Venus Williams
Venus Williams is an American professional tennis player who was born on June 17, 1980, in Lynwood, California. She turned professional on October 31, 1994, at the age of 14. Venus has won 49 career titles and has a career record of 817-273 (75.0%) in singles.
She has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including five Wimbledon titles. Venus has also won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and two mixed doubles titles.
She has been ranked world No. 1 in both singles and doubles. Venus is currently coached by Hugo Armando and previously coached by Eric Hechtman.
She is a Jehovah’s Witness, along with her sisters and mother. Venus was diagnosed with Sjögren’s Syndrome in 2011 and adopted a vegan/raw foods diet to help decrease inflammation in her body and reduce energy-sapping.
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis is a Swiss former professional tennis player who was born on September 30, 1980, in Košice, Czechoslovakia (now in Slovakia).
She became the youngest person in the ‘open’ era to win a Grand Slam singles title and the youngest to be ranked world No. 1.
Hingis won a total of 43 singles titles and 10 Grand Slam doubles titles (women’s and mixed).
She won five major singles titles, including the Australian Open (1997, 1998, 1999), Wimbledon (1997), and the United States Open (1997).
Rankings wise, She spent a total of 209 weeks as the singles world No. 1 and 90 weeks as doubles world No. 1, holding both No. 1 rankings simultaneously for 29 weeks.
Hingis set a series of “youngest-ever” records during the 1990s, including youngest-ever Grand Slam champion and youngest-ever world No. 1.
She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013. Hingis retired from professional tennis in 2017 after a successful career, which included multiple Grand Slam victories and a significant impact on the sport. She was known for her exceptional skill and tactical understanding of the game
Justine Henin
Justine Henin is a Belgian former professional tennis player known for her strong serve and powerful one-handed backhand. She turned professional in 1999 and had a successful career, winning 43 singles titles, including seven Grand Slam singles titles, and 10 Grand Slam doubles titles.
She won seven Grand Slam singles titles, including four French Open titles (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007), two US Open titles (2003, 2007), and one Australian Open title (2004).
She also won a gold medal in the women’s singles at the 2004 Olympic Games.
Henin was known for her exceptional playing style and tactical understanding of the game. She retired in 2008 but made a comeback in 2010.
Throughout her career, she achieved the world No. 1 ranking for a total of 117 weeks and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006, and 2007.
Henin’s remarkable achievements and playing style have left a lasting legacy in the world of tennis.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King is an American former professional tennis player who ranked world No. 1 in both singles and doubles.
She won 39 Grand Slam titles, including 12 singles, 16 women’s doubles, and 11 mixed doubles titles. King was ranked world No. 1 in singles six times and in doubles 10 times.
She was a pioneer for gender equality in tennis and sports, and her influence and playing style elevated the status of women’s professional tennis.
In 1973, at the age of 29, she famously won the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match against the 55-year-old Bobby Riggs.
King won six Wimbledon singles championships and four U.S. Open titles. She was instrumental in making it acceptable for American women to exert themselves in pursuits and was a longtime champion.
She was a member of the victorious United States team in seven Federation Cups and nine Wightman Cups. For three years, she was the U.S. captain in the Federation Cup.
King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987 and the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990. She has also been awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is a former world No. 1 tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. She was born on December 2, 1973, and is known for winning nine major singles titles, eight of them as a teenager while representing Yugoslavia, and the final one while representing the United States.
Seles became the youngest-ever French Open champion at the age of 16 in 1990. She won eight major singles titles before turning 20 and was the year-end No. 1 in 1991 and 1992.
Her career was unfortunately interrupted when she was stabbed by a spectator during a match in 1993.
She won nine Grand Slam singles titles, including four Australian Open titles (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996), three French Open titles (1990, 1991, 1992), and two US Open titles (1991, 1992). She won a total of 53 career singles titles.
Despite this, she made a successful comeback to professional tennis. Seles made a significant impact on the sport and is remembered as one of the most talented and dominant players of her era
Margaret Court
is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having won 24 women’s singles major titles and a total of 64 major titles, including 19 major women’s doubles titles.
Court was the top woman player in the world in 1962-65, 1969-70, and 1973, and she placed in the top five in 1961, 1966, 1968, 1971-72.
She won a total of 192 career singles titles and holds the record for the most Grand Slam titles (singles, doubles and mixed doubles combined) of all time with 64.
She retired after marrying Barrymore Court in 1967 but returned to competition shortly afterward. Court was known for her powerful serve and volley and her exceptional endurance.
She continued to win many tournaments after the birth of her first child, including the U.S. Open in 1973. Court was the second woman to win the Grand Slam of tennis, achieving this feat in 1970. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1974.
Chris Evert
Chris Evert is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and three doubles titles. Evert was ranked world No. 1 in singles for seven years and won a total of 157 singles titles during her career.
She won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record six US Open titles (tied with Serena Williams).
She was known for her consistency, footwork, and mental toughness on the court.
Evert’s career winning percentage in singles matches of 89.97% (1309–146) is the second highest in the Open Era, for men or women.
On clay courts, Evert’s career winning percentage in singles matches of 94.55% (382–22) remains a WTA Tour record.
Evert was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1995 and has since worked as a tennis commentator and analyst for ESPN. In December 2023, Evert announced that she had been re-diagnosed with ovarian cancer and would not be part of the network’s coverage of the upcoming Australian Open.
Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova is a Czech-American former professional tennis player, widely regarded as one of the greatest in the sport.
Navratilova won a total of 18 Grand Slam singles titles and 31 Grand Slam doubles titles, making her one of the most successful players in tennis history.
She won 167 top-level singles titles and 177 doubles titles, both the Open Era records.
She was ranked as the world No. 1 in singles for a total of 332 weeks (second only to Steffi Graf), and for a record 237 weeks in doubles, making her the only player in history to have held the top spot in both disciplines for over 200 weeks.
She was known for her exceptional left-handed play and her dominance on both grass and hard courts.
Navratilova is one of the three tennis players, along with Margaret Court and Doris Hart, to have accomplished a career Grand Slam in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
She has also worked as a tennis commentator and ambassador for the WTA. Navratilova’s achievements and contributions have left a lasting legacy in the world of tennis
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is a retired German tennis player who is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, having won 22 Grand Slam singles titles, the second-most in women’s singles won since the start of the Open Era and a total of 107 career singles titles.
Graf also won an Olympic gold medal in singles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, making her the only tennis player to achieve the “Golden Slam” by winning all four Grand Slam singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year.
She was ranked world No. 1 for a record 377 weeks, the longest period for any player, male or female.
She was known for her powerful forehand and footwork on the court. Graf retired from professional tennis in 1999 and has since been involved in various philanthropic and business ventures. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is an American former professional tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
Throughout her career, Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, and two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. She is joint-third on the all-time list and second in the Open Era for total major titles.
She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles on eight separate occasions between 2002 and 2017 and has won four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in women’s doubles.
She holds the Open Era record for most titles won at the Australian Open (7) and shares the Open Era record for most titles won at the US Open (6) with Chris Evert.
Williams has been known for her powerful style of play and her significant impact on women’s tennis. She retired in September 2022, leaving a lasting legacy in the sport.
Roger Federer called Serena Williams “one of the greatest, if not the greatest tennis player of all time” during an interview with Jason Gay of the Wall Street Journal.