The 10 greatest female hard-court players of all time – ranked!
The first hard-court Grand Slam event was not held until 1978 but, less than five decades on, the surface is the most common on the WTA Tour.
Several all-time greats of the sport have found huge success on hard courts across the globe, but who are the greatest hard-court players of all time?
Here, we rank the 10 greatest female hard-court players of the Open Era.
Grand Slam success is a factor, though we also factor in that the US Open was not on hard until 1978, and the Australian Open was not on the surface until 1988.
We also look at overall impact and legacy on the surface, big titles and overall titles won, match wins and win percentage, and the era each player was competing in.
Agree or disagree with our list? Let us know in the comments.
10) Venus Williams
Our list starts with tennis great Venus, who has won 31 of her 49 WTA Tour titles on hard courts across her career.
The American is a two-time US Open champion and twice an Australian Open runner-up, with a WTA Finals title and Olympic gold won on the surface.
Venus’ 500 hard-court wins are the second-most of any woman in WTA Tour history, and she has won the joint-fifth most titles during her three decades on tour.
9) Lindsay Davenport
Davenport won a staggering 464 hard-court matches across her career, a tally that only three women in WTA Tour history can beat.
The American was a champion at the US Open in 1998 and Australian Open in 2000, reaching further finals at both events, and her 33 hard-court titles rank her fourth in the WTA standings.
The former world No 1 holds a win percentage of 79.93%, the eighth-highest among women competing on the WTA Tour.
8) Martina Hingis
One of the leading players of the 1990s and early 2000s, Hingis’ greatest successes came on hard courts across her career.
The Swiss reached six straight Australian Open finals, including three triumphs from 1997-99, and was also the US Open champion in 1997, with two further runner-up finishes.
Her win percentage of 79.47% ranks her ninth in WTA history, while won 24 WTA titles on the surface, including six at WTA 1000 level.
7) Justine Henin
While best associated with her success on clay, Henin was also a fantastic hard-courter at the peak of her powers in the mid-2000s.
The Belgian’s win rate of 81.98% ranks her seventh in WTA Tour history, with a total of 25 career hard-court titles to her name.
Henin was a two-time US Open champion and triumphed at the Australian Open in 2006, with an Olympic gold and two WTA Finals titles also won on the surface.
6) Kim Clijsters
Thirty-one of Clijster’s 41 WTA Tour titles came on hard courts across her legendary career, including all four of her Grand Slam titles.
The Belgian was the 2011 Australian Open winner and a three-time champion at the US Open, also winning six WTA 1000 crowns and three WTA Finals titles on the surface.
Clijsters won 325 hard-court matches across her career, and her win rate of 82.69% ranks her sixth in tour history.
5) Martina Navratilova
Despite hard-court tennis not coming in fully until the late 1970s and 1980s, tennis icon Navratilova still won 375 matches on the surface – a tally only eight women can beat to this date.
Her 87.00% win rate is the third-highest of all time, and her 29 WTA Tour titles on hard-courts rank joint-seventh among greats of the surface.
Most notably, she won all four of her US Open titles on hard courts, triumphing in 1983-84 and 1986-87.
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4) Monica Seles
A ‘What if?’ hangs over large parts of Seles’ career, though there is no denying that the tennis icon was a formidable force on hard courts during her career.
The former world No 1 won four Australian Open titles, and at one stage won 33 straight matches in Melbourne, while she also won two US Open titles from four finals in New York.
Seles won 28 hard-court titles across her career, with an 83.82% (311-60) record the fifth-highest in WTA Tour history.
3) Chris Evert
To this day, Evert’s staggering hard-court win percentage of 91.57% ranks as the highest on the WTA Tour, cementing her place as a great on the surface.
Her tally of 478 match wins on hard courts is only beaten by two women, while her 35 hard-court titles is also the third-most in the history of the WTA Tour.
The US icon won three US Open titles on hard-courts after the tournament switched to the surface, with a further three runner-up finishes in New York, and a final appearance at the 1988 Australian Open.
2) Steffi Graf
Undoubtedly one of the greatest players to ever pick up a racket, Graf won nine of her 22 Grand Slam singles titles on hard courts.
Only one woman has won more major titles on the surface than the German, who lifted four Australian Open and five US Open titles during her legendary career.
Graf also has the second-highest win percentage of all time on the surface, winning 89.65% of her hard-court matches, and claimed an impressive 338 wins in total.
Her 37 WTA titles on the surface are also the second-highest of all time, only beaten by one player…
1) Serena Williams
Out in front is tennis icon Serena, whose hard-court CV is truly extraordinary.
With a record seven Australian Open and joint-record six US Open titles to her name, no woman can match her 13 Grand Slam titles won on the surface.
Serena also won a record 48 hard-court titles across her career, and her win rate of 85.33% is the fourth-highest in tour history.
Coupled with a record 541 match wins on the surface, the former world No 1 is our pick of the best WTA hard-court stars.
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