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All-time tennis records – Women's singles

January 01, 1970

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.

Grand Slam tournament records edit

Grand Slam singles totals edit


Finals #
1. Chris Evert[5] 34
2. Serena Williams 33
3. / Martina Navratilova 32
4. Steffi Graf 31
5. Margaret Court 29
6. Helen Wills 22
7. Doris Hart 18
Billie Jean King
Evonne Goolagong Cawley
10. Helen Jacobs 16
Venus Williams


Semifinals #
1. Chris Evert[6] 52
2. / Martina Navratilova 44
3. Serena Williams 40
4. Steffi Graf 37
5. Margaret Court 36
6. Doris Hart 26
Billie Jean King
8. Louise Brough 25
9. Helen Jacobs 24
10. Venus Williams 23
Quarterfinals #
1. Chris Evert 54
Serena Williams
3. / Martina Navratilova 53
4. Margaret Court 43
5. Steffi Graf 42
6. Billie Jean King 40
7. Venus Williams 39
8. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 35
9. Doris Hart 32
10. Helen Jacobs 31
/ Monica Seles
Lindsay Davenport


Appearances #
1. Venus Williams 93
2. Serena Williams 81
3. Amy Frazier[7] 71
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Alizé Cornet
5. Francesca Schiavone 70
7. Sam Stosur 69
8. / Martina Navratilova 67
9. Conchita Martínez 64
10. Virginia Wade 63
Ai Sugiyama
Victoria Azarenka
Match wins #
1. Serena Williams 367
2. / Martina Navratilova 306
3. Chris Evert 299
4. Steffi Graf 278
5. Venus Williams 271
6. Arantxa Sánchez Vicario 210
7. Margaret Court 207
8. Lindsay Davenport 198
9. Maria Sharapova 197
10. Billie Jean King 190

Grand Slam tournament consecutive streaks edit

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. Maureen Connolly 1952 WM–1953 US 6
Margaret Court 1969 US–1971 AU
/ Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1984 US
4. Steffi Graf 1988 AU–1989 AU 5
5. / Molla Mallory 1915 US–1918 US 4
Steffi Graf (2) 1993 FR–1994 AU
Serena Williams 2002 FR–2003 AU
Serena Williams (2) 2014 US–2015 WM
9. Helen Wills 1928 FR–1928 US 3
Helen Wills (2) 1929 FR–1929 US
Pauline Betz 1942 US–1944 US
Shirley Fry 1956 WM–1957 AU
Margaret Court (2) 1965 WM–1966 AU
Billie Jean King 1967 WM–1968 AU
Billie Jean King (2) 1972 FR–1972 US
/ Martina Navratilova (2) 1981 AU–1982 WM
Chris Evert 1982 US–1983 FR
Steffi Graf (3) 1989 WM–1990 AU
/ Monica Seles 1991 US–1992 FR
Steffi Graf (4) 1995 FR–1995 US
Steffi Graf (5) 1996 FR–1996 US
Martina Hingis 1997 WM–1998 AU
Finals Start–end #
1. Steffi Graf 1987 FR–1990 FR 13[8]
2. / Martina Navratilova 1985 FR–1987 US 11
3. Maureen Connolly 1952 WM–1953 US 6
Margaret Court 1969 US–1971 AU
/ Martina Navratilova (2) 1983 WM–1984 US
Chris Evert 1984 FR–1985 WM
/ Monica Seles 1991 US–1993 AU
8. Pauline Betz 1941 US–1945 US 5
Margaret Court (2) 1963 WM–1964 WM
Margaret Court (3) 1965 AU–1966 AU
Steffi Graf (2) 1993 AU–1994 AU
Martina Hingis 1997 AU–1998 AU
Semifinals Start–end #
1. / Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1988 AU 19
2. Steffi Graf 1987 FR–1990 US 15
3. Chris Evert 1984 FR–1986 US 11
Martina Hingis 1996 US–1999 FR
5. Serena Williams 2014 US–2017 AU 10
6. Margaret Court 1969 AU–1971 AU 9
Chris Evert (2) 1981 FR–1983 FR
8. Maria Bueno 1964 FR–1965 US 7
Margaret Court (2) 1965 AU–1966 WM
Billie Jean King 1967 WM–1969 AU
Chris Evert (3) 1973 FR–1974 US
Quarterfinals Start–end #
1. / Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1988 AU 19
Steffi Graf
3. Gabriela Sabatini 1990 WM–1994 AU 15
4. Margaret Court 1968 WM–1971 AU 11
Billie Jean King 1967 FR–1969 US
Chris Evert
Martina Hingis
8. Lindsay Davenport 10
Serena Williams
10. / Martina Navratilova (2) 9
Chris Evert (2)
Steffi Graf (2)
Serena Williams (2)
Match wins Start–end #
1. / Martina Navratilova 1983 WM–1984 AU 45
2. Steffi Graf 1988 AU–1989 FR 40
3. Margaret Court 1969 US–1971 FR 35
4. Maureen Connolly 1952 WM–1953 US 33
Serena Williams 2002 FR–2003 FR
Serena Williams (2) 2014 US–2015 US
7. Steffi Graf (2) 1993 FR–1994 FR 32
8. Steffi Graf (3) 1989 WM–1990 FR 27
/ Monica Seles 1991 US–1992 WM
Appearances #
1. Alizé Cornet 68
2. Ai Sugiyama[9] 62
3. Francesca Schiavone 61
4. Jelena Janković 56
5. Nathalie Dechy 54
Elena Likhovtseva
7. Patty Schnyder 52
8. Angelique Kerber 51
9. Ana Ivanovic 48
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Grand Slam match winning percentages edit

* 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 edit

Grand Slam, Golden Slam and Super Slam edit

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

Winning tournament without losing a set edit

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

Youngest and oldest winners edit

Season streaks edit

Calendar year achievements edit

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

Four majors

Three majors

Consecutive majors edit

Four

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

Three

Two

Single season winning percentage edit

Individual major tournaments edit

Titles per tournament edit

  • Minimum 3 titles

Consecutive titles per tournament edit

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

Bold: Active players

Finals per tournament edit

Bold: Active players

Match wins per tournament edit