The 5 women to reach the most Australian Open finals: Serena Williams with 8, Martina Navratilova joint-3rd

L-R: Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova
Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova at the Australian Open.

Serena Williams holds the record for the most Australian Open women’s singles finals in the Open Era, with eight to her name across her legendary career.

Across the Open Era, five different women have managed to reach the final at least six times – we take a look at all of them here.

=3) Martina Hingis – Six finals

Finals: 1997-2002

One of just two women to reach six straight finals in Melbourne, former world No 1 Hingis was a dominant force at the Australian Open across the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Hingis became the tournament’s youngest champion by beating Mary Pierce in the 1997 final, before defeating Conchita Martinez in 1998 and Amelie Mauresmo in 1999.

The Swiss would go on to reach three further finals at the turn of the millennium, falling to Lindsay Davenport in 2000, and then Jennifer Capriati in back-to-back finals in 2001 and 2002.

=3) Chris Evert – Six finals

Finals: 1974, 1981-82, 1984-85, 1988

Evert appeared in just six Australian Opens across her career, but impressively managed to reach the final in all of those appearances.

The US icon lifted the title twice, completing the Career Grand Slam with a victory over Martina Navratilova in the 1982 final, and then defeated Helena Sukova for her second title in 1984.

Evert was also a beaten finalist to Evonne Goolagong in her maiden appearance in 1974, to Navratilova in 1981 and 1985, and to Steffi Graff in 1988 – the last of her 34th Grand Slam singles finals.

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3) Martina Navratilova – Six finals

Finals: 1975, 1981-83, 1985, 1987

Navratilova was another player to head Down Under intermittently, though her feat of six women’s singles finals is only bettered by two women in the Open Era.

The 18-time major champion defeated leading rival Evert to triumph in 1981 and 1985 while beating Kathy Jordan in the 1983 final for the second of her three titles.

Navratilova also reached the final on her tournament debut in 1975, falling to Goolagong, while falling to Evert in the 1982 final and Hana Mandlikova in 1987.

2) Evonne Goolagong – Seven finals

Finals: 1971-76, 1977 (Dec)

Aussie icon Goolagong matches Hingis in having reached six straight finals, and the former world No 1 reached seven finals overall at her home Slam.

Goolagong was beaten in her first three finals in Melbourne, losing to Margaret Court in 1971 and 1973 and Virginia Wade in 1972, though she then beat Evert for her first title in 1974.

That was followed by Goolagong defeating Navratilova in 1975 and Renata Tomanova in 1976, before reaching her seventh final in 1977 (Dec), defeating Helen Gourlay for her fourth title Down Under.

1) Serena Williams – Eight finals

Finals: 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009-10, 2015-17

Williams holds the record for the most women’s singles titles won in the Open Era, and also for the most finals reached at the tournament.

The American’s first final came in 2003, where she beat older sister Venus, and she would beat her again in 2017 for her final Australian Open title – and in her last final Down Under.

Williams also faced Maria Sharapova in two finals, winning in 2007 and 2015, while defeating Lindsay Davenport in 2005, Dinara Safina in 2009, and Justine Henin in 2010.

Her only defeat in an Australian Open final came in 2016 when she was beaten by Angelique Kerber.

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