Greatest female tennis players of all time: Is Serena Williams or Margaret Court the GOAT?

As Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and co predominate the apical of the women's tennis crippled astatine present, Sports Mole chooses to item immoderate of the stars of the past who tin justifiably laic assertion to the rubric of the GOAT.

In 10 oregon 20 years time, the existent WTA Tour trailblazers whitethorn unit their mode into this conversation, but erstwhile it comes to debates implicit which pistillate subordinate genuinely is the astir devastating with racquet successful hand, luminaries from the 1900s and aboriginal 2000s instantly outpouring to mind.

A 10-strong database means that determination is nary abstraction for plentifulness of celebrated names with respective Grand Slam titles connected their CV, and fans of Justine Henin, Virginia Wade and Martina Hingis volition beryllium disappointed should they take to work on.

Here, Sports Mole counts down its subjective database of the 10 top pistillate tennis players to ever grace the game.

10. Evonne Goolagong

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Achievements

Still a recognisable look successful and astir Melbourne, 1 of Australia's favourite daughters - Evonne Goolagong - won 4 of her 7 Grand Slam singles titles successful her homeland, successful summation to 1 French Open crown and 2 Wimbledon triumphs.

Goolagong's occurrence astatine SW19 successful 1980 was peculiarly notable, arsenic she became the archetypal parent successful 66 years to triumph the women's singles rubric astatine Wimbledon and did truthful by beating 4 top-10 players en way to the trophy.

Also a revered doubles player, Goolagong won six of her 7 large finals with a spouse of the aforesaid enactment and was a portion of 3 Fed Cup-winning Australia squads.

9. Venus Williams

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Achievements

Yet to officially telephone clip connected her illustrious tennis career, 44-year-old Venus Williams won the archetypal of her 7 Grand Slam singles honours each the mode backmost successful 2000, the aforesaid twelvemonth she took location an Olympic golden medal successful the women's singles.

Five of the American's 7 large singles honours came connected the lawns of Wimbledon, and erstwhile she topped the globe successful aboriginal 2002, she became the archetypal achromatic subordinate to go the women's satellite fig 1 successful the Open Era.

While she some won and mislaid to her beloved sister Serena Williams successful galore a mouthwatering final, Venus Williams teamed up with her sibling to triumph a plethora of important doubles honours, conscionable the 14 astatine Grand Slam tournaments.

8. Billie Jean King

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Achievements

Renowned for her trailblazing enactment disconnected the tribunal arsenic good arsenic her magnificent feats with the racquet successful hand, the USA's Billie Jean King took location 12 Grand Slam singles trophies and was often irrepressible connected the planetary country with the USA.

Indeed, King won 7 Fed Cup honours with her state earlier the tourney was renamed successful her honour, though nary of those victories whitethorn comparison to her watershed triumph successful the 'Battle of the Sexes'.

The present 81-year-old was 29 erstwhile she defeated erstwhile Wimbledon champion Bobby Riggs - past 55 - and she volition everlastingly beryllium heralded arsenic 1 of the pioneers for sex equality successful sport.

7. Monica Seles

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Achievements

A baby-faced 16-year-old erstwhile she won her first-ever French Open title, Monica Seles - who remains the youngest-ever subordinate to conquer Roland-Garros - was ostensibly en way to smash women's tennis records left, close and centre implicit the adjacent 2 decades.

The Yugoslavia-born prima had clinched a whopping 8 Grand Slam honours during her teenage years, but her vocation was successful jeopardy successful 1993, erstwhile she was horifically stabbed by a crazed Steffi Graf instrumentality and subsequently spent 2 years retired of the sport.

However, Seles reached different 4 large singles finals aft her agelong hiatus - winning 1 astatine the 1996 Australian Open - but determination was ever a consciousness of what could person been aft her traumatic onslaught successful Hamburg.

6. Chris Evert

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Achievements

One of the astir accordant Grand Slam players to ever grace the court, Chris Evert hoisted a large trophy aloft connected 18 occasions, spent 260 weeks astatine satellite fig 1 and was seldom seen packing her bags earlier a Grand Slam semi.

Indeed, from 49 large tournaments betwixt the 1971 US Open and 1987 Wimbledon Championships, Evert astatine slightest reached the semi-finals connected an astonishing 48 occasions, the 1 outlier being a daze third-round exit astatine Wimbledon successful 1983.

While serving and volleying was each the rage successful Evert's era, the American alternatively flaunted her prowess from the baseline and relied connected her tremendous fittingness and accuracy to deterioration her foes down.

5. Steffi Graf

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Achievements

The 5th and astir caller elder singles subordinate to execute a Grand Slam - winning each 4 majors successful 1 twelvemonth - Steffi Graf conquered the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open successful 1988, becoming the lone singles subordinate to implicit the Grand Slam acceptable crossed 3 surfaces.

Those 4 crowns comprised a tiny portion of the 22 that the German-born Graf clinched passim the people of her career, wherever she was connected apical of the satellite for nary less than 377 weeks, an all-time grounds that should not beryllium breached anytime soon.

4. Helen Wills

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Achievements

Helen Wills was the unyielding ascendant unit of women's tennis during the aboriginal 20th century, taking location a whopping 19 Grand Slam singles titles and Olympic golden successful 1924.

Wills's 96.9% triumph complaint astatine Grand Slams is inactive the champion of immoderate women's subordinate successful the past of the sport, and her 8 women's singles titles astatine Wimbledon are lone bettered by 1 different pistillate icon connected this list.

Regarded arsenic the archetypal existent American pistillate sports celebrity, Wills won an astronomical 180 matches successful a enactment from 1927 to 1933 and besides took portion successful the much-publicised "Match of the Century" with Suzanne Lenglen successful 1926, which she lost.

3. Martina Navratilova

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Achievements

The undisputed queen of Open Era women's tennis erstwhile it comes to wide titles won, Martina Navratilova took location an unrivalled 167 singles honours with the racquet successful her hand, the astir of immoderate antheral oregon pistillate subordinate successful the Open Era.

Eighteen of those honours were won successful a Grand Slam setting, including a grounds 9 astatine Wimbledon, portion she besides collected 41 doubles Grand Slam honours for a scarcely believable 59 large crowns successful total.

Only the aforementioned Graf tin boast to person spent much weeks arsenic women's satellite fig 1 than Navratilova (332), who besides bushed the reigning top-ranked subordinate connected 18 occasions, much than immoderate different women's subordinate past oregon present.

2. Serena Williams

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Achievements

Before precocious "evolving distant from tennis", Serena Williams - unneurotic with Venus Williams, unlucky not to beryllium considered for this database - emerged triumphant successful 23 Grand Slam finals; nary pistillate successful the Open Era has done truthful connected much occasions.

If her blistering service did not overwhelm her opponents, the ever-powerful Williams would edifice to unstoppable winners from either her backhand oregon forehand side, and she spent implicit 300 weeks astatine the apical of the WTA rankings.

To date, Williams is the lone pistillate successful the Open Era with 500 singles hard-court wins; her sister Venus, yet to discontinue but presently inactive, sits connected 499.

1. Margaret Court

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Achievements

Take Navratilova's 167 singles titles and adhd 25 to it - that is the fig of top-level honours that the legendary Margaret Court achieved, with 92 coming successful the Open Era and 100 arriving beforehand.

The Australian sits atop the Grand Slam charts alongside Djokovic with 24 singles honours to her sanction from large tournaments, including 11 from her location tourney Down Under, wherever the third-largest Australian Open tribunal is named aft her.

Equally competent successful the doubles game, Court besides won 19 large women's doubles and 21 large mixed doubles championships and holds the WTA grounds for the astir titles successful a azygous year, taking location 21 successful 1970.

> Click present to presumption our database of the apical 10 top antheral players of each time

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