Across the Net: The Greatest Women's Players Ever and a Look At Madrid

Posted by Dan Martin on 10.16.2006

Who is the best ever? Evert, Serena, Venus, Martina, Monica, Steffi or that other Martina? Find out...

Disclaimer: I have never seen Billy Jean King or Margaret Court Play Tennis. Thus, they are not on the list. Given changes in training techniques, sports medicine, and equipment it seems fair to focus on the modern era of tennis only.

The Top Ten Women's Players of the Open Era

10. Jennifer Capriati

The sports hype machine really pumped Capriati up more than any player in tennis history. She was on the cover of Sports Illustrated after 1 week as a professional. This attention led to a largely disastrous first half of Capriati's career. The highlight of this portion of her career was an Olympic Gold Medal in 1992. Capriati did come back to win 2 Australian Open titles (2001, 2002) and 1 French Open title (2001).

9. Justine Henin-Haredenne

JHH has the best chance of climbing this list. She has won 3 French Open titles (2003, 2005, 2006), 1 U.S. Open title (2003) and 1 Australian Open title (2004). JHH has also been runner-up at 4 Grand Slam events. JHH reached all four Grand Slam finals in 2006. Her one handed backhand and fighting spirit make her a contender, but at 3 of the 4 Grand Slam finals in 2006 her small frame gave out and she was overpowered.

8. Hana Mandlikova

Mandlikova was one of the most talented women to ever play tennis. Her serve and volley game bothered Navratilova at times and led her to 4 Grand Slam titles and 4 Grand Slam runner-up finishes. Mandlikova won the Australian Open twice on grass, won the U.S. Open on hard courts and the French Open on clay. This surface versatility boosts Mandlikova ahead of JHH.

7. Martina Hingis

Hingis took advantage of Steffi Graf's injury plagued 1997 and filled the void left by Graf's absence. Hingis won the Australian Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon in 1997. Hingis was also runner-up at the French Open in 1997. Hingis's arrogance often rubbed people the wrong way, but her 5 Grand Slam titles demonstrate that the Swiss Miss is one of the all time greats. Her lack of power led to a series of Grand Slam runner-up finishes that seemed to drive her out of the game for 3 years. Hingis returned in 2006 and is currently ranked #8 in the world. She has yet to demonstrate the form that would make her a true contender again, but with another year on tour who knows?

6. Venus Williams

Venus Williams holds 5 Grand Slam titles on fast surfaces. Venus has 2 U.S. Open titles and 3 Wimbledon triumphs. Venus also finished as a runner-up to her sister at 4 consecutive Grand Slam events! Venus seemed to be emotionally incapable of dealing with her younger sister dominating her. As a result, Venus' career has been on a bit of a downward turn since Wimbledon 2004. Her ability on grass however makes her a threat to win Wimbledon for a fourth time. Venus' 2000 summer success stands out as one of the most dominant periods in tennis history. Venus won the Wimbledon singles and doubles titles (w/ Serena) in 2000. She followed that up with a U.S. Open title and Olympic Gold Medals in singles and doubles (w/Serena). For several months Venus was untouchable.

5. Serena Williams

Serena is difficult to categorize. Her run from the French Open title in 2003 through the Australian Open in 2004 included the 2003 U.S. Open and Wimbledon championships. Serena won 4 consecutive Grand Slam titles. Her loss to JHH at the 2004 French Open was marred by controversy and poor sportsmanship from JHH. When Serena won the 2004 Wimbledon title one assumed that the woman who had won 5 of the previous 6 Grand Slam titles was on her way to dominating the sport and taking tennis to a new level. Instead injuries, personal tragedy (an older sister was killed by a gunman), and an understandably wondering focus have led Serena to only one more Grand Slam title. So Serena, who looked like she may be the best female player of all time, is clearly the best player in the post Graf-Seles era, but is not the greatest of all time.

4. Chris Evert

Chris Evert won 18 Grand Slam singles titles. This clearly puts her in front of Serena Williams. Evert won a record 7 French Open titles. Evert also won 2 Australian Open titles, 3 Wimbledon titles, and 6 U.S. Open titles. Evert was a great champion who demonstrated incredible baseline consistency. Her game would undoubtedly need some updating to post results like she did in today's power baseline context. However, Evert was exceptionally competitive and undoubtedly would have made the adjustments needed to contend. Also, her consistency would likely drive today's impatient players nuts. One can imagine Evert grinding down most of today's top players, by letting them drown in an ocean of unforced errors.

3. Monica Seles

Seles is even tougher to categorize than Serena Williams. Seles won the French Open in 1990, 1991, and 1992. Seles won the Australian Open in 1991, 1992 and 1993. Seles also won the 1991 and 1992 U.S. Open titles. Seles won 8 out of 11 Grand Slam titles prior to being stabbed. After the stabbing Seles won the 1996 Australian Open title, was runner-up at the 1995 and 1996 U.S. Opens, and was runner-up at the 1998 French Open. Seles won a Bronze Medal at the 2000 Olympics. A Grand Slam title, 3 Grand Slam runner- up finishes and an Olympic Medal are nothing to sneeze at, but prior to the stabbing Seles was winning nearly 80% of the Grand Slams she entered. Had she not been stabbed it is hard to know where she would have taken the sport.

2. Martina Navratilova

Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles and dominated doubles like none other. Navratilova won a record 9 Wimbledon titles. Navratilova won 3 Australian Open titles, 2 French Open titles and 4 U.S. Open titles. Navratilova took 31 women's Grand Slam doubles titles and 10 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. Navratilova won a record 167 women's singles titles. The numbers do not lie. Navratilova's serve and volley game dominated tennis in the mid-1980's and produced longevity into the 1990's in singles and into the 2000's in doubles.

1. Steffi Graf

Steffi won 7 Wimbledon titles, 6 French Open titles, 5 U.S. Open titles and 4 Australian Open titles. Those 22 Grand Slam singles titles help earn Steffi the top spot. Graf was ranked either #1 or #2 in the world between 1987 and 1996. Graf won all four Grand Slam titles in 1988. She also took the Olympic Gold Medal in 1998 completing a "Golden Slam." Graf was undefeated in Grand Slam play in both 1995 and 1996 (she missed the Australian Open in both years due to injuries). Steffi was apparently unstoppable when her knee gave out early in 1997. Surgeons could not believe what poor condition her knee was in when it was repaired. Players such as Hingis suggested that Graf was no longer a factor. Graf's comeback culminated at the 1999 French Open final. Steffi was training world #1 Martina Hingis 6-4, 5-4. Hingis was serving for the match. Graf hit a tremendous one handed top spin backhand to draw an error from Hingis at the net. Graf went on to break Hingis' serve and will. Graf won 9 of the final 11 games in the match. A champion playing on a bad knee took out the world #1 player. Graf reached the 1999 Wimbledon final a month later and then retired. Her knee would not hold up much longer, but she let the tour know that injuries had much more to do with relinquishing #1 than improvement among the other players.

Graf's 1988 was perhaps the greatest year in women's sports history. Graf won the 1988 Wimbledon, Australian, French and U.S. Open singles titles. Graf won the 1988 women's doubles title at Wimbledon. She also took the 1988 Olympic Gold Medal in singles and Bronze Medal in women's doubles. A healthy Graf in her prime would dominate today's top women. Graf's one handed slice backhand would draw errors out of today's go for broke power baseliners. The slice would force these women to generate their own pace and hit low bouncing balls. Graf's forehand is still better than anyone on tour. Graf's serve would still be above average today. Graf's biggest weapon was her foot speed. Graf was fast enough to run the 100 M dash for West Germany in the 1998 Olympics! This speed would let Graf run down the power shots of today's top players. Graf's forehand would allow her to send some power back. In short, the Graf of 1988 would easily be #1 today.

This Week in Tennis

World #6 James Blake won his 5th Tournament of 2006 in Stockholm. Blake is riding a two tournament winning streak heading into Tennis Masters Series Madrid. World #3 Ivan Ljubicic won his third title of the year in Vienna, Austria. World # 5 Nikolay Davydenko won the Kremlin Cup in Moscow. All three players strengthened their case for reaching the ATP Masters Cup in November in Shang Hi, China. This year ending championship consists of the top 8 players of the year. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have already qualified. The other six spots are up for grabs, but this week helped clarify who is likely to qualify.

Next Week in Tennis

Masters Series Madrid is center stage. The nine Masters Series events occupy the second tier behind the four Grand Slam events in terms of both prize money and computer ranking points. A Masters Series title is worth ½ of the ranking points of winning a Grand Slam title. Rafael Nadal is the defending champion in Madrid and Roger Federer did not play the event in 2005. This is a major opportunity for Federer to pad his lead over Nadal. Rafael is the only person with a realistic mathematical chance at derailing Roger's consecutive weeks at #1 prior to Federer breaking Jimmy Connors record of 160 consecutive weeks at the top. Federer is likely to break this record, but a strong showing this week only aids his cause; whereas, Nadal can at best maintain his current rankings points by defending his title. Both men have reasonably good draws. My guess is that Nadal's pride playing in front of a Spanish crowd ought to carry him to a good result, but he looks at either hard serving Thomas Berdych or Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals and Ivan Ljubicic in the semifinals. On an indoor surface all three players could serve Nadal off of the court. Federer looks good to face world #10 Mario Ancic in the quarterfinals. If Federer gets through that he will likely face James Blake or Marat Safin. It should be a good event, but my gut says someone other than Federer or Nadal wins this event. Federer has already secured the #1 ranking for the year and is likely looking forward to the 2007 Australian Open. Nadal is not a great indoor player. So a hungry player looking to qualify for the Masters Cup is likely to come through in Madrid. My head says Federer d. Ljubicic in the final. My gut says Safin d. Berdych in the final. Take that for what you will.