The 5 youngest Wimbledon women’s singles champions of the Open Era
Wimbledon has crowned countless legendary champions over the years, though some have found success a little earlier than others.
In the 57 years since the start of the Open Era, five different women have lifted the title before turning 20, and all of them are multiple-time Grand Slam champions.
Here, we look at the five youngest Wimbledon women’s singles champions since 1968.
5) Evonne Goolagong: 19 years, 11 months, 3 days – 1971
Weeks after winning her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, Aussie icon Goolagong went on to win the first of her two Wimbledon titles in 1971.
The third seed beat sixth seed Nancy Richey in the last eight and then second seed Billie Jean King in the semi-final, before a 6-4, 6-1 victory over top seed and defending champion Margaret Court in the final.
Goolagong became the first teenager in the Open Era to lift the Wimbledon women’s singles title, and only four women younger than her have lifted the title in the 54 years since her victory.
4) Chris Evert: 19 years, 6 months, 15 days – 1974
Tennis legend Evert won three of her 18 Grand Slam singles titles at the All England Club and, after winning her first Slam at the French Open, triumphed at Wimbledon weeks later in 1974.
After losing the 1973 final, second seed Evert defeated Helga Masthoff and sixth seed Kerry Melville to reach the final, where she was up against eighth seed Olga Morozova.
Having already beaten Morozova in the Roland Garros final, the 19-year-old American prevailed 6-0, 6-4 to triumph, and she remains Wimbledon’s fourth-youngest women’s champion of the Open Era.
3) Steffi Graf: 19 years, 0 months, 20 days – 1988
Amid her historic Calendar Golden Slam in 1988, a 19-year-old Graf would win the first of her seven titles at the All England Club, and she remains the third-youngest woman to capture the title.
Turning 19 just days before the start of the tournament, world No 1 Graf did not drop a set on her way to the final, including a dominant 6-1, 6-2 victory over third seed Pam Shriver in the semi-finals.
Graf had lost the 1987 final to Martina Navratilova but turned the tables on the defending champion here, battling back to seal a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory.
2) Maria Sharapova: 17 years, 2 months, 15 days – 2004
The youngest player, male or female, to win a Grand Slam singles title in the 21st century, Sharapova was just 17 when she won the first of her five majors at Wimbledon in 2004.
Seeded 13th in the draw, Sharapova battled past 11th seed Ai Sugiyama and fifth seed Lindsay Davenport to reach the final, where she stunned two-time defending champion and top seed Serena Williams 6-1, 6-4.
The Russian was still only 19 when she claimed her second major at the 2006 US Open, making her the last teenager to win multiple Grand Slam titles.
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1) Martina Hingis: 16 years, 9 months, 6 days – 1997
Hingis is not only the youngest woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam title, but also the youngest to lift the Wimbledon title.
The Swiss had already won the Australian Open and risen to world No 1 heading into SW19 in 1997 and did not drop a set on her way to the final, dispatching future doubles partner Anna Kournikova in the last four.
Sixteen-year-old Hingis dropped a set for the first time against third seed Jana Novotna in the championship match, though she rallied to triumph 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
It was her first and only appearance in the singles final at the All England Club, but 28 years on, it seems unlikely her record will ever be broken.
Where would Andreeva rank?
Among the biggest stars at Wimbledon in 2025 is teen sensation Mirra Andreeva, with the seventh seed into the last eight for the first time at SW19.
Should she go on to lift the title on Saturday (July 12), she would become the third-youngest winner of the Open Era, aged 18 years, 2 months, and 14 days.
