Top 10 US female tennis players of all time

By Gerry Stork

The Williams sisters proved once again at the US Open… Serena by winning it and Venus by getting closer to defeating her… why they are the two best US tennis players to ever step on the court .

In every tournament they both enter, you realize that only one player can beat them… and that’s the other sister. It may not always happen that way, but it usually does. They’re the most powerful to ever play the game… they both hold the tour’s fastest serving record of 129 mph… and the fastest side-to-side and back-to-front. Their many championships playing doubles together (seven Grand Slams, two Olympics) give them the dexterity and volleying speed that others lack. Their unparalleled tenacity, as opponent after opponent has learned, means you can take a set from them, especially when they’re just going through the motions, but just trying to shut them down.

Their casual approach to participating in non-Slam events over the years in favor of fashion and film/TV projects has drawn criticism, but it’s a smart strategy that has kept them fresh and allowed them to recover from injuries. for his furious style of play. .. and is it so bad to have a life?

As for who’s better, we’ll pick Serena, as she’s won nine Grand Slam titles…including all four majors…and been to three other finals. Venus won the US Open twice and ruled Wimbledon with five wins, and was in two other finals each, and took Olympic gold in singles in 2000, but never triumphed in Australia or France, finishing there once each.

Here’s the rest of our top 10. The numbers in parentheses mean the number of Grand Slam titles won and runners-up. And by American tennis player we mean born and raised… that excludes Monica Seles and Martina Navratilova, who became US citizens only after their careers were well advanced. If we had counted them, Martina would be number 3 and Monica number 8.

3. Chris Evert (18.16). He influenced an entire generation of players with his two-handed backhand and his calm demeanor. He flourished on all surfaces, winning two Australians, seven French, three Wimbledons and six US Opens. He was number 1 in the world seven times. In Evert’s 80 classic duels against the bigger and stronger Navratilova, she almost came out even… 37-43 in their rivalry.

4. Maureen Connolly (9.0). 5-foot-5 “Little Mo” had a brief but spectacular career cut short by a 1954 horse-riding accident that shattered his leg at age 19. At that time, she had become the first woman to complete a Grand Slam. her in 1953. She won three consecutive US championships (1951-53) and Wimbledon (1952-54). That zero in the stats column is key; she never lost a Grand Slam final and, in fact, she won all nine Grand Slam tournaments in which she participated.

5. Billie Jean King (12.6). King was the queen of Wimbledon, winning a tournament record 20 titles (six singles, 10 doubles, four mixed). Despite being just 5-foot-4, she used a serve-and-volley style to become No. 1 in the world five times between 1966 and 1972, but she gained even more attention for two things… 1) spanking Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” before 30,472 at the Astrodome in 1973 and 2) becoming the first prominent female athlete to come out as gay.

6. Helen Wills Moody (19.3). Nicknamed “Little Miss Poker Face” and the country’s first major women’s tennis star, Moody won all 19 of her Slam titles (eight Wimbledon, seven American, four French) without playing the Australian Open. Usually attracted to a white sailor suit, from 1927 to 1932, she did not lose a set in singles anywhere. Tennis seems to have been good for her longevity… she died in 1998 at age 92, leaving $10 million to the University of California.

7. Althea Gibson (5.2). Powerful and athletic, Gibson won back-to-back US and Wimbledon singles crowns in 1957 and 1958. She was the first black woman to win those titles. She could also excel on slow clay, winning the French and Italian championships in 1956. She later became a professional golfer.

8. Doris Hart (6.11). As a child, Hart watched people play tennis from her hospital window after an operation. She picked up the game and won all four Slam singles. In 1951 at Wimbledon, she claimed the singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles with the loss of just one set.

9. Lindsay Davenport (3.3). She got in shape and became a champion, winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US….and let’s not forget that she took Olympic gold in 1996 in Atlanta. In an era of stormy teenage tennis, her stability and good sportsmanship were welcome virtues. Of course, her being 6-foot-2 and having the most powerful groundstrokes in the game, or nearly so, didn’t hurt.

10. Tracy Austin (2.0). Better known today as a television commentator, Austin came and went like a comet, being snatched from a big race by back pain. Before he forced her into retirement at age 20, he managed to win the US Open twice and performed at the highest level, beating Evert in one final and Navratilova in the other. The 5-foot-5 baseline master was the youngest ever to win the event…16 years, 9 months…and remains the youngest all-time tournament winner on the women’s tour (14 years in Portland).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *