Here is my list of the Top 10 female tennis players from history (ie who are no longer playing)
#1 Margaret Court (b 1942)
Career prize money: $500,000 | 192 career titles
24 Grand Slam singles titles: 11 Australian Open, 5 French Open, 3 Wimbledon, 5 US Open
Margaret boasts a record 62 Major titles and was the first woman in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam in singles in 1970. She was undoubtedly the best player of the 1960s in a time when women’s tennis was overlooked
#2 Steffi Graf (b 1969)
Career Prize Money: $21,891,306 | 107 career titles
22 Grand Slam singles titles: 4 Australian Open, 6 French Open, 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open
Able to win on all surfaces, Graff has been a model of consistency throughout her 17-year career. Holding a record 377 weeks at #1, in 1988 she won all four majors and the Olympic gold medal in the same year.
#3 Martina Navratilova (b 1956)
Career Prize Money: $21,626,089 | 167 career titles
18 Grand Slam singles titles: 3 Australian Opens, 2 French Opens, 9 Wimbledons, 4 US Opens
Martina Navratilova dominated women’s tennis in 70s-80s. Known for her extreme physical power, she holds the record for career titles in the Open Era with 167 and 59 total Grand Slam titles including singles, doubles and mixed doubles and 9 Wimbledon titles. Plus 31 Grand Slam doubles and 10 mixed doubles titles.
#4 Serena Williams (b 1981)
Career Prize Money: $94,588,910 | 73 career titles
23 Grand Slam singles titles: 7 Australian Open, 3 French Open, 7 Wimbledon, 6 US Open
Serena and her sister Venus have been a dominant force in women’s tennis since the late 1990s. Together they have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles over a span of 18 years starting in 1999, to 2017 Australian Open.
#5 Chris Evert (b 1954)
Career prize money: $8,895,195 | 157 career titles
18 Grand Slam singles titles: 2 Australian Opens, 7 French Opens, 3 Wimbledons, 6 US Opens
Defined as a “baseline machine” and with her two-handed backhand, and holds the record for most Grand Slam singles final victories. In 1974, at just 19 she won Roland Garros, ranked #1 for 7years and had a career winning % in singles matches of 90%
#6 Billie Jean King (b 1943)
Career prize money: $1,966,487 | 129 career titles
12 Grand Slam singles titles: 1 Australian Open, 1 French Open, 6 Wimbledon, 4 US Open
From the mid-1960s she dominated women’s tennis scene with an aggressive style of play that constantly pushed her towards the net with excellent agility. Also won the Wimbledon 6 times from 1966 to 1975.
#7 Evonne Goolagong (b 1951)
Career Prizes: $1,399,431 | 68 career titles
7 Grand Slam singles titles: 4 Australian Opens, 1 French Open, 2 Wimbledons
Goolagong managed to win 7 Grand Slam titles and was ranked #1 in 1976. She managed to win Wimbledon in 1980 after becoming a mother. The only Grand Slam that “escaped” her was US Open.
#8 Monica Seles (b 1973)
9 Grand Slam singles titles: 4 Australian Opens, 3 French Opens, 2 US Opens
At the age of 19, on April 30, 1993, Monica Seles was stabbed on the courts of Hamburg. If not been for this terrible episode, the athlete would have surely won many more Grand Slams Although Monica returned to play two years after the accident, she was never the same on the court, although she still managed to win the 1996 Australian Open.
#9 Martina Hingis (b 1980)
Career Prize Money: $24,749,074 | 45 career titles
5 Grand Slam singles titles: 3 Australian Opens, 1 Wimbledon, 1 US Open
With 5 Grand Slam singles titles and 209 weeks at #1, Martina Hingis was on of the best. Her singles career was short due to injuries retirement in 2003 at just 22. Martina won 3 Grand Slam titles in 2017, her last year of competitive activity.
#10 Helen Wills (b 1905)
Career Prize Money: $42,288,213 | 49 career titles
19 Grand Slam singles titles: 8 Wimbledon, 7 US Open, French 4x
She won 31 Grand Slam tournament titles (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) during her career, including 19 singles titles. Also add 12 U.S., Wimbledon /French doubles championships. Wills soon dominated women’s tennis; from 1926 -1932 she did not lose a set in singles play from 1919 to 1938, and achieved 91.9% win–loss match record
?? Venus Williams (b 1980)
Career Prize Money: $42,288,213 | 49 career titles
7 Grand Slam singles titles: 5 Wimbledon, 2 US Open
If she didn’t have to compete with her sister, Venus would have many more Grand Slams! Her career was marred by numerous injuries. 2000/2001 Venus won 4 Grand Slam titles. In 2002 she finally reached #1 which she achieved on three different occasions. Wimbledon was her favorite where she won five titles. I didn’t include Venus because she is still playing
Top 50 Players by Grand Slam Totals
| GRAND SLAMS | POPULARITY | NAME | GENDER | NATIONALITY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 40 | Novak Djokovic | ♂ | SCG/SRB |
| 24 | 8 | Margaret Court | ♀ | AUS |
| 23 | 14 | Serena Williams | ♀ | USA |
| 23 | 20 | Ken Rosewall | ♂ | AUS |
| 22 | 5 | Rafael Nadal | ♂ | ESP |
| 22 | 6 | Steffi Graf | ♀ | FRG/GER |
| 20 | 1 | Roger Federer | ♂ | SUI |
| 19 | 2 | Rod Laver | ♂ | AUS |
| 19 | 29 | Helen Wills | ♀ | USA |
| 18 | 7 | Martina Navratilova | ♀ | USA |
| 18 | 9 | Chris Evert | ♀ | USA |
| 15 | 16 | Bill Tilden | ♂ | USA |
| 14 | 4 | Pete Sampras | ♂ | USA |
| 14 | 35 | Pancho Gonzalez | ♂ | USA |
| 12 | 10 | Billie Jean King | ♀ | USA |
| 12 | 17 | Roy Emerson | ♂ | AUS |
| 12 | 24 | Suzanne Lenglen | ♀ | FRA |
| 11 | 3 | Björn Borg | ♂ | SWE |
| 11 | 46 | Henri Cochet | ♂ | FRA |
| 10 | 11 | Don Budge | ♂ | USA |
| 10 | 23 | Fred Perry | ♂ | GBR |
| 9 | 19 | Monica Seles | ♀ | YUG/USA |
| 9 | 27 | Maureen Connolly | ♀ | USA |
| 8 | 12 | Andre Agassi | ♂ | USA |
| 8 | 15 | Jimmy Connors | ♂ | USA |
| 8 | 18 | Ivan Lendl | ♂ | TCH/USA |
| 7 | 13 | John McEnroe | ♂ | USA |
| 7 | 22 | Venus Williams | ♀ | USA |
| 7 | 26 | Justine Henin | ♀ | BEL |
| 7 | 31 | John Newcombe | ♂ | AUS |
| 7 | 33 | Mats Wilander | ♂ | SWE |
| 7 | 36 | René Lacoste | ♂ | FRA |
| 7 | 37 | Evonne Goolagong Cawley | ♀ | AUS |
| 7 | 38 | Maria Bueno | ♀ | BRA |
| 7 | 48 | Frank Sedgman | ♂ | AUS |
| 7 | 50 | Tony Trabert | ♂ | USA |
| 6 | 21 | Boris Becker | ♂ | FRG/GER |
| 6 | 25 | Stefan Edberg | ♂ | SWE |
| 6 | 39 | Althea Gibson | ♀ | USA |
| 6 | 51 | Doris Hart | ♀ | USA |
| 6 | 52 | Jack Crawford | ♂ | AUS |
| 5 | 30 | Martina Hingis | ♀ | SUI |
| 5 | 32 | Lew Hoad | ♂ | AUS |
| 5 | 34 | Jack Kramer | ♂ | USA |
| 4 | 41 | Guillermo Vilas | ♂ | ARG |
| 4 | 42 | Jim Courier | ♂ | USA |
| 4 | 44 | Arantxa Sánchez Vicario | ♀ | ESP |
| 4 | 45 | Kim Clijsters | ♀ | BEL |
| 4 | 47 | Jean Borotra | ♂ | FRA |
| 4 | 54 | Manuel Santana | ♂ | ESP |
| 3 | 28 | Arthur Ashe | ♂ | USA |
| 3 | 43 | Lindsay Davenport | ♀ | USA |
| 3 | 55 | Gustavo Kuerten | ♂ | BRA |
| 2 | 49 | Ilie Năstase | ♂ | ROU |
| 2 | 53 | Tracy Austin | ♀ | USA |
| 2 | 56 | Stan Smith | ♂ | USA |