The 5 women with the most grass-court match wins: Martina Navratilova No 1, Chris Evert third

Ewan West
Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert at Wimbledon
Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert at Wimbledon

Nine-time Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova has won more matches on grass than any other player in the Open Era.

The legendary Czech-American won an astonishing 1,442 singles matches across all surfaces at WTA Tour level, with 306 of these triumphs coming at Grand Slam tournaments.

Here, we look at the five women with the most grass-court singles match victories in WTA Tour history.

5) Helena Sukova – 125

Helena Sukova, who played between 1983 and 1998, compiled a 614-307 career singles record and 125 of her wins came on grass courts.

The Czech won two grass-court titles from the eight finals she reached on the surface and claimed 10 WTA singles titles overall. Sukova was a four-time Grand Slam singles finalist and reached a career-high ranking of world No 4 in singles.

4) Pam Shriver – 186

Pam Shriver’s career spanned from 1978 to 1997 and she amassed a 625-270 WTA singles record, with 186 of her triumphs coming on grass.

The American won 10 of her 21 WTA singles titles at grass-court events and reached 19 finals on the surface. Shriver peaked at world No 3 in singles and reached her one Major singles final as an amateur at the 1978 US Open, losing to Chris Evert.

3) Chris Evert – 242

Chris Evert, who played from 1972 to 1989, earned a gargantuan 1,304 victories from her 1,448 WTA singles contests and she won 242 matches on grass courts.

The American collected 17 of her 157 WTA titles at grass-court tournaments, while she was also a 12-time runner-up on the surface.

The former world No 1 won three of the 10 Wimbledon finals she contested, while she also won the Australian Open twice on grass.

The 10 women with the most grass-court titles: Martina Navratilova 3rd, Serena Williams joint-7th

2) Margaret Court – 293

Margaret Court, who played from 1960 to 1977, won 293 matches on grass courts in the Open Era.

The Australian won 46 of her 96 Open Era singles titles at grass-court tournaments and eight of these triumphs came at Grand Slams.

Court won the Australian Open four times, the US Open three times and Wimbledon once after the start of the Open Era in 1968. She won an all-time record of 24 women’s Grand Slam singles titles overall.

1) Martina Navratilova – 307

Martina Navratilova turned professional in 1974 and retired from singles in 1994, but she also played a handful of matches between 2002 and 2005 after making a comeback.

The former world No 1 secured 32 of her record 167 WTA singles titles at grass-court events, while she was also a nine-time runner-up on the surface.

In addition, 12 of Navratilova’s 18 Major singles crowns came on grass as she won Wimbledon nine times and also claimed three Australian Open crowns.

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