In women’s tennis, few debates return as regularly as the question of the “best” player of all time. Grand Slam titles, dominance in the rankings, playing style, and the quality of rivals — all of these can be counted, but not always weighted in the same way. Another complication is that tennis is a sport of eras, and eras are rarely comparable on equal terms. Anyone assessing Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, or Martina Navratilova is also assessing the rules, travel realities, training standards, and competitive depth of their time.
IMAGO / PCN PhotographyTennis | Steffi Graf Steffi Graf (GER) competing at the 1996 US Open.
This article provides a broad thematic overview — from early pioneers to the defining decades of the Open Era and the modern benchmarks of athleticism and professionalism. IMAGO supports sports storytelling visually as an international image and content platform with a worldwide network of partner photographers, agencies, and archives — used by media, agencies, brands, creators, NGOs, and educational institutions when editorial context and visual documentation matter.
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The phrase “the best” sounds definitive, but in tennis it rarely is. A single metric (for example, the number of major titles) is too narrow because careers vary in length, injuries matter, and the sport’s conditions have changed significantly. Even the tournament landscape was not always as global as it appears today: travel demands, surfaces, equipment, and the media environment have shifted repeatedly.
That is why many debates begin with two pillars: achievement and impact. Achievement can be tracked through clear metrics — major titles, finals, weeks at No. 1, and records against top-ranked opponents. Impact is harder to measure: who changed training culture, tactics, popularity, economic structures, or access to the sport? This second dimension explains why names like Billie Jean King or Althea Gibson feature in “all-time” conversations even when raw title counts are not the whole story.
A key dividing line is the Open Era, which began in 1968: since then, amateurs and professionals have been allowed to compete together at all tournaments. Before that, the sport was formally split — prestigious amateur events on one side and paid professional tours and exhibition circuits on the other. That affects not only the competitive field, but also how meaningful historical statistics are.
With the Open Era, tennis gradually became more global, more professional, and more financially attractive. In parallel, women’s tennis developed a stable organizational framework: in 1973, the WTA was formed to represent players’ interests and strengthen the tour — a turning point that still shapes the sport’s structure today.
IMAGO / PCN PhotographyTennis / Steffi Graf Steffi Graf (GER) competing at the 1996 US Open.
Long before “Grand Slam” became a worldwide commercial label, individual players shaped the sport with extraordinary dominance. One of the best-known figures is Suzanne Lenglen. According to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, she won 21 major titles across French Championships and Wimbledon (singles, doubles, and mixed), also took Olympic gold in 1920, and remained almost unbeatable for years.
A direct successor in historical stature is Helen Wills Moody, also an exceptional athlete of her time. The Hall of Fame credits her with 31 major titles overall, including 19 singles majors, and points to a long winning streak in the late 1920s and early 1930s. These figures are emblematic of an era in which competition was often more regional — but dominance was no less real.
Another milestone is Maureen Connolly. The Hall of Fame notes that she was the first woman to win all four majors in a single calendar year (1953) — a feat widely considered one of the hardest in tennis because it demands consistency across surfaces and continents.
Finally, Althea Gibson stands out for importance beyond titles. The Hall of Fame describes her as a pioneer and notes that in 1957 she became the first African American player to win Wimbledon singles and soon after also won the U.S. Nationals — at a time when access and acceptance in elite sport were far from guaranteed.
If all-time debates focus purely on numbers, Margaret Court is difficult to avoid. The Hall of Fame credits her with a record 24 major singles titles (1960–1975) and, including doubles and mixed, 64 major titles overall. It also highlights that Court won a calendar-year Grand Slam in the Open Era (1970).
At the same time, Court’s career shows why numbers without context can mislead. Her achievements span amateur and professional phases, and especially early on the tour was less standardized than it is now. All-time discussions therefore often distinguish between the absolute major record (Court) and the Open Era record (Serena Williams). Both viewpoints are valid — they simply answer different questions.
Billie Jean King belongs in this conversation even though many rankings do not place her at the very top by singles-major count alone. Her numbers are still remarkable: the Hall of Fame credits her with 39 Grand Slam titles overall (singles, doubles, mixed), including 12 singles majors. Even greater is her structural influence on the sport: a WTA retrospective describes her central role in the WTA’s founding in 1973 — and notes that the same year, the US Open became the first major to award equal prize money to women and men.
IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire / Tennis and sports legend Billie Jean King was in attendance at Prudential Center in December 21, 2025, Newark, New Jersey.
In the 1970s and 1980s, one matchup became a symbol of elite consistency: Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Their rivalry was not only frequent but also defined by contrasting styles — serve-and-volley and net pressure versus baseline stability and precision. These contrasts help make eras more “comparable” because they demonstrate how broad the performance spectrum at the top truly was.
Navratilova’s record is historically exceptional in multiple dimensions. The Hall of Fame lists her as a 59-time major champion across disciplines and documents an extraordinary breadth of titles from singles to mixed. Many journalistic “best of all time” lists also cite her as a key figure in redefining professionalism through fitness and training standards.
Evert represents a different kind of dominance: less about net play and more about control. The WTA honored her legacy and points to her influential standing in tour history. In all-time discussions, her career is often used as a benchmark for consistency across surfaces and mental steadiness — qualities that sometimes receive less attention in debates focused only on peak performance.
In short: Navratilova and Evert show why “the best” is rarely just a number. Sustaining a rivalry at the highest level over many years is, in itself, evidence of an era’s competitive strength — and of each player’s greatness.
IMAGO / Visionhaus / Former tennis player Martina Navratilova applauds from the royal box ahead of the Ladies Singles final match between Iga Swiatek of Poland and Amanda Anisimova of United States on day thirteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2025
Steffi Graf combines many criteria that often define all-time greatness: titles, surface versatility, ranking dominance, and a historically unique moment. The Hall of Fame credits Graf with 22 major singles titles and emphasizes that she is the only player to win the “Golden Grand Slam” — all four majors plus Olympic gold in the same year (1988).
Her ranking record is equally striking: the Hall of Fame states that Graf held the No. 1 ranking for 377 weeks — longer than any player, male or female, in tennis history. It also notes that she won each of the four majors at least four times, indicating that her dominance was not tied to a single surface.
What makes Graf appear so “complete” in many GOAT discussions is this blend of peak and breadth: not only a dominant stretch, but a record that held up over years across hard court, grass, and clay.
Steffi Graf career highlights (selected):
22 major singles titles
Golden Grand Slam (1988) — four majors + Olympic gold
377 weeks as world No. 1
Won each major at least four times
A late-career statement with a major title in 1999
Serena Williams represents modern elite tennis: explosiveness, athleticism, serve-based pressure, and an ability to elevate her level in decisive moments. An ITF retrospective frames her 23rd major title as an Open Era record, noting that she passed Steffi Graf in that category.
The WTA records Serena as a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion and lists 73 singles titles overall. In the ranking history, she is also credited with 319 weeks at No. 1, a figure that places her directly behind Graf and Navratilova in the all-time context.
Her career span is also notable. According to the WTA, her tour presence — including returns — extended to her final Grand Slam appearance in 2022, representing unusual longevity in a physically intense era.
Serena Williams'Williams career highlights (selected):
23 major singles titles (Open Era record)
73 WTA singles titles
319 weeks as world No. 1
Multiple wins at all four majors across her career (a Career Grand Slam as a marker of completeness)
Longevity at the highest level into the later stages of her career
IMAGO / Hasenkopf / Serena Williams Tennis at US Open 2022, Grand Slam in Billie Jean King Tennis Center, New York, 31 August 2022.
Any discussion of the best female tennis players inevitably reaches a core set of careers — and a second group of players whose peaks or stylistic influence shifted tennis history as well.
Monica Seles is one such case. The Hall of Fame highlights her early dominance: from 1991 to 1993 she reached eight major finals and won seven of them — all before her 20th birthday. She is listed as a nine-time major singles champion, and the Hall of Fame also notes that her career trajectory was abruptly affected by a violent attack. In many “what if?” debates, Seles therefore remains central.
Martina Hingis stands for tactical intelligence and timing. The Hall of Fame notes that she won five major singles titles before turning 19 and reached No. 1 as a teenager. Her case shows that all-time greatness can also mean reshaping the sport’s tactical reading — even if a career later takes a different path than expected.
Moving into the 2000s, another generation made the tour more varied, in part because the top spot changed hands more often. Justine Henin is honored by the Hall of Fame as a player who won majors over many years and remained stylistically distinctive — including a one-handed backhand that became an emblem of her era.
Kim Clijsters is a reference point for comebacks and all-court ability; the Hall of Fame points to her US Open title as a breakthrough moment in her comeback phase.
Maria Sharapova illustrates how sporting success and global attention can overlap — without one replacing the other. The Hall of Fame lists her as a five-time major singles champion and documents her Career Grand Slam as well as key title milestones (Wimbledon, US Open, Australian Open, and Roland-Garros).
And then there are players whose significance is not limited to singles. In Serena Williams’ case, for example, the WTA’s records also reflect major doubles success alongside Venus — another reminder that tennis greatness can be multidimensional.
IMAGO / Newscom World / Maria Sharapova of Russia in action against Yung-Jan Chanc of TPE during Sony Ericsson Open at the Tennis Center at Crandon Park Miami 2023
Despite the differences between these careers, three traits appear consistently in all-time debates.
First: repeatability. One big title can be a perfect fortnight. Multiple big titles over years indicate that a player can reproduce elite performance despite form dips, injuries, surface changes, and tactical adjustments.
Second: adaptability. Graf is presented as a surface generalist, Court as a defining athlete of her time, Serena as a player who combined power tennis with match management. The common denominator is not one “style,” but the ability to turn style into results.
Third: impact on the system. King represents organizational leverage, Navratilova a shift in training culture, Gibson the social barriers long embedded in sport. Players who change the sport are often remembered longer than those who had only a short peak.
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Editorial reality is pragmatic: the bigger the name — Graf, Serena, Navratilova, or King — the more important consistent documentation becomes, because content often remains active for years in archives, dossiers, and retrospective reporting.
Anyone looking for the best female tennis players of all time rarely finds a single definitive winner — but the same arguments recur. Margaret Court stands for the highest major total, Steffi Graf for the unique Golden Grand Slam and the longest No. 1 dominance, and Serena Williams for the Open Era major record and the modern expression of athletic, pressure-based tennis.
Alongside them, Navratilova and Evert serve as a benchmark of rivalry-driven excellence, Billie Jean King as a structural force, and pioneers like Lenglen, Wills Moody, and Gibson as essential figures without whom the history would be incomplete.
In that sense, the GOAT debate is less a verdict than a mirror: it shows which criteria an era values as “greatness” — and how tennis has changed from generation to generation.