Greatest women tennis players of all time

Very few female sporting events rival their male counterparts as women’s tennis does in terms of popularity, earnings and competitiveness. Women’s tennis has blessed us with countless champions over the years that are destined to go down as some of the greatest ever.
 


Selecting a list of the best women’s tennis players can be tricky and somewhat subjective as there has been so many great players to grace the court. Let us look at some female tennis icons below.
 

Martina Hingis

 

Hingis turned professional at the tender age of 14, since then she has won 5 Grand Slam tournaments and 209 weeks ranked as number one, factor in her 13 Grand Slam Doubles titles, this makes it hard for us to leave her out of this list.
 
Injuries have had a huge influence on her career and she had to resort to playing doubles to extend her tennis career. If she stayed fit, she would have raked up more singles titles.
 

Justine Henin

 

The old adage ‘dynamites come in small packages’ was a direct reference Henin. Her thunderous serve was only rivaled by her fierce attitude and spirit on the court and powerful forehand shot which was hit with frightening accuracy. Added to her arsenal, was how comfortable she was on all parts of the court, her baseline prowess was as high as her net confidence.
 
She retired in 2011 with 50 titles that included 7 Grand Slams, and a total career cash prize of over $20 million.
 

Billie Jean King

 

The wacky and acentric, 12-time Grand Slam champion certainly deserves a mention in our list. Not only a force to be reckoned with on the court but a pioneer on it too. She is the founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and an advocate of gender equality in tennis.
 
Remember how I mentioned women’s tennis being as competitive as the men’s? Well, she won the famous “Battle of the Sexes” match against Bobby Riggs in straight sets.
 

Martina Navratilova

 

One of the toughest and most competitive female tennis player to ever do it, Martina dominated the court from the 70s and a good portion of the 80s. She’ll mostly be remember for how she changed women’s tennis through her physical transformation. As a result, the big serve and volley was introduced to the women’s game.
 
Her open era record of 59 Grand Slam titles including singles, doubles and mixed doubles, makes her inclusion mandatory.
 

Serena Williams

 

If Serena were to retire today, her claim of the greatest female tennis player of all time would be solidified. 23 singles Grand Slam titles is more than some of the best male tennis players participating in the sport today.
 
Together with her sister Venus, they’ve had a vice-grip-like hold on women’s tennis throughout the late 90s winning 14 Grand Slam titles in the doubles section. This made them the only sisters to have achieved this accolade.

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Her greatest weapon has certainly been her longevity with all these being won over an 18-year period. The only notable absence coming in 2017 when she became a mother to a beautiful baby girl.
 
She has earned the right to be called the greatest female tennis player of all time, her 23-8 Grand Slam final record being one of her achievements that states her claim.
 


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