The 8 players with the most WTA 1000 titles: Steffi Graf No 2, Iga Swiatek already joint sixth

Shahida Jacobs 20 May 2024 2:08 PM

Serena Williams leads the way as the player with the most WTA 1000 titles, but Iga Swiatek has moved into joint sixth on the all-time list.

Tennis legend Williams has a handy lead at the top, but there is no doubt Swiatek will come close if she continues her current run of form at big events.

The eight players with the most WTA 1000 titles:
=6. Justine Henin, Victoria Azarenka, Iga Swiatek – 10 titles

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Justine Henin won her 10 titles in only 35 tournaments and she had a win-loss record of 81% at WTA 1000 level. Her best tournament was the Tier 1 German Open (which had the original Madrid Open slot on the calendar) as she won three titles in Berlin. She also won titles as the now defunct Zurich Open (2) and Charleston Open (2), and the Canadian Open (2) and Indian Wells Open.

Former world No 1 Victoria Azarenka’s first-ever WTA 1000 title came at the Miami Open in 2009 and she also won the event in 2011 and 2016. Her other seven titles came at the Qatar Open (2), Cincinnati Open (2), Indian Wells Open (2) and the China Open. She has appeared in 105 WTA 1000 events to date.

Reigning world No 1 Iga Swiatek has achieved her 10 titles from only 30 WTA 1000 events and she has a 94–20 win-loss record at these events. The Pole’s maiden WTA 1000 title came at the 2021 Italian Open and the following year she added four more to her tally as she won at Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami and Rome.

In 2023 she won only one – and that came at the final WTA 1000 event of the year at the China Open – but she is already on four in 2024 with trophies in Qatar, Indian Wells, Madrid and Rome.

5. Lindsay Davenport – 11 titles

American legend Lindsay Davenport won “only” four of the WTA 1000/Tier 1 events, but she is a multiple champion at several of the tournaments.

The three-time Grand Slam winner’s best event was the Pan Pacific Open as she collected four titles there while she also won four trophies at the Zurich Open, two at Indian Wells and one at the Southern California Open. She also finished runner-up 10 times.

4. Maria Sharapova – 14 titles

Five-time major champion Maria Sharapova made 85 main draw appearances at WTA 1000 events and won 14 titles. Her first came as a teenager at the Pan Pacific Open in 2005 and her last was at the Italian Open a decade later.

She won three titles in Rome, two at Indian Wells, two at the Pan Pacific Open, two at the Southern California Open, one in Qatar, one in Madrid, one in China and one in Southern California.

3. Martina Hingis – 17 titles

Martina Hingis – the first Swiss player to win a Grand Slam and become world No 1 – won her 17 titles in 61 appearances. The Pan Pacific Open was her favourite event as she won it five times while she won twice in Miami, twice in Rome, twice at the Canadian Open and twice at the Charleston Open. Her other trophies came at Indian Wells, Berlin, Kremlin and Zurich.

For good measure, she also won 26 WTA 1000 doubles titles.

2. Steffi Graf – 18 titles

Unfortunately for Steffi Graf, the tennis structure was different during the first few years of her career and there is no doubt she would have had more titles if more WTA 1000/Tier 1 events were on the calendar.

The German’s first Tier 1 trophy came at the German Open in 1988 and she won another six titles in Berlin. She also collected four trophies in Miami, two in Canada, one in Charleston, one in Boca Raton, one in Philadelphia, one in Indian Wells and one in Tokyo.

Incredibly, she featured in only 36 Tier 1 events, winning the 18 finals and finishing runner-up at seven.

1. Serena Williams – 23 titles

Serena Williams is well clear of her rivals and, like Graf, the American also would have won a few more WTA 1000 events had she played more events. She boycotted Indian Wells for more than a decade when she was at the peak of her career and only played in Canada 10 times.

It was at Indian Wells where Williams made her breakthrough as she won the 1999 edition and two years later she won her second and last title in California. She then didn’t play in Indian Wells from 2002 until 2015 after spectators booed her, her sister Venus and their father Richard during the 2001 final.

The Miami Open was Williams’ most successful WTA 1000 event as she won eight titles there, she also won four titles at Rome, three at the Canadian Open, two at Madrid, two at Cincinnati, one at the China Open and one at the Charleston Open.