French Open: The 8 women with three or more titles as Iga Swiatek aims to climb list

Ewan West 27 May 2024 4:25 PM

Chris Evert, Steffi Graf and Justine Henin

There are eight players who have won three or more titles in the women’s singles tournament at the French Open since the start of tennis’ Open Era in 1968.

Tennis icon Chris Evert holds the record for the most Roland Garros women’s crowns with seven, while Steffi Graf and Justine Henin both make the top three.

There are five women tied with three titles, including current world No 1 and two-time defending champion Iga Swiatek, who can climb the list with victory at the 2024 event.

Here, we look at the eight women who have won three or more titles at Roland Garros in the Open Era.

=4. Iga Swiatek – three titles (2020, 2022, 2023)

Iga Swiatek, who was unseeded and ranked 54th in the world at the time, won her maiden Grand Slam title at the 2020 French Open. Incredibly, she dropped just 28 games en route to the title, with her final 6–4, 6–1 victory over Sofia Kenin sealing a dominant run.

The Pole then lost only a single set at the 2022 edition of Roland Garros, where she crushed Coco Gauff 6–1, 6–3 in the final to claim her second title.

In 2023, Swiatek defended her title to secure a third French Open crown and fourth Major. The only set she dropped was in a hard-fought 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 victory over Karolina Muchova in the championship match.

=4. Serena Williams – three titles (2002, 2013, 2015)

Serena Williams won three of her 23 Grand Slam singles titles at the French Open, with her maiden Paris triumph coming in 2002. The American downed sister Venus Williams 7–5, 6–3 in the final to claim her second Major and make the first step in winning all four Grand Slams in a row.

The tennis legend lost just a single set en route to winning her second Roland Garros title in 2013, where she defeated Maria Sharapova 6–4, 6–4 in the final.

In 2015, Williams battled through five three-set matches to secure a third French Open crown, with a 6–3, 6–7(2–7), 6–2 win against Lucie Safarova in the title match completing her run.

=4. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario – three titles (1989, 1994, 1998)

Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won the first of her three French Open titles in 1989 at the age of 17, when she dethroned Steffi Graf with a 7–6(6), 3–6, 7–5 final triumph.

The Spaniard claimed her second crown at the clay-court Major five years later as she downed Mary Pierce 6–4, 6–4 in the 1994 final.

In 1998, Sanchez Vicario secured her fourth and final Grand Slam title by defeating Monica Seles 7–6(5), 0–6, 6–2 in the Roland Garros championship match.

=4. Monica Seles – three titles (1990, 1991, 1992)

Three of Monica Seles’s nine Grand Slam titles came at the French Open and she beat Steffi Graf 7–6(6), 6–4 in the 1990 Roland Garros final for her maiden Major victory at the age of 16.

The Yugoslavia-born tennis great defended her crown with a 6–3, 6–4 triumph over Sanchez Vicario in the 1991 title match.

The following year, Seles became the first woman in the Open Era to win three straight Roland Garros titles with an epic 6–2, 3–6, 10–8 win against Graf in the final.

=4. Margaret Court – three titles (1969, 1970, 1973)

Margaret Court, who is the all-time women’s Grand Slam record holder, won five French Open titles, with two of these coming before the Open Era began in 1962 and 1964. She claimed her first Open Era Roland Garros crown in 1969 with a 6–1, 4–6, 6–3 final win against Ann Jones.

The Australian defended the title in 1970 — the year in which she completed the calendar Grand Slam — when she defeated Helga Niessen 6–2, 6–4 in the Paris championship match.

In 1973, Court edged out Chris Evert 6–7(5), 7–6(6), 6–4 in the French Open final to secure her final title at the clay-court Major.

3. Justine Henin – four titles (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)

Justine Henin claimed the first of her seven Major titles at the French Open in 2003, when she downed Belgian compatriot Kim Clijsters 6–0, 6–4 in the final.

The tennis great won her second Roland Garros crown in 2005 with a 6–1, 6–1 demolition of Mary Pierce, after saving a match point against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round.

A year later, Henin defeated Kuznetsova again — this time with a 6–4, 6–4 victory in the 2006 final — as she won the tournament without losing a set.

The Belgian then became the second woman to win three consecutive French Open titles when she crushed Anna Ivanovic 6–1, 6–2 in the 2007 title match.

2. Steffi Graf – six titles (1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999)

Steffi Graf won six of her 22 Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros, where she triumphed for the first time in 1987 with a battling 6–4, 4–6, 8–6 win over Martina Navratilova in the final.

The German defended her crown in 1988 — the year she achieved a remarkable Golden Slam — with an astonishing 6-0, 6-0 dismantling of Natasha Zvereva in the title match.

The tennis icon added a third French Open title five years later when she overcame Mary Joe Fernandez 4–6, 6–2, 6–4 in the 1993 title match.

Graf defeated Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in back-to-back Roland Garros finals in 1995: 7–5, 4–6, 6–0, and 1996: 6–3, 6–7(4), 10–8. In 1999, Graf overcame Martina Hingis 4–6, 7–5, 6–2 in the French Open championship match for her last Grand Slam triumph.

1. Chris Evert – seven titles (1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986)

Chris Evert eased past Olga Morozova 6–1, 6–2 in the 1974 Roland Garros final to win her maiden Grand Slam title and she defended her crown with a 2–6, 6–2, 6–1 victory over Martina Navratilova in 1975.

The American won consecutive titles again in 1979 and 1980, when she cruised past Wendy Turnbull 6–2, 6–0 and Virginia Ruzici 6–0, 6–3 in the respective finals.

In 1983, the tennis legend secured her fifth French Open crown as she earned a comfortable 6–1, 6–2 triumph over Mima Jausovec in the title match.

Evert defeated her great rival Navratilova for the second time in a Roland Garros final with a 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–5 win in 1985.

In 1986, she saw off Navratilova again as she prevailed 2–6, 6–3, 6–3 to win her seventh title at the Paris Major and her 18th and final Grand Slam.