The 6 women with the most Wimbledon singles titles in the Open Era
Wimbledon is just days away, with another legendary champion set to be crowned at the All England Club.
Several all-time greats of the women’s game have triumphed at the tournament across the years, with some finding huge success on the hallowed turf of Centre Court.
Here, we look at the six players to have won the most Wimbledon women’s singles titles in the Open Era.
6) Chris Evert – Three titles
Kicking off this list is tennis legend Evert, who won three of her 18 Grand Slam titles at the All England Club.
The American lifted the title for the first time in 1974, defeating Olga Morozova in straight sets, and then reclaimed her title in 1976 with a thrilling three-set triumph versus Evonne Goolagong.
Evert would breeze past Hana Mandlikova to seal her third and final title in 1981, though she reached a further seven finals at the tournament.
5) Billie Jean King – Four titles
Having already lifted two titles in the amateur age, King would go on to win Wimbledon a further four times during the Open Era.
She was the first women’s singles champion of the Open Era, beating Judy Tegart in the 1968 final, and then regained her title by defeating Goolagong in 1972.
King beat a young Evert to successfully defend her title in 1973 and beat Goolagong once again for her final title in 1975, with two further runner-up finishes to her name in the Open Era.
4) Venus Williams – Five titles
One of the most successful players of the 21st century, Venus won five of her seven Grand Slam singles titles at the All England Club.
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The American downed Lindsay Davenport to win her first major at the tournament in 2000, and then defeated Justine Henin in the 2001 final.
Venus then beat Davenport in a legendary three-set battle in the 2005 final, before victories over Marion Bartoli in 2007 and sister Serena in 2008; she has a further four runner-up finishes on her record.
=2) Steffi Graf – Seven titles
Wimbledon was the most successful major of Graf’s legendary career, with the German lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on seven separate occasions.
Graf defeated Martina Navratilova in back-to-back finals in 1988 and 1989, before edging past Gabriela Sabatini in a three-set thriller in 1991.
The German would then thrash Monica Seles in the 1992 final and battled past Jana Novotna in 1993, before a shock round-one loss in 1994.
However, Graf bounced back to beat Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in the 1995 and 1996 finals, with runner-up finishes in 1987 and 1999 to her name.
=2) Serena Williams – Seven titles
Matching Graf on seven titles is tennis icon Serena, who won seven of her 2023 major singles titles at the All England Club.
Serena beat older sister Venus to win her first title in 2002 and then defended her title with a victory over her sister in 2003, before regaining her title in 2009 – again defeating Venus.
The American claimed her fourth title with a straight-sets win over Vera Zvonareva in 2010, before defeating Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012 to claim her fifth Wimbledon title.
Victories over Garbine Muguruza in 2015 and Angelique Kerber in 2016 completed Serena’s haul of seven titles, reaching 11 finals in total across her career.
1) Martina Navratilova – Nine titles
No player, male or female, has yet been able to match Navratilova’s stunning record of nine singles titles at the tournament.
Navratilova beat Evert in a three-set thriller to lift her first title in 1978 and again beat her legendary rival in 1979, before sealing her third title with triumph versus Evert in 1982.
That started a run of six consecutive triumphs for the Czech-American, who downed Andrea Jaeger in the 1983 final, Evert in 1984 and 1985, Mandlikova in 1986, and Graf in 1987.
Having been beaten by Graf in the 1988 and 1989 finals, Navratilova won her ninth and final title in 1990, defeating Zina Garrison, before reaching a further final in 1994.
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