The 6 tallest world No 1’s on the WTA Rankings: ft. Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova
Twenty-nine different women have held the world No 1 ranking on the WTA Tour, achieving one of the greatest feats in tennis.
Countless tennis icons and all-time greats have peaked atop the WTA Rankings, but who are the tallest women to climb to the top spot?
Using official information from the WTA Tour website, we list the six tallest world No 1’s in women’s tennis history.
6) Victoria Azarenka – 6’0/183cm
Still competing on the WTA Tour, two-time Australian Open champion Azarenka spent a total of 51 weeks atop the WTA Rankings.
The Belarusian spent 19 weeks as the world No 1 in the aftermath of her first triumph Down Under in 2012, and then reigned for a further 32 weeks from July 2012 to February 2013.
Registered as 6’0/183cm tall on the WTA website, Azarenka is officially the sixth-tallest woman to ever peak at the top of the WTA Rankings.
5) Ana Ivanovic – 6’0/184cm
One of the leading tennis stars of the late noughties, Ivanovic is best remembered for her sole Grand Slam triumph at the 2008 French Open, having lost two major finals previously.
Her run in Paris was enough for her to become the first Serbian, male or female, to reach the top spot in singles, spending 12 weeks at the top across two separate spells that season.
At 6’0/184cm tall, Ivanovic – who retired in 2016 – is the fifth-tallest woman to be ranked No 1 on the WTA Tour.
4) Venus Williams – 6’1/185cm
Back in action at the Citi DC Open after ending her 16-month absence from the WTA Tour, seven-time Grand Slam champion Williams is undoubtedly one of the sport’s all-time greats.
Outside of her five Wimbledon and two US Open titles, the American spent 11 weeks as the world No 1, across three separate spells in 2002.
The 45-year-old is 6’1/185cm tall, making her the fourth-tallest world No 1 since the WTA Rankings system was introduced in 1973.
3) Karolina Pliskova – 6’1/186cm
Widely considered one of the greatest players to never lift a Grand Slam title, Pliskova is one of just three women to hold the world No 1 ranking without winning a major.
The Czech reached the first of her two Grand Slam finals at the 2016 US Open and reached the world No 1 ranking the following year, reigning for eight weeks from July to September 2017.
Pliskova is officially the third-tallest world No 1 in WTA singles history, at 6’1/186cm tall.
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2) Maria Sharapova – 6’2/188cm
One of the biggest stars in tennis history, five-time major champion Sharapova remains the last woman (for now) to complete the Career Grand Slam in singles.
The Russian won two French Open titles alongside titles at Wimbledon, the US Open, and Australian Open, and spent 21 total weeks as the world No 1, in five separate spells dating from 2005 to 2012.
At 6’2/188cm tall, Sharapova is the second-tallest woman to reach world No 1, and is also the second-tallest Grand Slam women’s singles champion.
1) Lindsay Davenport 6’2 ½ /189cm
A dominant force in the sport across the late 1990s and early 2000s, three-time Grand Slam champion Davenport is the tallest woman to ever reach world No 1.
The American won an impressive 55 WTA Tour singles titles in her career, including the 1998 US Open, 1999 Wimbledon, and 2000 Australian Open.
However, Davenport also spent a staggering 98 weeks atop the WTA Rankings, across eight separate spells from 1998 to 2006.
At 6’2 ½/189cm tall, the American, who retired in 2010, is officially the tallest No 1 in WTA history.
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