March is Women’s History Month and to celebrate I am highlighting the many amazing women in tennis. Tennis is a sport that can be played by all genders and ages and is considered one of the most physically demanding sports.
In tennis, many different hits can be used during the sets, such as the forehand and backhand, which are the most common hits, and a drop shot, which is when a player hits the ball. Hence, the speed reduces just enough for the ball to land above the net onto the opposite side, a smash where the player uses all their power to hit the ball making the competitor unable to hit the ball, and lastly, a slice which is when the player cuts the ball with their racket which is facing the court at an angle which slows down the pace of the rally.
There are many famous women in Tennis who should be recognized for their efforts and all the work they put into their game that got them to where they are now.
Serena Williams
The 23 Grand Slam winner, Serena Williams, is an American tennis player with 73 career titles, holding the top spot for the U.S. Williams is the only player for both men and women to get a career Golden Slam when playing singles and doubles.
Steffi Graf
The next woman is the 22 Grand Slam winner, Steffi Graf of Germany, with 107 career titles, she is the first and only male or female in history to have a Calendar Golden Slam, which is when you win all four grand slam titles along with an Olympic gold all in the same year. Steffi Graf’s career started when she was only 13 years old, and from the late 80s to the early 90s, no one was better than her, and she remained at the top of the world for 3 years. She was at the number 3 spot until she retired in 1999.
Martina Navratilova
The next woman is the 18th Grand Slam winner, Martina Navratilova, of the Czech Republic post-1975 and the US player after 1975, she also has 167 career titles. She holds the most titles at Wimbledon. She is also regarded as one of the greatest in the history of women’s tennis.
Chris Evert
The next woman is the 18th Grand Slam winner, Chris Evert, the US player with 157 career titles; she dominated women’s tennis starting at the beginning of the Open era and through the early 1970s into the mid-1980s. Today, Evert remains the record holder for getting the most Grand Slam singles finals at a whopping 34-18, which she won. She has a 90% career-winning percentage in singles matches.
Martina Hingis
The next woman is the 5 Grand Slam winner, Martina Hingis, of Switzerland, with 43 Career titles. She is the first tennis player between both men and women to win a major title and obtain the prestigious World number 1 ranking for Switzerland. She made this top ranking at only 17 years old in 1997 and that made her the youngest ever number 1 in history, in the same year she also got the title as the youngest ever Grand Slam champion, as a teenager she got her 5 Grand Slam titles. She retired due to an injury in 2003.
Monica Seles
The next woman is the 9 Grand Slam winner, Monica Seles, a US player with 54 Career titles. In her professional career, she represented both Yugoslavia, aka Serbia, and the US. In May 1990 she was the youngest ever French Open champion at only 16 years old, she later reached world number 1 ranking only at 18 years old in March 1991, and eight out of her nine Grand Slam wins came before she even turned 20.
Billie Jean King
The next woman is the 12 Grand Slam winner Billie Jean King, a US player with 129 Career titles. During her career, she was hailed as the queen of Tennis and even changed the game for women in tennis. King took home the Crown 6 times between 1966 and 1975 at Wimbledon.
Justine Henin
The next woman is the 7 Grand Slam winner, Justine Henin, a Belgium player with 50 Career titles. Henin was the first Belgium to win a Grand Slam title for singles. She has been highly regarded by the Queen of Tennis herself, Billie Jean King and she gave Henin the title of “Best player of her generation”
Venus Williams
The next woman is the 7 Grand Slam winner, Venus Williams, a US player with 49 Career titles. In the early 2000s, she got 4 of her 7 Grand Slam titles only in 2000-2001, In 2002 she gained her first number one status, and she was the first African American woman to reach number 1 in the Open Era.
Caroline Wozniacki
The last woman I’m highlighting is the winner of one Grand Slam, Caroline Wozniacki, a Denmark player with 30 Career titles. Wozniacki was the first Scandinavian woman to be at the top position in the WTA and the first Scandinavian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title.
