Tennis
The 10 Best Female Tennis Players: Ranked
Serena Williams is undoubtedly the greatest female tennis player of all time. Her path to greatness was paved by others before her. We will look at the 10 best female tennis players.
Serena Williams//Getty Images
The ‘best’ lists or rankings of players in sports are often a subjective topic. A number one ranked player in one list might rank fifth elsewhere. Tennis is no exception.
In this piece, we rank the 10 best female players in tennis. Our criteria, as we believe should be across the spectrum, is primarily based of titles.
However, at number one, like we did for our male ranking, we have undoubtedly the best female tennis player of all time, but not the one with the most titles.
Who Are the 10 Best Female Tennis Players?
Our 10 best female tennis players ranking cuts across eras. We have players who played in the 80s, 90s and other periods.
We also feature players who revitalised tennis in their country’s, such as Justine Henin, who put Belgium on the summit at some point, as well as sisters who were coached by their parents to stardom.
At the end, we feature the WTA’s current singles top 10. Rankings are very recent and will probably give us an indication of who might just feature in the ‘best’ lists of the future.
1. Serena Williams
Simply the best, Serena Williams, is without doubt a giant in female tennis. The American superstar had an enviable career that started in the 90s and lasted for 18 years, adapting her style whilst dominating her opponents.
It goes without saying that her sister, Venus Williams, would have probably won more titles in her career were it not for Serena, who defeated her on several occasions.
Grand Slams: 23
Titles: 73
Total Finals Record: 73-25
3. Steffi Graf
Having held the No.1 position for 377 weeks, Graf is the record holder over both male and female players. The Las Vegas native was known to have the ability to win on all surfaces.
So good was she, that when she eventually retired in 1999, after dominating the mid-80s and 90s, she was ranked number three.
Grand Slams: 22
Titles: 107
Total Finals Record: 107-31
4. Chris Evert
Chris Evert won 90% of her singles matches in her career and was from the onset of her career in 1972 primed to dominate.
The American holds the record for most Grand Slam finals appearances at 34 and has won every major at least twice.
Grand Slams: 18
Titles: 157
Total Finals Record: 157-73
Gunter Parche, the man who stabbed Monica Seles, did so because he was obsessed with Seles’ rival at the time, Steffi Graf.
5. Margaret Court
Margaret Court has the most Slams out of all the female players in our ranking and many would argue that she deserves the number one spot, with 24 gongs to her name.
Thirteen of her Slams came before the Open Era, hence, the eleven we have in our rankings. Court, like many who played in her era, paved the way for the likes of Serena to flourish.
Grand Slams: 11
Titles: 92
Total Finals Record: 92-29
6. Billie Jean King
Not to be confused with Michael Jackon’s Billie Jean, those are two different people. One real, the other, a character in a popular song.
Billie Jean King was a polarising figure in tennis. An advocate for equality, Jean played a massive role in getting the US Open to pay men and women, equal in prize money.
She won the Wimbledon title six times from 1966 to 1975.
Grand Slams: 8
Titles: 67
Total Finals Record: 67-55
7. Monica Seles
A teen sensation at the time of her turning pro in 1989, Monica Seles won her first major title at 16 and had won eight Grand Slam titles by the time she turned twenty.
It is believed that she would have won more titles were it not for an on-court attack by a fan who stabbed her in April 1993.
Seles returned to tennis two years later but was never the same and added only one more Grand Slam to the eight she had already won.
Grand Slams: 9
Titles: 53
Total Finals Record: 53-32
8. Venus Williams
The older of the Williams sisters, Venus would have probably won more titles were it not for Serena. Venus went head-to-head nine times in Grand Slam finals with Serena, who won seven.
The American turned pro in 1995 and was finally able to clinch the number one spot in 2002. This, she was able to do three times in her career.
Grand Slams: 7
Titles: 49
Total Finals Record: 49-34
9. Evonne Goolagong
The Australian played in a very tough era with the likes of Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, who overshadowed her in terms of success.
She does, however, have seven Grand Slam titles under her belt and was ranked number one in 1976.
Grand Slams: 7
Titles: 68
Total Finals Record: 68-51
10. Justine Henin
Justine Henin brought Belgian tennis out of the shadows in the early 2000s and it is quite commendable of her to have achieved as much as she did then, considering the formidable opposition she was up against.
Henin won the French and US Open in 2003 and ranked number one in the world with other successes following soon in 2004.
Grand Slams: 7
Titles: 43
Total Finals Record: 43-18
WTA’s Current Top 10
It is perhaps fitting to include the latest WTA rankings of female tennis players. This might just give us a prelude into some of the players to make the ‘best’ lists in the future.
Some just left their teens like Coco Gauff and as far as forecasting based on her successes so far, we might just have a star set to join the all-time greats one day.
| Rank | Player | Region | Age | Tournaments Played | Points |
| 1 | Aryna Sabalenka | Belarus | 26 | 20 | 9016 |
| 2 | Iga Swiatek | Poland | 23 | 20 | 7970 |
| 3 | Coco Gauff | United States | 20 | 21 | 5230 |
| 4 | Jasmine Paolini | Italy | 28 | 19 | 5144 |
| 5 | Elena Rybakina | Kazakhstan | 25 | 19 | 4971 |
| 6 | Jessica Pegula | United States | 30 | 19 | 4705 |
| 7 | Qinwen Zheng | China | 22 | 20 | 4540 |
| 8 | Emma Navarro | United States | 23 | 27 | 3664 |
| 9 | Daria Kasatkina | Russia | 27 | 24 | 3368 |
| 10 | Danielle Collins | United States | 30 | 21 | 3176 |
Jimmy is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and has a Diploma in Journalism and Media Studies. He’s a sports fanatic of several sporting disciplines which he is well versed with.