters dominated tennis. While the two were often rivals on the court, meeting in many finals with Serena coming out on top for most of them, they also proved to be a formidable doubles team and remain unbeaten in doubles Grand Slam finals.
With a 23-10 record in Grand Slam finals, along with her countless titles, longevity in the sport, and endorsements, Serena Williams is undoubtedly one of the best female tennis players of all time.
1. Steffi Graf
Some of you may have Steffi in 2nd place or even 3rd, but we can safely say that a large number of you will also have Steffi as the best of all time, and we certainly agree with you.
Steffi Graf is a German former pro tennis player who has done it all in tennis.
Born in 1969, she turned professional in 1982 before retiring in 1999. Over the course of her astounding career, she won 107 career titles, including 22 Grand Slams.
Despite her rivalry with Monica Seles proving to be one of the best in sporting history, Steffi is perhaps best remembered for achieving a feat that many considered impossible – a Golden Grand Slam. A Golden Grand Slam is achieved when a player wins all four major Grand Slam tournaments in a single calendar year, as well as an Olympic Gold Medal in that same year. Steffi is the only player in history to have achieved this feat as yet.
From the late 1980s into the mid-1990s, Steffi Graf looked unstoppable. Even when she hung up her tennis shoes for the last time in 1999, she retired while still being ranked as the world’s No. 3 female tennis player.
