The 10 greatest female grass-court players of the Open Era – ranked!
Grass-court tennis has helped produce some of the greatest tennis champions of all time.
Several WTA Tour icons have thrived and forged incredible legacies on the surface, but who are the greatest of them all?
Factoring in Open Era statistics, and looking at Wimbledon success, overall grass-court triumphs, and match wins and win percentage, we rank the 10 greatest female grass-court players of the modern age.
10) Maria Sharapova
Sharapova’s stunning run to the Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old back in 2004 cemented her status as a tennis superstar, and she remained a consistent force on grass across her career.
The Russian held an impressive 79.80% record on the surface by the time of her retirement and reached a second SW19 final in 2011, alongside three further semi-finals.
Sharapova also claimed back-to-back Birmingham titles early on in her career, and 83 grass-court match wins.
9) Petra Kvitova
Few players in recent years have found themselves on comfortable on grass courts as Kvitova, who will be retiring later this summer.
The Czech’s two greatest triumphs came on the hallowed turf of Wimbledon’s Centre Court, lifting the title in 2011 and 2014.
However, Kvitova has an overall 76.28% record on the surface, with significant triumphs in Birmingham, Berlin, and Eastbourne to her name.
8) Evonne Goolagong
One of the most graceful players in tennis history, Aussie icon Goolagong won six of her seven Grand Slam titles on grass courts.
Goolagong lifted the Wimbledon title nine years apart, in 1971 and 1980, and reached three further finals at the All England Club, while winning four of her seven Australian Open finals on the surface.
The Australian won 38 grass-court titles in total, the second-highest of any woman in the Open Era.
7) Billie Jean King
A player whose success spanned the amateur and professional eras of the sport, tennis icon King won an impressive 22 grass-court singles titles in the Open Era.
Among the American’s Open Era successes were four of her six Wimbledon women’s singles crowns, with two further runner-up finishes inside Centre Court.
King also won three US Open titles on grass courts across the early 1970s, with all but one of her eight Open Era Grand Slam singles titles coming on the surface.
6) Chris Evert
US icon Evert won an impressive 17 WTA Tour titles on grass courts across her career, with 242 match wins and an 87.36% win rate on the surface – the third-highest for both statistics.
Evert reached a staggering 10 finals at Wimbledon and lifted the title three times, triumphing in 1974, 1976, and 1981.
However, she was also a two-time Australian Open on the grass, and reached a further three finals on the surface Down Under.
5) Margaret Court
Court’s record of 46 grass-court singles titles will surely never be broken, with the Australian’s dominant success continuing well into the Open Era.
She won eight majors on the surface as a professional, with a 1970 Wimbledon triumph accompanied by four triumphs at her home Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne, and three US Open victories.
Court won a staggering 293 matches on the surface, a record that only one woman in the Open Era can better.
Tennis News
The 7 women with highest grass-court win percentage: Martina Navratilova 88.72%, Serena Williams 2nd
The 7 women with the highest Grand Slam final win percentage: Iga Swiatek 100%, Serena Williams 5th
4) Venus Williams
When you think of Wimbledon in the 21st Century, Venus Williams will be one of the players that comes to mind.
The US icon was the dominant champion of the 2000s at SW19, lifting the women’s singles title in 2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, and 2008.
Williams also has a further four runner-up finishes at the tournament to her name, while her grass court win percentage of 81.66% ranks her sixth all-time.
3) Steffi Graf
Graf won seven titles on grass across her career; all of them came at Wimbledon.
The German is one of the most successful players in SW19 history, winning the title from 1988-89, 1991-93, and 1995-96, alongside two further runner-up finishes.
Despite not winning a grass-court title elsewhere, Graf won 85 of her 100 career matches on the surface, a win rate that is the third-highest in WTA Tour history.
2) Serena Williams
Tennis legend Williams won 107 matches on grass across her career, with her overall win percentage of 87.80% the second-highest of the Open Era.
Williams won Wimbledon titles in 2002-03, 2009-10, 2012, and 2015-16, with her seven titles at the tournament drawing her level with Graf; she finished as the runner-up a further four times.
With an Olympic gold medal also won on Centre Court at London 2012, the US star undoubtedly seals her place as one of the very best to play on grass courts.
1) Martina Navratilova
Navratilova holds so many records on grass courts that it was impossible to pick anyone other than her as the greatest female grass-courter of the Open Era.
To start, the Czech-born American won a record nine Wimbledon women’s singles titles, including a historic run of six straight titles from 1982 to 1987.
Navratilova also won three Australian Open titles on grass and won a record 307 matches on the surface, with a WTA-leading win rate of 88.72%.
With 32 titles on the surface in total, she is a clear No 1.
Read Next: The 10 greatest male grass court players of Open Era – ranked!
