Top 10 players with most WTA titles in Open Era

A lot of multiple Grand Slam winners feature on the list.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) was founded in 1973 by tennis legend Billie Jean King. WTA organizes the WTA tour which organizes top-tier tennis tournaments for women throughout the year. The WTA tour includes the four Grand Slam Tournaments, the WTA finals, nine WTA 1000 tournaments, 12 WTA 500 tournaments and nearly 30 WTA 250 tournaments. These tournaments play a major role in the points distribution of the WTA rankings. The top players of Women’s tennis compete in these tournaments.

Here is a look at the top 10 players with the most WTA singles titles in the Open Era:

Monica Seles - 53 titles

Monica Seles burst into the scene as a teenage sensation. She has won nine Grand Slam titles in her entire career and eight of them came when she was still a teenager. Representing Yugoslavia at that time, Seles became the youngest player to win the French Open when she won it in 1990 at the age of sixteen.

However, tragedy struck in 1993 when an obsessed fan of Seles’ rival stabbed her while she was in a match. It took more than two years to recover but the Seles never managed to hit the heights of before. She won only one Grand Slam title after that. Throughout her career, Seles managed to win 53 WTA titles.

Lindsay Davenport - 55 titles

Lindsay Davenport is a former World No. 1 who was at the top of the ranking for a total of 98 weeks. She also was the year-end singles World No. 1 in four different years. Apart from that, Davenport was also World No.1 in doubles for 32 weeks. The former World No.1 has three Grand Slam titles to her name, having won the Australian Open, the Us Open and the Wimbledon. Davenport also has an Olympic gold Medal to her name. The International Tennis Hall of Famer has won 55 WTA titles in her career.

Virginia Wade - 55 titles

Virginia Wade has won three Grand Slam titles in singles and four Grand Slam titles in doubles. This made her the only British woman in history to have won all four Major titles. Wade’s highest-ever rank in the singles ranking was World No. 2. She was the World No. 1 in doubles back in 1973. The French Open is the only Grand Slam title that Wade failed to win in singles. Wade managed to win 55 WTA titles throughout her career.

Billie Jean King - 67 titles

Founder of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Billie Jean King’s impact on the Tennis World both on and off the court is unprecedented. On the court, King won 12 singles Grand Slam titles. The Grand Slam titles count goes up to 39 if one includes doubles and mixed doubles titles. Her win against Bobby Riggs in the 1973 Battle of the Sexes is regarded as one of the historic moments in Tennis. In a career that spanned close to 22 years, King won 67 WTA singles titles.

Evonne Goolagong - 68 titles

Evonne Goolagong was one of the leading players in the world during the 1970s and 1980s. The Australian won her first Grand Slam at the age of 19 when she won the French Open in 1971. She also won the Australian Open in doubles that year partnered with Margaret Court. The former World No. 1 went on to win seven Grand Slam titles in her career which includes four Australian Open wins. Including the doubles titles, Goolagong had 14 Grand Slams to her name. Goolagong won 68 singles WTA titles in her career.

Serena Williams - 73 titles

Serena Williams is considered to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She holds the joint record of holding the World No.1 for 186 consecutive weeks. Overall she has been World No.1 for 319 weeks. Her 23 Grand Slam singles titles are the most won by any player in the Open Era. Williams has to her name an Olympic Gold medal which she won in 2012. The former World No.1 has won 73 WTA titles in her entire career.

Margaret Court - 92 titles

Margaret Court holds the record for the most Grand Slam singles titles won in tennis history with 24 title wins. She also holds the record for the most Grand Slam title wins in history with 64 major titles. The Australian completed a Grand Slam in 1970 when she went on to win all the Grand Slam singles titles in that year. The former World No.1 won the Australian Open consecutively from 1960 to 1966, the first one Court won at the age of 17. In a career that lasted 17 years, Court won 92 WTA titles.

Steffi Graf - 107 titles

Former World No.1 Steffi Graf holds the record of being World No.1 for the highest number of weeks. The German held the position for 377 weeks in her entire career. Graf has 22 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, the second-highest in the Open Era behind Serena Williams. The former World No.1 was also the first tennis player to complete a Grand Slam and win an Olympic Gold in the same year. This she had accomplished in 1988. Throughout her career, Graf went on to win 107 WTA titles.

Chris Evert - 157 titles

Chris Evert was one of the greatest rivals of Martina Navratilova and alongside her dominated Women’s tennis in the 1970s and 1980s. Evert, a former World No.1, won the French Open title seven times which is the highest in Women’s tennis. The American also holds the joint record for the most US Open titles won with six wins. Evert has 18 major titles to her name. Her winning percentage in singles matches is 89.97% which is the second highest in the Open Era both for men and women. Throughout her career, the International Hall Of Famer went on to win 157 WTA titles.

Martina Navratilova - 167 titles

And the player with the most WTA singles titles is Martina Navratilova. The Czech-American legend has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles in her entire career. She is also the only player in history to be the World No.1 for more than two weeks in both singles and doubles. The former World No.1 has won the Wimbledon title a record nine times. In a career that spanned over 42 years, Navratilova won a record 167 WTA titles.