1. Serena Williams
One of the strongest and most powerful people to ever play the game, Serena Williams first became the world No. 1 in 2002 and achieved the ranking a seventh time in January, 2017. Her total of 23 Grand Slam singles titles marks the record for the most Major wins by a tennis player in the Open Era.
2. Steffi Graf
Spending a record 377 weeks ranked as world No. 1, Graf dominated her era. In 1988, Graff became the first player to achieve what is regarded as the calendar year Golden Slam by winning all four majors plus the Olympic Gold Medal.
3. Margaret Court
With a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, Margaret Court is without doubt one of the all-time bests. She was the first woman to incorporate weights and fitness training into her routine, resulting in a long and injury-free career
4. Monica Seles
After Seles was attacked and stabbed in an unfortunate on-court incident, she was never quite the same. Her epic battles with Graf were treasured by tennis fans, and many say that Seles would have deprived Graf of many of her titles if not for the attack.
5. Martina Navratilova
Navratilova holds the open era record for career singles titles with 167 and career doubles titles with 144. With a big serve and volley, she has 59 total Grand Slam titles to her name including singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.
6. Chris Evert
Evert and Navratilova had one of the greatest rivalries of all times, as well as a strong friendship that tennis fans enjoyed. She had a career winning percentage in singles matches of over 90 per cent and one 157 career titles.
7. Billie Jean King
With a hard-charging aggressive style of play and no fear to serve and volley, King was a great player with 12 Grand Slam titles. She also stood up for women’s rights in the sports world and became highly influential in the fight for equal pay and respect.
8. Venus Williams
Venus has won seven Grand Slam titles with a big serve and swooping groundstrokes, and if not for her younger sister, Serena, it’s likely she would have won more. The sisters have gone head-to-head in a Grand Slam final eight times with Serena winning six of those matches. Venus has battled through injuries as well as an energy-sapping condition known as Sjogren’s syndrome.
9. Justine Henin
Known for her mental and physical toughness, Henin was a powerful player despite her small stature. John McEnroe once described her single-handed backhand as the best in the women’s and men’s game. Her completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand were paramount to her game.
10. Evonne Goolagong
Goolagong played during one of the most competitive periods in women’s tennis, during the Evert and Navratilova era, but was still able to win seven Grand Slam titles. She has the distinction of being the only mother since before the First World War to have won Wimbledon; she won the title in 1980 after giving birth to her daughter in 1977.
— Alison Xiao is an intern at Gulf News. Tickets to the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, starting at Dh75, are available on 800tickets.com.
