The 100 Greatest Tennis Players of All-Time

Methodology. (Last updated: 1/25/25)

RankPlayerYearsCountry
1Serena Williams1995-2022USA
2Steffi Graf1982-1999Germany
3Martina Navratilova1974-2006USA
4Chris Evert1972-1989USA
5Margaret Court1960-1977Australia
6Monica Seles1989-2003Yugoslavia/USA
7Helen Wills Moody1922-1938USA
8Billie Jean King1968-1990USA
9Martina Hingis1994-2017Switzerland
10Justine Henin1999-2011Belgium
11Venus Williams1994-activeUSA
12Maria Sharapova2001-2020Russia
13Maureen Connolly1949-1954USA
14Maria Bueno1957-1977Brazil
15Evonne Goolagong Cawley1967-1983Australia
16Iga Świątek2016-activePoland
17Lindsay Davenport1993-2010USA
18Arantxa Sánchez Vicario1985-2002Spain
19Kim Clijsters1997-2022Belgium
20Suzanne Lenglen1914-1926France
21Pauline Betz1939-1946USA
22Doris Hart1940-1955USA
23Louise Brough1942-1959USA
24Hana Mandlíková1978-1990Czechoslovakia/Australia
25Simona Halep2006-activeRomania
26Aryna Sabalenka2015-activeBelarus
27Gabriela Sabatini1982-1996Argentina
28Jennifer Capriati1990-2004USA
29Ashleigh Barty2010-2022Australia
30Angelique Kerber2003-activeGermany
31Naomi Osaka2013-activeJapan
32Margaret Osbourne duPont1938-1962USA
33Victoria Azarenka2003-activeBelarus
34Petra Kvitová2006-activeCzech Republic
35Conchita Martinez1998-2006Spain
36Amélie Mauresmo1993-2009France
37Caroline Wozniacki2005-activeDenmark
38Mary Pierce1989-2006France
39Ann Jones1955-1977England
40Virginia Wade1968-1986England
41Svetlana Kuznetsova2000-2021Russia
42Alice Marble1931-1940USA
43Althea Gibson1950-1958USA
44Shirley Fry1941-1957USA
45Jana Novotná1987-1999Czech Republic
46Garbiñe Muguruza2012-2024Spain
47Darlene Hard1953-1970USA
48Helen Jacobs1925-1941USA
49Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling1929-1939Germany
50Jelena Janković2000-2022Serbia
51Tracy Austin1978-1994USA
52Li Na1999-2014China
53Ana Ivanovic2003-2016Serbia
54Dinara Safina2000-2011Russia
55Madison Keys2009-activeUSA
56Barbora Krejčíková2010-activeCzech Republic
57Lottie Dod1887-1893England
58Dorothea Douglass Lambert Chambers1903-1925England
59Molla Mallory1909-1929Norway/USA
60Nancy Richey1958-1978USA
61Lesley Bowrey1959-1978Australia
62Angela Mortimer1951-1962England
63Coco Gauf2018-activeUSA
64Karolína Plíšková2009-activeCzech Republic
65Elena Dementieva1998-2010Russia
66Vera Zvonareva2000-activeRussia
67Anastasia Myskina1998-2007Russia
68Iva Majoli1991-2004Croatia
69Elena Rybakina2014-activeKazakhstan
70Samantha Stosur1999-2022Australia
71Helena Suková1983-1998Czech Republic
72Mary Joe Fernandez1986-2000USA
73Wendy Turnbull1975-1989Australia
74Jelena Ostapenko2012-activeLatvia
75Sloane Stephens2009-acitveUSA
76Marion Bartoli2000-2013France
77Flavia Pennetta2000-2015Italy
78Bianca Andreescu2017-activeCanada
79Markéta Vondroušová2017-activeCzech Republic
80Simonne Mathieu1925-1946France
81Dorothy Round1928-1939England
82Christine Truman1957-1974England
83Pam Shriver1979-1997USA
84Ons Jabeur2010-activeTunisia
85Sofia Kenin2017-activeUSA
86Francesca Schiavone1998-2018Italy
87Andrea Jaeger1980-1985USA
88Françoise Dürr1960-1979France
89Sue Barker1972-1984England
90Mima Jaušovec1975-1988Yugoslavia
91Rosemary Casals1964-1985USA
92Kerry Melville1963-1979Australia
93Margaret Scriven1930-1947England
94Zina Garrison1980-1996USA
95Virginia Ruzici1975-1987Romania
96Olga Morozova1965-1979Soviet Union
97Jasmine Paolini2011-activeItaly
98Renáta Tomanová1973-1986Czechoslovakia
99Yola Ramirez1955-1963Mexico
100Claudia Kohde-Kilsch1980-1994Germany

Leave a Reply

Hi (hopefully) awesome reader! I welcome your comments. However, please be aware that I make all of my arguments using facts, statistics, and logic. Unfortunately, the average comment on a top-100 list goes something like this:

"UR StooPid. (Insert player) is trash. I've watched (pick a sport) for (pick a number of years) and (pick a player) is better than everyone. UR DUMB. HAHA6969."

–Some Jabroni

As cognitively stimulating as this species of comment is, it ends up being a missed opportunity to share a nuanced perspective. I reply to all comments that show even the most basic levels of thought and humility. The people who make the comments like the example above are under the assumption that the three seconds of thought that popped into their brains after reading the list is more than the 1000s of hours that I put into creating and maintaining the lists. I would be happy to defend any placement, or make an adjustment if one is warranted. If you are a jabroni, like the one above, then your comment will die in the lonely void of the unpublished comments section.

For everyone else, I look forward to your comments!

P.S. The theme of this site and the top-100 lists is that athletes from previous generations have historically been grossly overrated by sports publications in a way that is statistically improbable. Click on the "About" dropdown menu to see just how badly the average top-100 list disproportionately favors athletes from older generations when leagues were smaller, race quotas existed, and globalization wasn't a thing. Also, please consider reading "The History" section of the sport you are commenting on.

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