Anita Lizanas impact on tennis has been unjustly lost to the mists of time. Like many child stars in Hollywood, she then struggled with personal demons in subsequent years, only to overcome them in the end. Ann Shirley Jones is a tennis legend and easily one of the greatest of all time, playing at a time 3: Virginia Wade. Since Wade's success, U.K. women have experienced a major Grand Slam title drought. She then shocked the tennis world again by coming back and reaching new heights, winning three more Grand Slam titles. Konta has won four singles WTA Tour titles. She was calm and had a game that was advanced far beyond her years. Although she did well on home soil, winning the French Open twice, she found her greatest success at Wimbledon, winning that event six times. (VOTE) There was agreement on five players: No. But basically the invention of this new term had and has only objective: to cover the fact that these players woud have wished to win the Grand Slam so badly. She won all four of her Grand Slam titles on hard courts, with three coming at the U.S. Open. 1 Federer, No. After retiring at 21, she launched her fashion brand. From Fred Perry and Virginia Wade to Andy Murray, British Tennis success has grown and grown over the years. Before her, the game was seen as the exclusive domain of the elite, West European-American world. Top Steve Watts. While she did not reach similar numbers at the Grand Slam level, Davenport proved she could put in performances of the highest caliber on that stage, too, winning one Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open title apiece. Career: 1997-2007 (first retirement), 2009-2012 (second retirement), 2020-present. She leveraged her position as a top player to spearhead the formation of the Womens Tennis Association in 1973 and her achievements on the court were matched by her accomplishments off it. 10 Rosewall. A popular tennis player, Jones won eight Grand Slam titles during her career. If she can add a few more Grand Slam titles to her list, she could creep up fast. Ann Jones is an English former tennis and table tennis champion. If not for her come back in the early 2000s, she would not make a list like this. Justine Henin is one of the greatest and most underrated players in womens tennis. Its a historical crown to wear. Bottom line:Pauline Betz played Grand Slams selectively during her career, but when she did, she tended to win, and in historically dominant fashion. In 2020, she announced yet another return to the game, hoping to add more titles to her mantle. Died: May 31, 2011, Potomac, Maryland (Age 91). She also demonstrated incredible overall consistency at the majors, reaching a then-record 26 consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals between 1959 and 1960. She was the only woman to win each Grand Slam at least four times, and in perhaps an even more unique achievement, she collected the "Golden Slam" in 1988, winning each of the four majors and the Olympic gold medal in the same year. Bottom line: Players from Russia are now a common part of the tennis landscape, but it was not always the case. Kathleen McKane Godfree was a British badminton and tennis player. Playing in the 1950s, when segregation was still the law of the land in America, Gibson became the first African-American woman to win Grand Slam titles, amassing five. From Fred Perry and Virginia Wade to Andy Murray, British Tennis success has grown and grown over the years. This was due to a kick serve and deadly volleys that made her the best of her era on grass. Victoria Azarenka put the tiny, post-Soviet republic of Belarus on the tennis map, winning the Australian Open back to back in 2012 and 2013. Former British tennis player Annabel Croft had begun playing tennis at age 9. She also had amazing drop shots, devastating passing shots, as well as great accuracy and precision. She won six Grand Slam titles, including a dominant stretch at Wimbledon, where she took home the championship in three consecutive years between 1948 and 1950. Its not impossible, but her record of 49 total grand slam titles will be very tough to beat. In 2016, she won the mixed-doubles at Wimbledon, becoming the first British player to win at Wimbledon since Joanna Mary Durie in 1987. She also broke ground for Spain by leading her country to its first Fed Cup title in 1991, a title she then helped Spain win four more times. She was just 16 years old when she won the U.S. Open in 1979, and she would follow up that seat was a win in 1981. Four-time winner of the AEGON Awards, Elena Baltacha was a Ukrainian-born British tennis player, who held the British No. Best British Tennis Players 1, Smith also represented Britain in the European Cup and Fed Cup on several occasions. No one could put away matches in as dominant a fashion, and her 23 Grand Slam titles are an Open Era record. Sam Stosurs game stood out for the sheer power of her serve and heavy topspin forehand. With recent success from Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie, British tennis can only get better and better and we cant wait to see what 2022 In 2012, she became the first British female player to win a WTA singles title since 1988. Since then, Kerber has proved that she belongs at the top of the game, using her powerful left-handed strokes to win three majors and attain the world No. She first gained attention after winning the Lemon Bowl at 11 and now has five singles and four doubles titles in her kitty. British tennis player Anne Keothavong, hailed for winning 28 titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, played her first professional match at age of fourteen, reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. Bottom line: Louise Brough lost the epic 1948 U.S. Open singles final against her frequent partner Margaret Osborne DuPont, but ultimately, her Grand Slam resume looked better at the end. 20 Greatest Female Tennis Players Of All Time With that in mind, we are spending the Wimbledon fortnight debating which of the greats is the greatest of them all. The game has had many great female players, pioneers and trailblazers, but only one gets the all-time top ranking. Born: March 8, 1990, Bilovec, Czhechoslovakia. Graf gave even proof that she would have had the capacity to regain the # 1 position: After an almost 2 years injury break with back and knee surgery, she had made it already back from not being listed any more to #3 of the ranking. She had most of her success at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, winning a total of 10 titles between the two. Ivanovic even went one step further and won a Grand Slam, taking home the French Open that year in convincing fashion. Rebecca Joyce. She has grown up in the Alnwick Castle, which was featured as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films. Furthermore, she achieved the "Box Set" of winning all four Grand Slams in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. The 7 Best Tennis Documentaries Of All Time, How Tennis Players Qualify For Grand Slams. Born: March 20, 1993, Plantation, Florida. In an era when serve and volley still predominated, she played a counterpunching baseline style that stood out for its uniqueness. The most important match of her life was seen by more than 90 million people when she beat Bobby Riggs in the now famous Battle of the Sexes. To prove her milestone victory was not a fluke, she won the Australian Open title in 2014. Godfree won two Wimbledon singles titles. She mixed a powerful serve with a graceful one-handed backhand and was near unstoppable at her peak, winning two Grand Slams in 2006. The second-most successful female British Olympian, Godfree won five Olympic medals in two Olympic Games. 2, Jones managed to establish herself as a praiseworthy player despite playing in a highly competitive era; she played against some of the all-time greats like Margaret Court and Billie Jean King. WebHeather Watson is a professional tennis player who has won nine career titles so far, including four singles titles. British Tennis Players Evert gave American fans an incredible champion to cheer for as she won 157 titles and 18 Grand Slams. Best Women Bottom line: Petra Kvitovas left-handed power game has helped her dominate at Wimbledon, where she won two titles in 2011 and 2014. Is Serena Williams the GOAT? Probably. Maybe. Without a All I can say is that Monica Seles had Steffis number and would of won most of the Slams in the 90s and even some that Serena won, had she not been stabbed. Martina Navratilovas athleticism, power and determination to succeed were truly astonishing. And she went to any lengths to make sure she stayed at the top, including practicing with men when that was frowned upon by the tennis establishment. Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand). Throughout her 11 year career, she showed she was a continually great competitor. Most memorable British tennis players She memorably won Wimbledon again nine years later. Her career never really recovered, but she added one more Grand Slam to her mantle at the 1996 Australian Open. But Grand Slam success did arrive, and she won her first Wimbledon in 1934 en route to being crowned world No.1 that year, backing it up with two more Grand Slam titles. She burst onto the scene by winning the U.S. Open at 17 in 1951, and over the next three years, Connolly won nine Grand Slams, including all four in a single year, the first woman to win the "Calendar Slam. Kim Clijsters was often overshadowed by her fellow Belgian Justine Henin, but they both deserve a spot on this list. Murrays tally of 46 singles titles is good for 14th on the all-time list, just behind Boris Becker and ahead of greats including Arthur Ashe and Stefan Edberg. She was able to excel as someone who could counterpunch her way to titles at times, and although she didnt hit with a ton of power, she could dial it in once in a while. With that in mind, we are spending the Wimbledon fortnight debating which of the greats is the greatest of them all. Players compete in friendly rivalries, although some of them arent all that friendly. By the numbers, however, Court surpassed even Lavers achievements, winning a record 24 Grand Slam singles titles, a whopping 11 of which came on home ground in Australia. Born: Nov. 22, 1943, Long Beach, California. Maureen Connollys career was cut short at just 20 years old by a horseback riding injury, but what she achieved in a short period of time still ranks her as one of the best to ever play the sport. The list of the failing ones is prominent: among them even most of the all time greats: Evert, Navratilova, Seles, Serena, Federer, Djokovic. The Best British Tennis Players of All Time This period included her best Grand more Birthplace: Sydney, Australia Nationality: Australia 98 An unbelievable fighter, she continued to play despite her debilitating illness, winning matches almost till the very end, retiring from professional tennis five months before her death from liver cancer. Entering her first tournaments as a teenager, it took Round nearly a decade to have success at the highest level of tennis. She isnt considered a huge threat to win at the majors in this part of her career, but it was just 2017 when she made a run to the finals at the Australian Open and Wimbledon. She faced a lengthy ban for failing a drug test at the 2016 Australian Open, and that tarnished her legacy bit. The days are long and the nights are warm but, sadly, we will have to wait until next year to see the great players of our time compete at Wimbledon. When looking across her career resume, its hard to find a more well-rounded player. But she is currently the premier defender in the game. Required fields are marked *. 1 Federer, No. Although Henin won an impressive seven Grand Slams, the question of "what might have been" lingers over her career since she retired due to injuries at only 29 years old. Winning four French Open, eight Wimbledons and seven U.S. Open titles is truly remarkable, regardless of era. The game is changed quite a bit since she was playing, so its hard to compare her directly to some contemporaries. Heather Watson is a professional tennis player who has won nine career titles so far, including four singles titles. She has redefined athleticism in womens tennis. The Greatest of All Time is Margaret Court. The TenWho are the 10 best women's tennis players of all time? She smacked forehand winners from everywhere, retrieved balls that were impossible to get, threw down second-serve aces, and most thrillingly of all displayed rare audacity on her backhand side in order to go for topspin winners. She was the first Latin-American woman to win a major title and paved the way to tennis becoming the global sport it is today. In 2016, she won the mixed-doubles at Wimbledon, becoming the first British player to win at Wimbledon since Joanna Mary Durie in 1987. Christine Truman Margaret Court doubles Wimbledon By fotograaf onbekend / CC BY-SA 3.0 NL (https://creativecommons. She also won two US Open doubles titles and three Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. The best women's tennis players of all time are multiple Grand Slam champions, Olympic tennis gold medalists and simply the best ladies to ever Died: July 4, 1938, Paris, France (Age 39). Born: March 11, 1923, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Died: Feb. 3, 2014, Vista, California (Age 90). Now 53 years old, she is a former professional player who ranked World No.1 for a record 377 weeks. Angela Mortimer Althea Gibson By Associated Press / Public domain Florence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett is a 4. WebShe is the face of womens tennis in the UK and took home a silver medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. Her career has been up and down since then, but she still has the talent to repeat that level of excellence. But Graf was even more dominant in her time: She hold the #1 positon for the record number of 377 weeks, Serena did so only 319 weeks (as all time third behind Steffi and Martina Navratilova). Sloane Stephens is a bright light for American tennis in the post-Williams sisters future. Below is a look at the 20 best tennis players of all time. Vote up the best women's tennis players ever. She also found success in doubles, winning at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open into her thirties, to bring her career full circle. At only 22 years, Naomi Osaka has established herself as an iconic tennis star and champion. Best British Tennis Players She was physically fit throughout her career, capable of giving any player a scare, even when she was past her prime. Bottom line:The daughter of a Norwegian Army officer, Molla Mallory won matches with a power game atypical of her era. Kim Clijsters shocked the tennis world by retiring at 24 years old, just when she had reached the top, after winning her first Grand Slam. Graf, the only player to have won all four majors at least four times, finished with 22 Grand Slam singles titles despite playing about a decade less than Williams. Only she and one other woman have ever done that in tennis history. She certainly left a great impression on a young 11-year-old schoolboy when she won Wimbledon for the first time in 1971. 2006 was the year she put it all together, winning the Australian Open and Wimbledon for her only two Grand Slam singles titles. WebVirginia Wade and Andy Murray are the most successful British tennis players in the Open Era by singles titles. This week our writers have made the case for Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Serena Williams, Martina Navratilova and Monica Seles. WebKathleen McKane Godfree was a British badminton and tennis player. I have been a tennis fan since the early 60s when I started playing. From trailblazing legends like Billie Jean King to champions like Serena Williams, dominant athletes on the tennis court have elevated womens sports to new heights. Tennis has seen a slew of epic rivalries throughout the course of, Read More 15 Greatest Rivalries In Tennis HistoryContinue, Over the last couple of decades, the tennis court has turned into a home for some very tall players. 100 Greatest of All Time WebAn international panel of tennis experts determined this ranking of 62 men and 38 women. British Female Tennis Players One of the defining rivalries of tennis early era was between Helen Jacobs and Helen Wills, with the two meeting seven times in Grand Slam play. Andy Murray 2. For much of the 2010s, Caroline Wozniacki was a model of consistency, winning 30 titles and ending two consecutive years at world No.1. Bottom line: Aranxta Sanchez Vicario was the womens games great clay champion at the end of the 20th century. Serena Williams; Steffi Graf; Martina Navritolova; Chris Evert; Margaret Court; Monica Seles; Billie Jean King; Venus Williams; Evonne Goolagong Cawley; Justine Henin; Martina Hingis; Helen Wills Moody; Maureen Connolly; Lindsay Davenport; Kim Clijsters; Jennifer Steffi Grafs dominance transcended all surfaces more than any other player in the modern era. She won seven grand slams and an Olympic gold medal in a hugely competitive era in the womens game. Angela Mortimer Althea Gibson By Associated Press / Public domain Florence Angela Margaret Mortimer Barrett is a 4. I remember watching her in action on an old black and white TV with my mum and sister. She had a varied and beautiful all-around style of play and, despite being small in stature, was a giant fighter. She previously won a junior title at Wimbledon. Anastasia Myskina was part of the first wave of young women who helped put the worlds largest country on the map, with her French Open win in 2004, the first singles title for a Russian player. In fact he was the first British man since the 70s to reach a Grand Slam semi-final position. And shortly after Wimbledon, she retired in the relatively young age of 30. Helen Wills was the undisputed greatest player of her era. Born: October 6, 1905, Centreville, California, Died: January 1, 1998, Carmel, California (Age 92). Cause everybody expected her to win after she had won the second Masters of the year ( 6:0 6:0). There were so many great Graf matches. Nicola Viggers. Top She went on to establish herself as the undisputed queen of the U.S. Open, winning the event eight times.
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