The 5 women with 20+ WTA 1000 final appearances – ft. Serena Williams, Steffi Graf
Outside of the Grand Slams, no tournaments on the WTA Tour are as prestigious as those at WTA 1000 level.
Since the initial ‘Tier 1’ events started being contested in the late 1980s the greatest of the modern game have battled it out for some of the biggest titles in the sport – with some having a huge amount of success.
We look at the five women to hit 20 WTA 1000/Tier 1 finals since 1990 – as the likes of Iga Swiatek look to hit the milestone.
5) Lindsay Davenport – 21
A former world No 1 and a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, US star Davenport reached an impressive 21 finals at WTA 1000/Tier 1 level.
Her first final at that level came as a teenager in 1995, reaching the Pan Pacific Open final, where she lost to Kimiko Date.
Davenport’s first WTA 1000 victory came at Indian Wells in 1997 and she won the title for a second time in 2000, alongside four further runner-up finishes in the desert.
She would win multiple Pan Pacific Open and Zurich Open finals in her career, and had an 11-10 record in WTA 1000 finals.
4) Steffi Graf – 22
A true great of the sport, a big part of Graf’s prime came before 1990 – but she still managed to make 22 finals at Tier 1/WTA 1000 level.
Three of Graf’s five Miami Open titles came post 1990 and she also won multiple Charleston Open and German Open titles on clay during the early-to-mid part of that decade.
She reached her last WTA 1000 final at Indian Wells in 1999, falling to Serena Williams in an epic generational battle.
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3) Maria Sharapova – 25
A five-time Grand Slam champion and a former world No 1, Sharapova was one of the best players this century – and has an impressive WTA 1000 CV to show for it.
The Russian won 14 titles at this level, with three Italian Open titles and two Indian Wells triumphs sitting alongside victories in Cincinnati, Tokyo, and Doha.
She reached a further 11 finals at that level, bringing her total of finals up to 25 – a tally that only two women have beaten since 1990.
2) Martina Hingis – 27
One of the most dominant players of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hingis won five major singles titles and spent 2009 weeks as world No 1.
So it should come as no surprise that she features so prominently on this list, with 27 WTA 1000 finals to her name.
The Swiss star was just 15 when she reached her first final at the 1996 Italian Open and then won three WTA 1000-level titles during her legendary 1997 campaign.
Hingis won tournaments such as Indian Wells and Miami during the peak of her career and held a 17-10 overall record in such finals.
1) Serena Williams – 33
There are no prizes for guessing that Williams holds the No 1 spot, with a staggering 33 Tier 1/WTA 1000 finals to her name.
Serena’s Indian Wells final against Graf in 1999 was her first final and first title at that level, and she would reach the Miami Open final straight after – losing to older sister Venus.
Despite that loss, Miami became her most successful event with eight titles to her name, while other notable successes include four Italian Open titles and three Canadian Open titles.
In total, she won 23 of her 33 WTA 1000/Tier 1 finals – the same record she holds in Slam finals.
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