All-time tennis records – Women's singles

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This article covers the period 1884 to present. Before the beginning of the Open era in April 1968, only amateurs were allowed to compete in established tennis tournaments, including the four Grand Slams. Wimbledon, the oldest of the majors, was founded in 1877, followed by the US Open in 1881, the French Open in 1891, and the Australian Open in 1905. Beginning in 1905 and continuing to the present day, all four majors have been played yearly, with the exception of the two World Wars, 1986 for the Australian Open, and 2020 for Wimbledon. The Australian Open is the first major of the year (January), followed by the French Open (May–June), Wimbledon (June–July), and US Open (August–September).

There was no prize money and players were compensated for travel expenses only. A player who wins all four current major tournaments in the same calendar year, as an individual or as part of a doubles team, is said to have achieved the "Grand Slam". If the player wins all four consecutively, but not in the same calendar year, it is called a "Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam". Winning all four at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Grand Slam". Winning the four majors and a gold medal in tennis at the Summer Olympics has been called a "Golden Slam" since 1988.[1] Winning all four plus gold at some point in a career, even if not consecutively, is referred to as a "Career Golden Slam". Winning the Year-end Championship also having won a Golden Slam is referred to as a "Super Slam".[2][3][4] Winning the four majors in all three disciplines a player is eligible for–singles, doubles, and mixed doubles–is considered winning a "boxed set" of Grand Slam titles.

The current Grand Slams are the four most prestigious tournaments in the world held every year, they are distinguished by participation from almost every top player and by their two-week duration, 128-player draw in women's singles. It's extremely rare for a player to win all four tournaments, "the Grand Slam", in one calendar year. This was only achieved three times since 1888 by Maureen Connolly, Margaret Court, and Steffi Graf, the latter of whom stands alone in winning the "Golden Slam". These are some of the important records since the start of women's tennis in 1884. Most statistics are based on the data at the WTA Tour and International Tennis Federation, the official websites of each respective Grand Slam tournament and published sources though this is not a definitive list due to the time periods involved. Active streaks and active players are in boldface.


All tournament records

Tournament records and streaks

Singles titles and finals

Tournament streaks

Most titles at a single tournament

Most finals at a single tournament

Titles by court surface type

  • Note - Incomplete. Many pre-Open Era titles missing.


Match records and streaks

Consecutive match streaks

Career winning percentage

All surfaces W–L % *
1. France Suzanne Lenglen 341–7 97.99[15]
2. United States Helen Wills 398–35 91.91
3. Australia Margaret Court 1180–107 91.68 [16]
4. United States Chris Evert 1309–146 89.96
5. Germany Steffi Graf 902–115 88.69
6. Czechoslovakia/United States Martina Navratilova 1442–219 86.81
7. United States Serena Williams 858–156 84.62
8. Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Monica Seles 595–122 82.98
9. Belgium Justine Henin 525–115 82.03
10. United States Billie Jean King** 695–155 81.76
* Minimum + 300 wins
** King's 695–155 record does not include the estimated 500 matches
she played before the open era began in April 1968.


Calendar year achievements

Best single season


Year-end Championships

  • (1972 – present)

Grand Slam tournament records

Grand Slam singles totals

Grand Slam tournament consecutive streaks

This section is for consecutive streaks across all Grand Slam tournaments. If a player skips a tournament the streak ends.

(3) Denotes multiple streaks within one category

active streaks in boldface

Titles Start–end #
1. United States Maureen Connolly 1952 WM–1953 US 6
Australia Margaret Court 1969 US–1971 AU
Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1984 US
4. West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 AU–1989 AU 5
5. Norway/United States Molla Mallory 1915 US–1918 US 4
West Germany Steffi Graf (2) 1993 FR–1994 AU
United States Serena Williams 2002 FR–2003 AU
United States Serena Williams (2) 2014 US–2015 WM
9. United States Helen Wills 1928 FR–1928 US 3
United States Helen Wills (2) 1929 FR–1929 US
United States Pauline Betz 1942 US–1944 US
United States Shirley Fry 1956 WM–1957 AU
Australia Margaret Court (2) 1965 WM–1966 AU
United States Billie Jean King 1967 WM–1968 AU
United States Billie Jean King (2) 1972 FR–1972 US
Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova (2) 1981 AU–1982 WM
United States Chris Evert 1982 US–1983 FR
West Germany Steffi Graf (3) 1989 WM–1990 AU
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/United States Monica Seles 1991 US–1992 FR
West Germany Steffi Graf (4) 1995 FR–1995 US
West Germany Steffi Graf (5) 1996 FR–1996 US
Switzerland Martina Hingis 1997 WM–1998 AU
Finals Start–end #
1. West Germany Steffi Graf 1987 FR–1990 FR 13[26]
2. Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova 1985 FR–1987 US 11
3. United States Maureen Connolly 1952 WM–1953 US 6
Australia Margaret Court 1969 US–1971 AU
Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova (2) 1983 WM–1984 US
United States Chris Evert 1984 FR–1985 WM
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/United States Monica Seles 1991 US–1993 AU
8. United States Pauline Betz 1941 US–1945 US 5
Australia Margaret Court (2) 1963 WM–1964 WM
Australia Margaret Court (3) 1965 AU–1966 AU
West Germany Steffi Graf (2) 1993 AU–1994 AU
Switzerland Martina Hingis 1997 AU–1998 AU
Semifinals Start–end #
1. Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1988 AU 19
2. West Germany Steffi Graf 1987 FR–1990 US 15
3. United States Chris Evert 1984 FR–1986 US 11
Switzerland Martina Hingis 1996 US–1999 FR
5. United States Serena Williams 2014 US–2017 AU 10
6. Australia Margaret Court 1969 AU–1971 AU 9
United States Chris Evert (2) 1981 FR–1983 FR
8. Brazil Maria Bueno 1964 FR–1965 US 7
Australia Margaret Court (2) 1965 AU–1966 WM
United States Billie Jean King 1967 WM–1969 AU
United States Chris Evert (3) 1973 FR–1974 US
Quarterfinals Start–end #
1. Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1988 AU 19
West Germany Steffi Graf
3. Argentina Gabriela Sabatini 1990 WM–1994 AU 15
4. Australia Margaret Court 1968 WM–1971 AU 11
United States Billie Jean King 1967 FR–1969 US
United States Chris Evert
Switzerland Martina Hingis
8. United States Lindsay Davenport 10
United States Serena Williams
10. Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova (2) 9
United States Chris Evert (2)
West Germany Steffi Graf (2)
United States Serena Williams (2)
Match wins Start–end #
1. Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1984 AU 45
2. West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 AU–1989 FR 40
3. Australia Margaret Court 1969 US–1971 FR 35
4. United States Maureen Connolly 1952 WM–1953 US 33
United States Serena Williams 2002 FR–2003 FR
United States Serena Williams (2) 2014 US–2015 US
7. West Germany Steffi Graf (2) 1993 FR–1994 FR 32
8. West Germany Steffi Graf (3) 1989 WM–1990 FR 27
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia/United States Monica Seles 1991 US–1992 WM
Appearances #
1. France Alizé Cornet 63
2. Japan Ai Sugiyama[27] 62
3. Italy Francesca Schiavone 61
4. Serbia Jelena Janković 56
5. France Nathalie Dechy 54
Russia Elena Likhovtseva
7. Switzerland Patty Schnyder 52
8. Germany Angelique Kerber 51
9. Serbia Ana Ivanovic 48
Russia Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova


Grand Slam match winning percentages

* Not all sources agree with one of Wills' losses. She did not play two matches because of appendicitis, causing her to miss the 1926 Wimbledon Championships. Wimbledon did not assign a loss to her or a win to her opponent. The other tournament gave her a loss instead of a default to her and a walkover to her opponent, neither of which count as a loss or a win. It is unknown why the tournament chose to assign a loss to her. Taking these facts into consideration, her adjusted win percentage would be 125–3 = 97.66%.


Grand Slam career achievements

Grand Slam, Golden Slam and Super Slam

Career Grand Slam * Event of completion
United States Maureen Connolly 1953 French International Championships
United States Doris Hart 1954 U. S. National Championships
United States Shirley Fry Irvin 1957 Australian National Championships
Australia Margaret Court 1963 Wimbledon Championships
United States Billie Jean King 1972 French Open
United States Chris Evert 1982 Australian Open
Czech Republic/United States Martina Navratilova 1983 US Open
West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 US Open
United States Serena Williams 2003 Australian Open
Russia Maria Sharapova 2012 French Open
* each Grand Slam title at least once
Career Golden Slam * Event of completion
West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 Olympics
United States Serena Williams 2012 Olympics
* Career Slam + Olympic Gold (since 1988)
Career Super Slam * Event of completion
West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 Olympics
United States Serena Williams 2012 Olympics
* Career Golden Slam + Year-End Championship (since 1970)

Winning tournament without losing a set

  • Minimum 2
# Player Majors
13 United States Helen Wills Moody 1927 US, 1928 FR, 1928 WM, 1928 US, 1929 FR, 1929 WM, 1929 US, 1930 FR, 1930 WM, 1931 US, 1932 FR, 1932 WM, 1938 WM
6 United States Martina Navratilova 1983 WM, 1983 US, 1984 WM, 1986 WM, 1987 US, 1990 WM
United States Serena Williams 2002 WM, 2002 US, 2008 US, 2010 WM, 2014 US, 2017 AU
5 France Suzanne Lenglen 1922 WM, 1923 WM, 1925 FR, 1925 WM, 1926 FR
United States Maureen Connolly 1953 AU, 1953 WM, 1953 US, 1954 FR, 1954 WM
Australia Margaret Court 1961 AU, 1962 AU, 1963 AU, 1965 WM, 1966 AU
United States Chris Evert 1974 FR, 1976 US, 1977 US, 1978 US, 1981 WM
West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 AU, 1988 FR, 1989 AU, 1994 AU, 1996 US
4 Australia Nancye Wynne Bolton 1946 AU, 1947 AU, 1948 AU, 1951 AU
Australia Evonne Goolagong Cowley 1971 FR, 1975 AU, 1976 AU, 1977 AU
3 Germany Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling 1935 FR, 1936 AU, 1937 FR
United States Billie Jean King 1971 US, 1972 FR, 1972 US
United States Lindsay Davenport 1998 US, 1999 WM, 2000 AU
Belgium Justine Henin 2006 FR, 2007 FR, 2007 US
2 United States Doris Hart 1951 WM, 1952 FR
Switzerland Martina Hingis 1997 AU, 1997 US
United States Venus Williams 2001 US, 2008 WM

Youngest and oldest winners

Season streaks

Title leaders by decade

minimum 2 titles


Calendar year achievements

Golden Grand Slam * Event of completion
West Germany Steffi Graf 1988 Olympics
* The Grand Slam + Olympic Gold

Four majors

Three majors

Consecutive majors

Four

Australian/French/Wimbledon/United States Year
United States Maureen Connolly 1953
Australia Margaret Court 1970
West Germany Steffi Graf 1988

Three

Two

Single season winning percentage


Individual major tournaments

Titles per tournament

  • Minimum 3 titles

Consecutive titles per tournament

  • The French Open was only a Grand Slam tournament from 1925 onwards
  • (3) Denotes multiple times

Bold: Active players

Finals per tournament

Bold: Active players

Match wins per tournament

Match win streaks per tournament

A streak does not end if a player skips one or more tournaments between two wins.

Winning percentage per tournament

  • ** both losses were actually "default", Suzanne Lenglen's adjusted win percentage would be 100%.

WTA Tier I, Premier Mandatory and Premier 5

  • Overall totals include Tier I, Premier Mandatory, and Premier 5 tournaments only.
  • Tier I tournaments were played on 3 surfaces, (carpet) ceased as a surface after 1995.

Titles by court type

Match wins/ percentages

Rankings

WTA Prize money leaders

See WTA Tour records#WTA career prize money leaders. As prize money has increased strongly in recent decades, the lists of prize money leaders all-time and for the WTA Tour period (since 1973) are the same.

See also

References

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