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The Wimbledon championship is known as the most revered tennis tournament globally. It is one of the oldest sporting tournaments out there.
Moreover, it has also hosted multiple legends in the present professional period of tennis: the open-era.
From then on, we have seen this sport reach newer heights in its status, with multiple records being surpassed and established repeatedly.
Even though this championship is the pinnacle of tennis, only a handful of women have dominated to become Wimbledon champions in the previous four decades.
Both Steffi Graff and Serena Williams have won the tournament seven times; whereas, Martina Navratilova claimed the Wimbledon champions title nine times.
However, as Ms. Willliams is now approaching her 40th birthday, no one else appears to be able to dominate the game as she has.
Top 8 Female Wimbledon Champions Of All Time
As a sport, tennis puts the same importance on women's matches as men’s, allowing women to stake a claim for the top prize.
This is big because most other sports tend to take some of the limelight away from the women’s matches.
Read on as we discuss how women have capitalized on this:
Martina Navratilova
Wimbledon is incomplete without talking about Navratilova. She has dominated the game entirely, and no woman has been able to break her record of nine Wimbledon trophies to date.
One of the most accomplished players in the tennis open-era, Navratilova has an astounding 20 titles to her name, spanning four decades.
She claimed her introductory Wimbledon championship crown in the singles category during the 1978 games, after she completed a resounding win over Chris Evert, who was then seeded number one.
That is when the record-breaking started. By 1990, Navratilova had achieved eight additional singles titles, with six back-to-back titles between by 1987.
Not only that, Navratilova made her mark in the doubles category seven times with different partners each time.
She also took home both the doubles and singles awards on four different occasions and in 1985 took home the crown of her mixed double and followed it with three more.
The last one of those titles came at the start of the new millennium as she turned 56; it was with Leander Paes.
When talking about Navratilova’s overall career, she is the only player in the history of tennis (men and women) to hold the number one ranking in Doubles and Singles for more than 200 weeks.
She holds a combined tally of:
- 31 Doubles Grand Slams
- 18 Singles Grand Slams
- 10 Mixed Doubles Grand Slams
Martina Navratilova also holds the record for more single titles than any other woman in tennis history: an astonishing 167 titles!
Billie Jean King
Whenever we discuss women transcending boundaries in tennis, King’s name must come up. Going toe-to-toe with Navratilova, both have 20 Wimbledon titles across Doubles, Singles, and Mixed categories.
King won six Ladies' Singles titles from 1966 to 1975. And by 1979, she claimed ten doubles titles, winning with five alternate pairings, the final one being none other than Navratilova.
With the other four mixed titles, there is no doubt that King left her mark on Wimbledon, and of course, the world. She also championed social issues passionately, standing for a bigger cause.
Billie Jean King took her retirement in 1990, having 12 Grand Slam titles to her name and most of those victories came on English soil as she repeatedly joined the Wimbledon women winners section.
She won her first Grand Slam in 1966 at All England Club and beat Brazilian Maria Bueno after defeating former champion Margaret Smith in the semis.
King dominated the game over the following couple of years, winning again in 1967 and 1968. Furthermore, she did another three-peat in 1972, 1973, and 1975.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is also another modern great; she is undoubtedly one of the decade's most famous female tennis players. In addition, her media fame has made her an influential global personality.
Serena is currently the most accomplished female tennis player in the Open-era with 23 titles.
At Wimbledon, she currently holds seven Ladies' single titles. Three times out of those seven, she triumphed over her elder sister, Venus Williams.
Furthermore, both the sisters have also dominated together in the Doubles category, winning six times up until 2016.
Thought of by many as one of the most dominant all-time female athletes, Serena Williams holds the record of winning at least a single Grand Slam title in three different decades.
When talking of Open-Era, she has the highest tally of a Grand Slam singles win: 23. She also wears the crown for the highest number of Grand Slam Singles matches won among women.
Her winning tally includes:
- Three French Open titles
- A record of 7 Australian Open wins
- Seven Wimbledon titles
- A record of 6 US Open trophies
It does not come as a surprise that if and when Serena Williams decides to retire, she will be one of the most successful Grand Slam Women Singles Champions.
Presently the number seven in the world, she has brought home the Wimbledon title on seven different occasions and has won the Venus Rosewater Dish in '02, '03, '09, '10, '15, and '16 while reaching finals four times as well.
However, this 23-time Grand Slam champion has fallen at the finals in the previous two editions. And in the 2021 showcase, she had to withdraw from the tournament after injuring her right leg.
Serena Williams is one of the veteran competitors in Women's tennis, and at age 39, she still has a lot to offer and has reached semi-finals in her previous two Grand Slams in the US and Australia.
Venus Williams
Like King, Venus Williams also won her first-ever Grand Slam title by becoming a Wimbledon winner, kicking off the new millennium with a loud bang.
Looking at her win, it was no sheer luck either. The American tennis ace missed the first half of 2000 because of tendinitis in both wrists.
But she never quit, and after building up her fitness on clay courts, she not only came out fighting, she came out a Wimbledon champion.
Venus faced the then world number one Martina Hingis in the quarter-finals, demolished her sister Serena in the semi-finals, and laid the final nail in the coffin by defeating the defending champion in the final – Lindsay Davenport.
You can ask any tennis fan at that time, and they will tell you that her journey to the pinnacle was a spectacle to behold.
Then, she ended the 2000s in style by adding the US Open title and two Olympic gold medals to her trophy cabinet.
After her first win, this former world number one became a Wimbledon champion an additional four times and finished as runner-up four times too.
Of her seven major victories, five came from Wimbledon, and she will always be remembered as one of the greatest all-time grass-court players.
Even after enjoying multiple battles with her younger sister Serena, Venus dominated the early 2000s by reaching eight finals in a decade.
She ranked 31st in the world in 2007, but that did not stop her from winning her fourth title, making her the lowest-ranked winner in tennis history.
Steffi Graff
Known as one of the all-time best, Steffi Graff holds the record for ranking world number one for 377 weeks. She retired with a total of 22 Grand Slam Singles titles to her legacy.
The German tennis player's first-ever Wimbledon win came in 1988, but she did not stop there. She ended the year with a bang by attaining the Golden Slam status: winning all four Grand Slams and Olympic Gold Medal in the same year.
Her ability to be comfortable on all types of surfaces led her to become the only player to win each Grand Slam title a minimum of four times.
However, Wimbledon proved to be her most successful tournament, with her bagging the title seven times between 1988 and 1996.
Additionally, her winning streak came between 1991-1996, when she won 5 titles in six years. She is also probably one of the few players to maintain Wimbledon finals victories against Martina Navratilova.
Admired by her fellow players and the public, she has been dubbed as the best women's player of all time by both King and Navratilova.
Maria Sharapova
Even though Sharapova boasts only a single Wimbledon title, that win was one of the most memorable ones in the competition's history.
Only 17 at the time, the Russian triggered a shocking upset against the ever so dominant Serena Williams, winning her first-ever major title.
That win was the first step towards her rise to stardom, making Sharapova one of the most known players throughout tennis history.
Virginia Wade
Wade remains the last ever British woman to have a Wimbledon title to her name, and she won it by beating the Betty Flippina Stove from the Netherlands in the 1977 final.
This win was a memorable one for various reasons:
- It was the 100th anniversary of the tournament
- It was Queen Elizabeth II’s Silver Jubilee
Hence, the Queen was in attendance for the first time since 1962 to watch Wade bring home the title.
Martina Hingis
As a former world number one, Hingis showed promise, and she would have won several Wimbledon titles if her injuries had not blemished her career.
The Swiss-based tennis player won her maiden Championship at the All England Club in 1997. She was only 16 at the time and beat Jana Novotna in the final.
Hingis is still the youngest Wimbledon winner in Open Era history and the youngest major champion ever.
Wimbledon Championship: Want To Become A Champion?
Being a Wimbledon champion is not an easy feat as it is played entirely on a grassy surface. This makes it one of the most traditional forms of the sport still currently played.
Nevertheless, multiple Wimbledon women winners have broken the wheel and redefined what it meant to be a champion.
Playing tennis as a beginner requires hard work. Even though the internet can provide a lot of information, a private tutor adds a personal touch and filters the relevant information.
Head on to Superprof and find the perfect tutor for yourself or your child and start that journey towards becoming a future Wimbledon champion!
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