The 7 women with most Australian Open titles: Serena Williams 1st, Steffi Graf with 4
Serena Williams is the most successful Australian Open women’s singles champion of the Open Era, with seven titles to her name in Melbourne.
However, she is not the only woman to find repeated success at the ‘Happy Slam’, with seven players winning the title three or more times.
=6) Martina Hingis – Three titles
Hingis remains the last woman to win three straight Australian Open titles and one of just seven women to win the tournament three times or more in the Open Era.
Aged 16 years and 117 days, the Swiss became the youngest Slam winner of the Open Era – a record she still holds – in 1997, defeating 1995 champion Mary Pierce 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
Twelve months later Hingis successfully defended her title with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Conchita Martinez, before completing her ‘threepeat’ with a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Amelie Mauresmo.
That win was her last Australian Open title and also her last Grand Slam singles title, though she would reach three further finals in Melbourne from 2000-02.
=6) Martina Navratilova – Three titles
In an era when the Australian Open was rather the ‘ugly duckling’ of the four majors, Navratilova’s appearances in Melbourne were few and far between – though she still triumphed three times.
Six years after losing the 1975 final and in just her third showing Down Under, the tennis great battled past rival Chris Evert 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-5 – one of their greatest matches – to win her first title.
After defeat in the 1982 final to Evert, Navratilova bounced back to defeat Kathy Jordan 6-2, 7-6(5) in the 1983 final, before claiming a third and final title with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 win over Evert in 1985.
Navratilova would reach one more final after that, beaten by Hana Mandlikova in 1987.
=2) Margaret Court – Four titles
Across both the amateur and professional eras, Court combined for a total of 11 titles at the tournament – with four coming in the Open Era.
The Australian defeated rival Billie Jean King 6-4, 6-1 in the 1969 final, the first edition of the Australian Open held in the professional age.
Court successfully defended her title in 1970 with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Kerry Melville, before making it three in a row by downing Evonne Goolagong 2-6, 7-6(0), 7-5 in one of the event’s greatest finals.
After missing the tournament in 1972 due to pregnancy, Court returned to win the title one final time in 1973, defeating Goolagong 6-4, 7-5 to triumph.
=2) Evonne Goolagong – Four titles
After defeats to Court in 1971 and 1973, and to Virginia Wade in the 1972 final, Goolagong bounced back to win her home major four times across the mid-1970s.
It was fourth time lucky for Goolagong when she claimed victory in 1974, beating a teenage Evert 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-0 to lift that title.
That was followed by an emphatic 6-3, 6-2 win over Martina Navratilova in the 1975 final, before a 6-2, 6-2 victory versus Renata Tomanova in 1976.
After missing the 1977 (Jan) tournament, Goolagong returned at the 1977 (Dec) event and beat compatriot Helen Gourlay 6-3, 6-0 for her fourth and final triumph on home turf.
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=2) Monica Seles – Four titles
In perhaps the most remarkable run in tournament history, Seles triumphed in her first four appearances at the opening major of the season.
Already a French Open winner, Seles made her debut in 1991 and rallied to beat Jana Novotna 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 in the final – having saved a match point against Mary Joe Fernandez in the last four.
She would then go on to beat Fernandez 6-2, 6-3 in the 1992 final, before sealing a third title in as many appearances with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph against leading rival Steffi Graf in 1993.
After missing the 1994 and 1995 events after her stabbing, Seles returned to claim an emotional fourth and final triumph in 1996, beating Anke Huber 6-4, 6-1.
=2) Steffi Graf – Four titles
The Australian Open was Graf’s least successful major in terms of titles won – but the tennis icon still triumphed at the event four times.
Graf kickstarted her 1988 ‘Golden Slam’ season in Melbourne with a 6-1, 7-6(3) victory over Chris Evert, her first title at the tournament and her second singles major overall.
The German successfully defended her title by overcoming Helena Sukova 6-4, 6-4 in 1989, and then completed her hattrick of titles in 1990 by defeating Fernandez 6-3, 6-4.
After falling to Seles in 1993, Graf bounced back to thrash Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 6-0, 6-2 in the 1994 final – triumphing for a fourth and final time.
1) Serena Williams – Seven titles
Clear at the top of the standings is Williams, whose haul of seven Australian Open titles makes this her joint most successful tournament – alongside Wimbledon.
The tennis great defeated sister Venus 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4 to win her first title in 2003, and regained her crown in 2005 with a rallying 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory against Lindsay Davenport in 2005.
On the comeback trail from injury, an unseeded Williams thrashed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in the 2007 final for her third title, and again dropped just three games in a 6-0, 6-3 win over Dinara Safina in 2009.
Williams successfully defended her title in 2010 by downing key rival Justine Henin 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, and added a sixth title five years later thanks to a 6-3, 7-6(5) victory over Sharapova.
After falling to Angelique Kerber in the 2016 final, Williams won her final Australian Open – and final Slam full stop – by beating Venus 6-4, 6-4 in 2017.
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