The Greatest Ever? By Raymond Lee

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

I recently wrote an article about the greatest male tennis players of all time.  It was tough to research, but I was able to get the necessary information to do an objective statistical analysis on the best male tennis player ever. The problem with compiling information on the best female tennis players is that the same information is not as readily available.  

For example, I believe that Margaret Court is probably the all time leader in most tournaments won among women with 187 to 194 victories, leaving Martina Navratilova, the official tournament leader of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, substantially behind with 167 total tournament victories.

Since all the numbers aren’t available I figured it would be interesting just to look at the information we have presently and discuss some of the great women players in tennis history.  Perhaps we can even take an educated guess on who is in the running to be the GOAT.  Since the Greatest Of All Time is a GOAT, is the Best of All Time a BOAT? 

Just asking. 

Navratilova finished number one in the statistical study I did several years ago on the best female players of the open era, barely finishing ahead of Chris Evert and Steffi Graf.  We shall include some of the players from that study and add other great players from the pre-1968 Open Era.  Here are the players we shall take a look at:

Margaret Court © Getty Images

Suzanne Lenglen —  Like her male counterpart of the time, Bill Tilden (incidentally to say that they didn’t care of each other is an understatement) Lenglen was the first female superstar in tennis.  Unlike Tilden, Lenglen was a natural at the game of tennis and perhaps even more dominant than him, as amazing as it may seem.  To many watching at the time, it was not a matter of whether she won or not, that part seemed to be a foregone conclusion and it was not whether she won in straight sets but on how many games she give up in the whole match!  There was talk for example if she could win Wimbledon without giving up a game for the entire tournament!  These are awesome expectations and for that reason I have some problems ranking some of the female players of that time.  The question is whether she was so far ahead of everyone because she was so good or whether the rest of the field in women’s tennis at the time was so bad.  I’m fairly certain it was a combination of both.

However unlike the males I believe the level of play in the (relatively speaking) was far lower in general for the females than the males at that time.  One of the reasons I believe this is that athletic opportunities for women were not as prevalent then as they are now. More women play organizes sports now whereas funding for women’s sport programs in those days (and for years later) was nearly nil.  Nowadays it is not unusual to have a number of girl’s sports programs in elementary school, middle school and higher.  The talent pool for women’s tennis is now much larger because of this.  I now believe that the relative level of play for the women is about level (again relatively speaking) with the male player now and has been for many decades.

Lenglen was the original tennis ball machine.  She was known for her amazing control on her groundstrokes and her great speed and footwork.  Her father, Charles Lenglen used to have her try to hit handkerchiefs on the court as he moved them from spot to spot.  Her groundstrokes weren’t the most powerful but she was able to always control the rally with her accuracy, depth and ability to hit sharp angles.  She was capable of power when necessary.  Lenglen had an excellent volley despite the fact she rarely needed to go to the net, preferring to control the game from the baseline.

She was almost considered a goddess by some in the tennis world.  It must have been hard at first to live up to the expectation of perfection.  She seemed to win virtually every tournament she played in but it also seems that in some of the matches she was tested in, she often had to default.  Whether the default was truly a matter of illness or perhaps fear of truly being beaten (or a combination of both) is debatable.

Lenglen won 81 tournaments in her career and 8 of 11 majors she contested.

Helen Wills Moody — It seems remarkable that a dominant player like Suzanne Lenglen was replaced at number one by a player that seemed just as dominant, in some ways even more so.  Wills was almost a precursor to the modern power baseliners of today.  She was extremely tall for her time, at 5-foot-9 inches which obviously was helpful for her power game and serve.

Wills possibly had the best forehand of her time, hitting the shot with great force and depth.  Her backhand was also extremely powerful but perhaps not quite as flexible in that she almost always hit the backhand crosscourt.  Wills had an excellent backhand lob to hold off net rushers.  Wills' serve was superb: it is regarded as one of the best slice serves in the history of women's tennis.  Wills had a good volley and an excellent overhead.

Wills had an unparalleled record in the majors, entering 24 and winning 19 of them.  She actually defaulted twice (in 1926 in the second round of the French Championships and in the first round of Wimbledon that same year) so you could say that she won 19 of 22 majors that she finished and lost in the finals in the other  majors she did not win.

Wills’ movement was not one of the best assets of her game, but like Chris Evert years later she had great anticipation and therefore was usually was not rushed.  Of course it helped that her great power and accuracy enabled her to control most of the rallies.

I was surprised that Wills only won 52 of 92 tournaments over a period between 1919 and 1938 considering she was virtually unbeatable from 1926 until the end of her career in 1938.  Some sources claim she had a won-lost record during that time of 398-35 for a winning percentage of .919.   

The amount of tournaments entered and won here seems to me to be very low considering what people have said about her.  I wouldn’t be surprised if we find more tournament victories for her.  If this is true Wills only entered on average 4.38 tournaments a year during that period.  This really seems extremely low but I suppose it’s possible and I guess we’ll have to go with this figure as I have not been able to find authoritative historical records to dispute it.

During the period from 1927 to 1933 Wills was so strong that not only did she not lose a match but she didn’t even lose a set!  This was the invincible Wills that I’ve read about in the tennis history books.  I believe she won about 158 straight matches from 1926 to 1933.  Sources also state that she did not lose a set from 1926 to 1933, that streak finally ending with the loss of a set at Wimbledon that year even though Wills won the match and later the tournament.  Other sources have said she won 180 consecutive matches in total.  Any of these numbers are still almost beyond belief and shows how far ahead Wills was in comparison to her rivals at the time.  Apparently the winning streak ended with her controversial loss to Helen Jacobs in the final of the United States Championships in which Wills defaulted after trailing in the final set.  Wills was roundly condemned for defaulting to Jacobs (a precursor to Justine Henin retiring from the 2006 Australian Open final against Amelie Mauresmo).  People at the time thought it was poor sportsmanship to default instead of playing it out and letting Jacobs get the victory on court.  Who knows what really happened?  Apparently Wills was having back problems and could not move yet some have said Wills was willing later to play doubles with Elizabeth Ryan so apparently she may have been strong enough to have continued the singles finals. 

Alice Marble — Marble was probably the first of the top female serve and volleyers.  She started dominating women’s tennis in 1939, going unbeaten that year with a 45-0 record.  She was also unbeaten the next year with an identical 45-0 record.  In those years she won Wimbledon once in 1939 (also winning the mixed doubles and the women’s doubles for a rare triple at Wimbledon) and the U.S. Championship in 1939 and 1940.

Even if Helen Wills had continued to compete I doubt if she would have been able to hold off the up and coming Alice Marble.  Not that I necessarily consider Marble to be better than Wills at her peak but Wills was on the decline and Marble was at or was about to reach her peak.   

Marble had probably the best serve of her time and one of the best serves in women’s tennis history.  It’s hard to compare respective strokes, given the advancements in racquet, string and ball technology as well as the changes in surfaces among eras, but when you read about Marble being able to throw baseballs from centerfield to the stands behind home plate in American Baseball stadiums (that has to be about 400 feet) when she was young, you realize how powerful her serve may have been, considering the serve is similar to a throwing motion.  Most male professional baseball players could not make a throw like that, assuming the stories about her are true and we don’t know for sure if they are true.

When you consider that a small player like Justine Henin has been able to hit the serve around 120 miles per hour, it’s reasonable to think that the 5-foot-7 Alice Marble would be able to hit the serve at a very high speed also.   Marble also had an excellent second serve which kicked very high.

Marble was a good groundstroker who could hit with excellent power but she was not super consistent.  Like many serve and volleyers she was often looking for the opening to go to the net with a good approach shot.

Marble is one of the most underrated female players in history and if the war did not interrupt her career, she probably would have won many more majors.  It is a pity that Marble and Wills never met at Wimbledon.  The closest was in 1938 when Helen Jacobs upset Marble in the semi-finals which Wills won by beating an injured Helen Jacobs in straights sets.

It would have been hard for a Wills, who was past her prime to handle the net play of Marble in 1938.  Wills would have had to be more versatile, especially on her backhand side which she almost always hit crosscourt.  Marble probably would have been able to handle the crosscourt backhand passing shots and lobs of Wills quite well.

Marble won 5 majors in 12 attempts in her career.

Maureen Connolly — Despite the fact that "Little Mo" Connolly and Alice Marble had the same instructor in Eleanor "Teach" Tennant, Maureen Connolly played a totally different style of tennis than Alice Marble.  While Marble rallied from the baseline looking for the opportunity to approach the net, Connolly was baseliner who rarely approached the net.  Despite the fact she was only 5-4 and about 120 pounds, Connolly blasted the ball and aimed for the lines on both backhand and forehand, much like the baseliners of today.  Despite her relatively diminutive size compared to today's players, Connolly was an explosive force. Connolly's ambitious baseline attack may remind some of Monica Seles though Connolly did not play with two hands as Seles did.

This style of play was so effective for Connolly that she won the Grand Slam in 1953 and (like many of the players in this discussion) was virtually unbeatable.  Connolly was so dominant that she won 9 straight majors over a period from 1951 to 1954.  Overall Connolly won a stunning 9 of 11 majors in her great career.  Connolly won 81.8% of her majors entered in her career, which is a higher percentage than even Lenglen and Wills.  Wills, to be fair played in many more majors with over 24 majors entered. Wills won 19 of them for a percentage of 79.1%.

Maureen was known for her total concentration on the tennis court.  Nothing seemed to bother her.  To quote Maureen  from the excellent book We Have Come a Long Way — The Story of Women’s Tennis by Billie Jean King and Cynthia Starr, "All I ever see is my opponent.  You could set off dynamite in the next court and I wouldn’t notice."  I would suppose that many of Maureen opponents may have preferred playing with dynamite instead of playing Maureen.

Margaret Court — Court is in some ways like the American Comedian Rodney Dangerfield.  Despite her incredible numbers, dominance and record for winning the most majors, she seems to get no respect among some historians and fans.  In all seriousness Court has won approximately 190 tournaments over the course of her career.  I’ve seen some figures at 194 and some at 187.  Nevertheless these are astonishing numbers.  Court won the Grand Slam in 1970, shortly after open tennis began so you know she was playing top competition.  She also won 3 out of 4 majors 4 times!  Whether it was Open tennis or pre-Open tennis she played against the top women players in the world.  In the 1960’s Court played top players like Maria Bueno, Billie Jean King, Nancy Richey, Ann Haydon Jones, Darlene Hard, Virginia Wade and Angela Mortimer.  In the 1970’s she played great new generation players like Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Rosie Casals, Evonne Goolagong as well as many of the holdovers from the 1960’s.  Do her numbers and record entitled Court to numero uno on the all time list?  Maybe, we’ll talk why she may be and why perhaps she isn’t.

Court was a right handed serve and volleyer with a good backhand and forehand.  She had probably the best first serve of her time and her volley was excellent.  Margaret was the best athlete of her era with marvelous speed, long arms to blanket the net and was perhaps the strongest player in women’s history up to that time.

Margaret won 24 majors in singles in her career — more than any tennis player, male or female, in history.  Steffi Graf is second with 22.  Court won a total of 62 majors in her career if you include women’s doubles and mixed doubles.  Martina Navratilova is second here by several majors. Skeptics point to the fact Court won 11 of her 24 singles majors at the Australian Open, which did not consistently draw the top players during Court's era as it does now, as a reason why her major record is sometimes not held in the same regard as Navratilova, Graf or Evert's records. That point is debatable. 

Billie Jean King — The fireman's daughter from Long Beach, California may be the most important person in women’s tennis history, perhaps the most important athlete in sports history period.  She has done more for women’s rights and equality in sport than possibly anyone. 

One of the most famous stories about the start of the women’s tour is during the 1970 Pacific Southwest tournament.  The price money ratio who started generally at about 2 to 1 or 1 and a half to 1 in favor of the men generally increased until reached the amazing ratio of 12 to 1 at the Pacific Southwest in favor of the men.  The women who failed to reach the quarterfinals would not receive a penny!  Apparently all of this raised the ire of many of the women players, including Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals.  They approached Gladys Heldman, one of the most influential women in tennis and proposed boycotts of the Pacific Southwest.  Heldman advised against a boycott but the people involved in the tournament would not budge from their position.

An alternative solution was found by Ms. Heldman.  Gladys called the Houston Tennis Association, the Texas Lawn Tennis Association, and the Houston Racquet Club and with three days had arranged for an eight women tournament with a total purse of $5,000.  The money would come from tickets sales from members of women’s groups associated with tennis in Houston. 

I don’t want to recount the whole story, that would probably fill a thousand pages, but eventually Virginia Slims got involved in the tournament and it was renamed the Virginia Slims Invitation.  It was the beginnings of the Women’s Tour in tennis.  For the record Rosie Casals won that tournament over Judy Tegart Dalton to win the  $1,500 first prize.  Within a very short period Virginia Slims decided to sponsor eight sixteen women tournaments. 

Of course in retrospect the ratios were extremely out of line if the stories are correct.  Who knows who motivated the promoted to give the women such a purse?  The reasons seem obvious why the promoter did this but we can’t be sure.

I’m sure there are a lot of factors here that I don’t know about but it is seems to me that the marketing opportunities for women’s tennis (as well as men’s tennis) seemed virtually unlimited in the late 1960’s and 1970’s, at least to me looking at it from a 21st century viewpoint.  The product (the competition in women’s tennis) was top notch and people enjoyed watching the quality brand of tennis that the women displayed.  The potential revenue streams from television and other media at that time seem there for the taking in this sport.  However a number of people didn’t think women’s tennis was that marketable at that time.

There is perhaps a historical precedent on how women’s tennis could possibly be big business way before the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.  This precedent was perhaps the most famous and ballyhooed match in tennis history.  It was the match between Suzanne Lenglen and Helen Wills. The match generated world-wide interest and ticket scalpers reportedly profited substantially.  Remember this was a women’s match played in 1926!  I’m sure the promoters for that match made a tidy profit.  Knowing this I wonder how people could believe that women’s tennis could not sell at that time in the 1970’s.  Maybe they didn’t read their history books or maybe I’m reading the history books incorrectly.  Or perhaps people thought this match was just an exception to the rule.

Admittedly times were different then in the 1960’s and 1970’s as opposed to today, but television was in full bloom and you would figure a great product like women’s tennis would be easy to sell.  The women's game boasted amazing players and personalities including Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Evonne Goolagong, Virginia Wade, Rosie Casals and Margaret Court among others.  The matches they played were of high quality and very interesting.  They had a good mixture of top veterans like Court, King, Wade and Casals and yet top young players like Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong and Martina Navratilova.  I have seen many highlights for example of the 1974 U.S. Open Women’s final between Billie Jean King and Evonne Goolagong and it is one of the most thrilling matches — men's or women's — I have ever seen.

Billie Jean King was an excellent serve and volley player with arguably the best volley in women’s tennis history.  Once Billie Jean got to the net, her opponent was in major trouble.  She had a super backhand volley and an excellent forehand volley and though she was not tall she backed it up with one of the best overheads in tennis.

Off the ground Billie Jean was very good, especially on her backhand side, which was consistent plus she had amazing variety and versatility with it.  Her forehand was good but not nearly as good as her backhand.  Billie Jean was also very quick which allowed her to stay in points where a normal player would have lose the point already.

Billie Jean had an excellent serve to follow to the net.  It was not as overpowering as Margaret Court or Virginia Wade’s serve at the time but it fit in beautifully with her serve and volley style.  She had an excellent spin second serve which was hard to attack.

Billie Jean’s career in tennis compares with anyone but it was her play at Wimbledon that made her stand out above just about any female player or just above any male player for that matter.  Billie Jean won a total of 20 major titles at Wimbledon.  The total included 6 singles titles, 10 women’s doubles titles and 4 mixed doubles titles.  She won her last title at Wimbledon with Martina Navratilova in 1979.  Two of the greatest champions of Wimbledon combining for Billie Jean’s last title there.

I suppose I would be remiss if I did not mention the famous Billie Jean King-Bobby Riggs match in 1973.  Bobby was a former Wimbledon championm former World No. 1 and a world-class hustler (he would later guest star in an episode of "The Odd Couple" With Billie Jean).  However in 1973 Bobby Riggs was over 25 years past his prime at age 55  Billie Jean was almost forced to play the match against Bobby since Riggs had defeated Margaret Court 6-2 6-1.  The pressure was on King to defend Women’s tennis and she did so in excellent style, defeating Riggs in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.  Who knows what would have happened to women’s tennis if King did not win?  I would have guessed that it was too good a product to hold down and women’s tennis would have succeeded no matter what but you never know what can happen.  Not that it is important in this discussion but Bobby Riggs was a terrific player in his heyday.  It’s too bad many people just remember him for this match with Billie Jean.

Billie Jean has won approximately 129 tournaments in her career with 12 majors, including 6 at Wimbledon.  Billie Jean has won those 12 majors in 51 attempts, a percentage of .235.  She has been ranked number 1 in the world, depending on the people choosing number one in those days, around 6 or 7 times. 

Evonne Goolagong — The Australian with such a sunny disposition she was nicknamed "Sunshine Supergirl" was the smoothest female player I have ever seen.  Everything about her was elegant and smooth.  Goolagong’s footwork and movement were probably as good as any woman that ever played and she as as smooth as any player I’ve ever seen.  In watching Goolagong you think the game is sooooooo easy.  You look at Evonne’s play and she could blast a backhand down the line or hit an almost effortless looking half volley angled winner.  You think to yourself that tennis can’t be that easy but with Evonne it seemed to be.

Goolagong had an excellent first serve and a below average second serve.  She had an excellent backhand and forehand volley with the backhand volley clearly the stronger of the two.

She had excellent groundstrokes with the backhand generally being the stronger of the two sides.  I say generally because I recall Chris Evert saying that on clay the forehand of Goolagong was the better stroke over the backhand.  Evonne’s backhand was clearly her most natural stroke as was the case with many players of that era playing with continental grips.

One thing I want to mention is that while I’m sure some players may love the game as much as Evonne, Evonne seemed to show her great love of playing more than any player I’ve ever seen.  Watching Goolagong play was a pure delight.  There is no way Evonne could be considered the top player in women’s tennis history but she is in the argument for greatest natural talent as well as the smoothest player of all time.  I don’t think Evonne ever had the killer instinct players like Evert, Graf or Navratilova had.  If she did who knows what heights she could have reached.

Evonne, according to most sources over the years won 68 total singles titles but on a view of the WTA website in August of 2008 they now have her at 80 tournament victories.  She won 7 majors in 35 attempts for a percentage of .200. Goolagong claimed two Wimbledon titles, one French Open and five Australian Open championships. 

Evonne was briefly number one on the WTA tour in 1976, surpassing Chris Evert for a little while but there was apparently an error in compiling ranking points and no one know she was number one until she was officially recognized as reaching the No. 1 rank in December of 2007!

Chris Evert —  Evert was the first major superstar in Women’s Tennis of the Open Era.  She inspired millions of tennis players today with her famous two handed backhand and wonderful groundstrokes.  Evert is widely regarded as the most consistent baseliner in women’s tennis history.  She never seemed to miss but she also had an amazing variety of angles, drop shots combined with an occasional venture to the net.  You combine that with exceptional power on her groundstrokes and you can understand why Evert had the highest winning percentage of the Open Era at around 90 percent.  

	Chris Evert © Getty Images

Evert was probably the best player in tennis for the period of time from 1974 to 1981 when Navratilova  took over.  Evert was the top player virtually every year in that period and if you look during that time period Evert had by far the best record.  From the moment of her debut in 1971 Evert’s record was astounding.

Chris Evert, in my opinion actually improved the level of her game in her later years with improved fitness, a much better serve, greater power on her groundstrokes and better volleying skills.  Obviously the switch from a wood racket to the modern rackets at the time helped her in the power area also.  The later improvement by Evert even taking into account the new rackets shows that players often play up to the level of their competition.  Navratilova raised the bar and Evert improved to compete with her.  I’m sure if Chris did this when she was at her physical peak she would have even have reached a higher level of play.  

Evert has won 158 tournaments in her career with a lifetime won-lost percentage of 90%, the highest official percentage on record based on a 1,309-146 won-lost record.  Her tournaments won is second behind Navratilova’s official record of 167.  Unofficially she is third behind Court’s record of at least 187.  According to one source Evert won her 157 (I know the WTA currently has 158) in 303 tournaments entered for a winning percentage of .518 for tournaments won compared to tournaments entered.  She won her 18 majors in 56 attempts for a percentage of .321.

Martina Navratilova — The left-handed serve-and-volleyer is the official WTA holder of most singles tournament victories with a super total of 167!  She won these tournaments in a long career that spanned the decades from the early 1970’s to the 1990’s.  Yes I know she played after the year 2000 and actually won the 2006 U.S. Open mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan, but I’m talking about her when she was serious contender, not when she decided to play tournaments on a lark in her later years. 

Martina at her best was possibly the greatest serve and volleyer in women’s tennis history.  In her prime Navratilova had the best serve in the game combined with the best volley.  Martina had an excellent forehand with a very good backhand.  Her slice backhand was especially good for her approach shots  and once Martina was at the net she would have an excellent chance of winning the point against almost anyone in history. She is also credited with introducing fitness to women's tennis and at her peak was, pound-for-pound, one of the strongest players of the Open Era.

Martina Navratilova © Getty Images

In her best five years Navratilova won 70 of 84 tournaments, 12 of 17 Grand Slams with an incredible 427-14 record.  She averaged losing less then 3 matches each year while winning over 85.  The winning percentage for those 5 years was .968!  It was the greatest degree of sustained dominance over a period of the open era.  It may be the greatest degree of sustained dominance in tennis history if you take into account the caliber of the opponents.

In watching Navratilova’s play at that time you often got the feeling the opponent was just hoping not to be embarrassed and was just praying she could get a few games and get off the court.  It seemed that beating Navratilova was out of the question for most of the players at the time.

Martina hold the official WTA record for most tournament singles titles with 167.  Unofficially she is about twenty or so behind Court’s record of 187 or more.   Her lifetime won-lost record is about 1140-213 for a winning percentage of about .871. Martina won her 18 majors in 65 attempts for a percentage of .277 during her normal tennis career.  She also entered the French and Wimbledon in 2004 after being retired from singles for years and lost for a total of 18 out of 67 attempts for a total percentage of .269.  Interestingly enough Martina won 10 of her 18 majors over Evert in the finals.  Incredible.  What a rivalry!

Steffi Graf — Graf had possibly the greatest year of any person in the Open Era in 1988 when she won the "Golden Slam."  That was winning not only the Grand Slam of tennis but also an Olympic Gold Medal.  Graf had a 72 and 3 record (some sources have 73-3) that year for a winning percentage of 96 percent. 

	Steffi Graf © Getty Images

Graf was one of the best athletes of all time in women’s tennis.  She had flawless footwork, lightning speed with an unbelievable determination to win..

Graf had a tremendous first serve plus a good second serve.  However the stroke that set Graf above almost all others was her forehand.  Words cannot describe how powerful this shot was.  It is the finest groundstroke I have ever seen in Women’s Tennis.  It seemed that every time Graf hit the forehand it put the opponent of the defensive.  It seemed to be hit at a much harder pace than many forehands in Men’s Professional Tennis.  It didn’t matter what the situation was, even if it was match point against her, if the opportunity presented itself, Graf would go for it on the forehand and it seemed that more often than not she would make the shot.  One tennis expert once rated Graf’s forehand 11 on a scale of 1 to 10 and it’s hard to disagree.  I’m not sure if it rated an 11, perhaps 12 would have been more accurate.

Graf’s one handed backhand was a very good solid stroke.  It was an extremely consistent stroke with a heavy slice (usually) on baseline rallies that was hard to attack.  Graf could also hit over the ball on the backhand well though she seldom used that shot in matches. She was not as effective with it as her forehand, but then again who could hit the ball as well as Graf on the forehand?  The answer is perhaps no one.

On the surface Graf seems to be the perfect tennis player.  She really didn’t have any stroke weaknesses.  It was a truly remarkable career but as with just about any player she had a blemish on her record.  It’s not really a blemish but it’s a blemish in that it causes you doubt whether Graf is the greatest of all time.

That so called blemish comes in the form of Monica Seles.  The fact is that while Graf was still at her physical peak in the early 1990’s Seles was the number one player in the world. From 1991 to early 1993 Seles won 7 out of 8 majors that she played.

What does it mean?  Was Seles at her best better than Graf at her best?  Or was it just a momentary lull in the Graf control of the women’s crown in tennis?  Graf was having personal problems that may have affected her play on the court.  Would Graf have regained the number one spot against a healthy and emotionally unscarred Seles?

No one can ever say for sure.  Even if a person was the greatest Graf fan he or she would have to wonder if Seles at that time was really better because she was truly better or was Seles better because Graf was distracted by personal matters at the time and couldn’t put her mind totally into her tennis.  Nevertheless Seles defeated Graf in 3 of 4 finals in the majors during the period 1990 to early 1993.  Seles defeated Graf 7-6 6-4 in the 1990 French final, 1992 French final 6-2, 3-6, 10-8, 1993 Australian final 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and lost to Graf in the 1992 Wimbledon final 6-2, 6-1. 

Again I believe there was a possibility Graf would have eventually regained the number one ranking because I think she was an overall greater athlete with possibly greater physical talent.  I believe eventually that may have overcome all.  However we will never know for sure.  And just because Graf may be the greater physical specimen doesn’t mean that Seles does not have more ability in tennis.  It doesn’t mean that Graf doesn’t have more ability in tennis either.  Seles had amazing hand speed and unbelievable ability to hit the ball on the rise which may have been superior to Graf.  It should have been a rivalry for the ages.

Steffi has won 107 tournaments in 222 attempts in her illustrious career.  Her percentage of tournaments won to tournaments entered is a spectacular 48.2 percent.  Her lifetime won-lost record is about 902-115 for a winning percentage of .887.  She won her 22 majors in 54 attempts for a percentage of .407.

Monica Seles — With the exception of Maureen Connolly, whose career was cut short when she was struck by a truck while riding a horse and whose life ended before her 35th birthday, Seles is one of the more tragic stories in tennis history.  Seles from 1991 to 1993 won 7 of 8 majors entered.  Seles had a superior record to the number 2 player, the legendary Steffi Graf and defeated Graf in several major finals that they played in. Graf took over later after Seles made her comeback.

At this point (1991 to 1993) Seles appeared to be an almost unstoppable tennis force with a chance to  be considered to be the greatest player of all time.  A demented man plunged a knife into Seles’ back, nearly killing her and causing her serious injury and several years from the peak of her tennis career.  It wasn’t just the physical injury (although it was substantial) but the psychological damage caused by this was also very serious.  Seles won only one major (1996 Australian Open) after this tragedy and never regained her former ability.  Seles put off her official retirement for years and only recently announced her retirement.

Seles was a player who was a two hander on both sides and with astonishing power on each side.  She was a natural lefthander and had a very good serve and while she wasn’t the greatest volleyer, Seles was relatively effective in the rare times she ventured to the net because her approach shots were so strong and her swing volleys usually reliable. 

Seles was also possibly the greatest grunter in women’s tennis history, setting the tone for the great grunters in tennis today like Sharapova.  Seles apparently had the record set by the gruntometer (which the newspapers used at Wimbledon) with 93.2 decibels until Sharapova broke the record in 2004 with 101. 

Obviously I wrote the previous few sentences in jest but the grunting problem was put into prominence during the 1992 Wimbledon.  Seles had just defeated Martina Navratilova in the semifinals of the tournament and won the right to face Graf in the final.  Navratilova had complained about the Seles grunting as did Seles’ quarterfinal opponent.  Well Seles went into non-grunt mode in the women’s final that year and lost very meekly to Graf  6-2 6-1.  It was a very one sided match and I supposed not grunting wouldn’t likely have made a major difference but the controversy about the grunting couldn’t have helped her that year.  You do wonder if no one made a big deal of it if perhaps, just perhaps the result would have been different considering Seles defeated one of the great grass players in Navratilova and seemed to be in tremendous grass court form.

Looking at Monica’s style you wonder how she would have adapted (assuming Seles was never hurt) to some of the new breed of tennis players coming up like Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Martina Hingis and Justine Henin.  Seles had a game style based on her extraordinary power and ability to hit the ball early.  She had to control the rally because her speed wasn’t that great that she could get back into position very well once she was in trouble.

Some players like Serena Williams or Justin Henin have the ability to hit with her and retrieve shots that normally would be winners against anyone else.  Yet if someone like Serena Williams took control of the rally, it was usually lights out for Seles.  Of course the Seles that played Serena was an older heavier Seles and not Seles at her peak.

Yet if you consider a current player like Maria Sharapova, who isn’t particularly fast but can often defeat players like Henin or Serena Williams, perhaps a young Seles would do very well in today’s game.  Whether a young Seles would be able to deal with that type of combination of speed and power is debatable but I would tend to think she would have acquitted herself well.

Seles’ career unfortunately leaves one contemplating a series of "what if" questions.  However one thing really can’t be debated, Seles was, for a few years the best player in women’s tennis, even with a player of Steffi Graf’s magnitude around.

Seles won 53 tournaments in her career out of 168 entered.  This is a percentage of .315.  This is excellent but as good as you would have expected considering that in her first 63 tournaments entered, Seles won over half of them with 32 tournament victories.  That means she would win 21 of her next 105 tournaments entered.  That means after the stabbing her percentage went down from over 50 percent to 20 percent.  

Would Monica have maintained the pace she was setting in the early 1990’s if she was not hurt?  At that point Monica was winning about every tournament so her tournament winning percentage probably would have gone up for a while and eventually due perhaps to age and maybe Graf or some other top rival the pace may have slowly gone down.  But without the injury I don’t think she would have played the rest of her career winning only about one in five tournaments entered.

Monica won nine majors in forty attempts for a percentage of 22.5.  Her career won-lost percentage is .830 on a record of 595-122.  It’s a great record that will put her in the Tennis Hall of Fame but somehow you get the feeling that it’s not nearly what it should have been.

When Martina Hingis first started on the tour, it seemed that she would break all records.  At the tender age of 17, Hingis won 3 out of 4 majors and was in the final of the one she didn’t won.  She was the top player in tennis 3 out of 4 years, in 1997, 1998 and 2000 winning 5 majors during those years.  Hingis won 43 tournaments during her excellent career but considering the majority of them were in the first four years of her career, it seem like such a small number. 

Hingis was an excellent touch player who had the ability to take the ball on the rise, change angles and pace.  She was also an excellent volleyer who knew how to sneak in to the net and put away a shot when her opponent did not expect it.

Many thought the power of players like Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Venus and Serena Williams brought upon Hingis’ downfall as a top contender for titles.  I’m not sure if I buy that as a total explanation considering she had several match points against Capriati in the 2002 Australian Open final but was almost on the verge of collapse due to the great heat.  It is certain however that she didn’t have the power of the players we just mentioned.  Hingis also has some injuries including one to her foot that caused her first retirement that lasted several years. 

Hingis won 5 of 37 majors entered in her career, 3 Australian Opens, 1 Wimbledon and 1 U.S. Open.  Her career won-lost is 548-133 for a career winning percentage of .805 and she won 43 tournaments out of 175 entered for a percentage there of .246.

Lindsay Davenport is considered to be one of the best ball strikers in Women’s Tennis history.  Lindsay relies on her powerful groundstrokes to take control of rallies and win points.  She had excellent power on both backhand and forehand as well as a very powerful serve.  Lindsay’s main weakness is her lack of mobility which has improved a bit recently due to better conditioning and some loss of weight.

While Davenport has only won 3 majors in 50 tournaments entered, (1998 U.S. Open, 1999 Wimbledon, 2000 Australian) she has finished number 1 on the tour computer four times.  This is a feat accomplished by only a few in Women’s Tennis history.  As of August 2008 Lindsay has won 55 tournament titles out of 255 entered for a percentage of .216.  She has a career won-lost record of 751-193, which is a .796 winning percentage. 

Venus Williams is the older of the incredible Williams sisters.  Like most of the players we’ve been discussing Venus has excellent groundstrokes from both sides but what separates her from many on this list is her astounding ability to blast winners on both sides from any position on the court.  When you combine it with excellent speed, well you have a player who is virtually unbeatable when she is on.

Venus has excellent footwork, volley and overhead.  She, like most players of today is mainly a baseliner.

Venus has a few weaknesses, one is that her forehand can be erratic at times and can make a number of errors.  Another weakness, perhaps her main weakness is that her second serve is rather weak and can be easily attacked.  For Venus to defeat top competition she has to get a decent percentage of first serves in.  When she serves well she is capable of defeating anybody.

Venus has won 37 tournaments in 156 tries.  This is .237 percentages.   Venus’ career includes 7 majors as of August 2008.  The majors are 5 Wimbledons and 2 United States Opens.  She has also reached the final of the Australian and the French Open which shows how good she is on all surfaces.  Venus has won her 7 majors in 42 attempts for a .167 percentage.  She has an excellent record playing in the majors.   Venus’ career won-lost percentage is .809 on a won-lost record of 493-107.

Serena Williams is the younger half of the two Williams sisters and like her older sister, with an incredible talent for tennis.  Serena is primarily operates from the baseline who, like her sister can hit winners from anywhere on the court.

Her serving game, when she is in shape is probably the best in tennis.  Her first serve is amazingly powerful and her second serve is one of the best.

Serena moves like the wind and she can get to almost any shot.  Because of her amazing range she plays an excellent defensive game, often winning points she has no right to win.  She is also a superb volleyer with a great overhead.

One of the most implausible performances I have ever seen by any tennis player is when Serena won the 2007 Australian Open.  Serena was not in tennis shape and clearly out of practice entering the tournament.  A lot of this was because she was injured and couldn’t practice.  Some people have said it may have been because of her many varied interests, like acting and designing which people thought took time away from her on the practice court.

Serena looked awful in the early rounds of the 2007 Australian but she kept winning.  Eventually she played herself into better shape and trampled Maria Sharapova in the final.  Sharapova never had a chance in that match.  Serena was fantastic.

Serena has won 31 tournaments out of 117 played in her career with 8 majors.  She has won her 8 majors in 31 attempts for a .258 winning percentage.  She has a lifetime 388-82 won-lost record for a .826 winning percentage at this point in time.  At one point Serena held all 4 majors simultaneously in the years 2002 to 2003.  It was called the "Serena Slam."  It wasn’t a calendar year Grand Slam but it was a great accomplishment nevertheless.

Serena’s career is far from over and I would think that she has an excellent chance to add to her credentials as one of the best that has ever played in women’s tennis.  Some tennis experts I have spoken to over the years believe that when Serena plays her best, her best may be the highest of any female player ever.  It’s debatable of course but I think it could be true.  I could argue that for a few other female players also like Hana Mandlikova, Evonne Goolagong, Steffi Graf among others also to be fair.

Justine Henin is one of the most versatile players I have ever seen.  Her game is one with almost no weaknesses and many strengths.  Henin’s backhand is one of the great one handed backhands in tennis history — a shot so brilliant, Hall of Famer John McEnroe once called it the best backhand, hit by a man or woman, in tennis.  It’s a flexible shot which she can hit with different spins, angles, touch and power.

I have noticed that despite the fact everyone raves about her backhand (and rightfully so) that Henin often runs around her backhand to hit her very powerful forehand.  People don’t understand why Henin does it but in watching her over the years I believe she mishits a bit less on the forehand and may hit the forehand with some more power than the backhand.

Henin has had some illnesses over the years that have sapped her strength.  She had to lessen her tennis schedule because of this to maintain her energy over the long grinding year.

Henin has won 41 total career tournaments out of 152 played for a .270 percentage.  The 41 victories include 7 majors.  She has clearly been the best clay court player of the 2000’s with a 35-4 won-lost record at the French Open and 4 French Open titles.  She has won the 4 French Opens in 8 attempts, including the last 3.  Henin as of August 2008 has won 7 out of 31 majors entered for a .226 winning percentage.  Her career record is 493-107 for a lifetime .822 winning percentage.  She has just recently retired but I would not yet rule out a comeback so she may add to these figures.

So who is the greatest?  As I wrote in the preface, since we don’t have all the numbers we really don’t have a logical way to really find out.   Perhaps the BEST way to write it is to write who are the candidates and who MAY be the greatest?  Let’s look at it chronologically;

Suzanne Lenglen is obviously the most dominant of all the greats.  She almost never lost sets, rarely lost games, let alone matches.  For example Lenglen won Wimbledon in 1925 with the loss of only 5 games in 4 rounds and in the 1923 Wimbledon she lost only 11 games in 6 rounds.  She did not lose any sets in either Wimbledon.

The major problem I have with Lenglen is not in her record which was practically perfect but in her competition.  Was her record so unbelievable because she was a superwoman or because the strength of her competition was so weak?  I would tend to think it was a bit of both but I would think the overwhelming match scores were mainly due to the latter.

Still overall I would have to go with Lenglen for the top woman player of the pre-Open era.  It’s very close in my mind between her and Helen Wills. 

Lenglen won 81 tournaments. Wills won 52 tournaments.  Lenglen played against somewhat weaker competition in my opinion but won a lot more tournaments.

Wills won 19 majors out of 24 played.  A great record.  Lenglen won 8 majors out of 11 but one was a default in 1926 at Wimbledon when confusion about the playing time cause a major problem in which Lenglen defaulted due to the fact that she thought she upset the Queen.  In 1924 Lenglen defaulted due to illness also at Wimbledon.  Clearly advantage to Wills here.

It’s a tough guess but I would go with Lenglen.  If Lenglen participated in as many majors as Wills I would think that her record would have been just as impressive as Wills.

Wills had greater power but Lenglen was arguably the fastest player that ever lived with excellent footwork.  She played errorless tennis and apparently had no weaknesses as a player. 

The only other player to consider is Maureen Connolly.  If Connolly didn’t have her accident on horseback she may have set records in majors that may have never been broken.  After losing her first two majors at the United States Championships in the second round Connolly won her next nine majors, including the Grand Slam in 1953.  Connolly was only 19 at the time of her last victory in a major, the 1954 Wimbledon.

It’s not unreasonable to think Connolly would have won more than 20 majors in her career if she played for a few more years.   However you can say the same for Lenglen and Wills if they were more active in the majors and Wills did win close to 20 with 19 majors.  It almost pains me to eliminate Connolly because of what could have been. 

Of the player who spanned the Pre-Open era and Open and Margaret Court has the most prolific numbers with approximately 187 tournament victories and 24 majors in singles, which is the most of any top player, male or female.  Court has won these majors in 47 attempts, winning 51 percent of her majors against great players like Bueno, King, Goolagong, Casals, Evert, and Navratilova.  Court’s double record is amazing also, of the players mentioned here only Navratilova and King can rival her as doubles players.

It’s an awesome record but not without some flaws.  Court won 11 Australian Championships but it was against a very thin field.  It’s not quite as bad as some have described because she did defeat top players like King, Goolagong and Bueno but it wasn’t as strong a field as most majors would be normally be over that period of time.  Court may very well have won several fewer majors if there were top fields in the Australian at the time.

Billie Jean King and Margaret Court are clearly the only top players to consider when you look at the top players who spanned the Pre-Open and Open Eras.  To quote King discussing Court from her excellent book We Have Come a Long Way "But once I got my game together in 1966, when I was twenty-two.  I had the edge.  Of our last twenty matches, I won twelve."   

I suppose this is Billie Jean’s way of pointing that once she reached her peak, she was able to handle Court. However one thing that you have to take into account over those twenty matches that King spoke about is that Court took time off several times after 1966 because of retirement and pregnancy.  You have to factor the time she took to get back into tournament shape.  After she was back in top shape she seemed to always be the top player or at least among the top two players.  She also won the Grand Slam in 1970 which was something Billie Jean King never accomplished.  In fairness to Billie Jean, she would have had a great chance to win the 1972 Australian if she chose to enter it.  It was eventually won by Virginia Wade.  Billie Jean won the last three majors of the year. 

From 1966 to the end of her career in 1975 Court won 12 of 25 majors entered with a Grand Slam.  From 1966 to 1975 during that same period Billie Jean King won 12 of 25 majors that she entered with 6 Wimbledons.   However the advantage here goes to King record between the two rivals because King won 6 Wimbledons out of the 12 majors in that period and Court won 5 Australians out of the 12 majors she won during the same period when the Australian wasn’t the greatest field in the world.  This is somewhat offset with the fact Court won the Grand Slam in 1970.  I would even venture to say that King may have had a superior record in the majors in this period.  After the 1975 Wimbledon King never won another major.

The three best players who have played their career only in the Open Era seem to be clearly Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as of now.  Evert has the best winning percentage of the three with a 90 percent career winning percentage with Graf second and Navratilova third.  Navratilova has won the most tournaments with 167, just a bit over Evert’s 158 and by a good amount over Graf’s 107.

Incidentally the records of Evert, Navratilova and Graf are as of August 1, 2008 and these records can be revised, especially since Evert and Navratilova played in the pre-computer record age where records were not as well kept.  For example, Evert "officially" won 157 tournaments several years ago.  I recently checked the WTA website and Evert gained a tournament victory with 158 now.  Amazing how Chris can win a tournament without playing since 1989!  I guess Chris is an even greater player than even we would think!

Graf has had the best record in the majors with 22 major titles won, 4 ahead of Evert and Navratilova’s 18. 

Martina was clearly the best player of the three during her peak years.  Graf had the best individual year with the Grand Slam.  To me Navratilova’s overall career, with her almost total dominance when she was at her best and the fact she was still one of the best players in the world even when she was near 40 makes her by a slight margin the Best Player of the Open Era.  It’s very close and frankly if one said Graf or Evert it would still be an excellent choice.

So we have it down to Lenglen, Court and Navratilova as the best of their times.  I believe if Suzanne Lenglen was magically transported to modern times, I believe she would be very competitive and perhaps the best in the world.  This is assuming she had modern rackets and training methods of course.

Court was 5-foot-10 to 5-11 depending on who you believe but it’s clear she had the physical ability to be a great player in any era.

Margaret Court’s records are stunning.  She won the most majors, the most tournament victories, and she was an amazing physical specimen.  She also won a Grand Slam and won most of the tournaments she entered during her career.  She unofficially has won the most tournaments in Women’s Tennis history.  If I were Court I would say to myself rather loudly “What do I have to do to get people to think I’m the greatest?  How much better can I do and yet people often don’t think of me which they consider the greats of the game?”  I find it surprising that so many people eliminate Court so quickly when they consider the best female tennis players in history.

I would guess that much of the reason for dismissing Court out of hand is because she was not known for being one who handled pressure well.  People have written that she became very nervous in big matches.  It did not help her reputation with nerves when she was easily defeated by 55 year old Bobby Riggs by a score of 6-2 6-1 in the infamous Mother’s Day match.

The percentages for Court are spectacular also.  Court won 51 percent of the majors she entered plus probably over 60 percent of the total tournaments she played in her entire career.  I have seen figures around 63 percent.  To put it in perspective Court won more than twice as many tournaments as Helen Wills entered and Wills won 56.5 percent of the tournaments she played in with 52 tournaments out of 92 entered if these numbers are correct.  Court entered far more tournaments, maintained a percentage better than Wills and probably played better competition. 

In Wills favor was when she was at her best she never lost and didn’t lose for years. 
 
According to some sources which cannot be 100 percent verified Court has won 187 of 296 tournaments entered which comes out to an amazing .632 winning percentage.  The last edition of Bud Collins’ Total Tennis has her at 194 total tournaments won. 

Court’s won-lost record lifetime is 1158-103 which is a .918 winning percentage according to some unverified sources.  These are numbers which simply boggle the mind.  She was just consistently great.  I had a lot of problems figuring out her best 5 years because it seemed every period was her best 5 years.  My thought was if she did lose matches because of nerves, she also must have won a lot of matches when she was nervous like the 1973 French Open over a young Chris Evert in which Evert served for the match in the second set yet Court rallied and ultimately won.  How bad can nerves affect you if you win 92 percent of your matches for your career?

Probably Court’s most famous victory was her Wimbledon final against Billie Jean King in 1970.  It has been often written that this was a great tennis match but it wasn’t really well played, even Billie Jean has admitted both were both a shadow of themselves during that match due to injuries.  It was however a dramatic and courageous match by both in which Court won by a score of 14-12 11-9.  In this match Court had a strained and swollen ankle and King was hurting with a deteriorated kneecap which required surgery after the tournament. 

To put it into perspective I saw on www.espn.com the other day that Justine Henin was 92 and 8 in her last 100 matches in November 2007 and the implication was how incredible that was.  Margaret Court didn’t win 92 percent for 100 matches, she won about 92 percent for her career!  For prodigious numbers no female player has ever quite matched Margaret Court though some like Navratilova, Evert and Graf have come close in a number of areas. 

After looking at Court’s records you have Martina Navratilova, who dominated tennis with perhaps the toughest of competition around.  Martina’s record of 167 tournament victories in the Open Era is superb, her 18 majors is excellent and her average level of play during her best 5 year period may have been higher than any female player ever.

It seems to be that it’s much tougher to pick the best female player because so many had incredible records for a short period AND for a career.  Even just looking at strokes you have problems.  In descriptions of Lenglen, people have said her groundstrokes were consistent, accurate and but not really that forceful, the ball always seems to be in a place where it was hard to return.  She could volley and had a good serve and super footwork and movement.  How can anyone pick against the Tennis Goddess Suzanne Lenglen?  Lenglen, the woman with perfect strokes who also had a virtually perfect record!  It was very hard NOT to pick her or pick against Helen Wills who was also virtually invincible for years.

Alice Marble was virtually unbeatable for a while and Connolly could very well have been the best ever until her career was ended prematurely by injury.  However it’s very hard to pick either player because of the relative shortness of each player’s career.   

Pauline Betz, who I neglected to talk about earlier was also amazing and experts like Jack Kramer feel she was the second best player he ever saw next to Helen Wills.    

Betz had a super backhand which she modeled after Don Budge. Many people who have seen her believe she was the fastest female player they have ever seen.  Betz was an excellent groundstroker who won 4 United States Championships and 1 Wimbledon.  Overall she won 5 majors in 10 attempts plus she was in 3 other finals of majors.  Like Alice Marble before her, Betz may have been an extremely underrated player in terms of tennis history.  Betz turned pro in the early 1940’s and defeated Sarah Palfrey Cooke and Gussy Moran in individual tours.  I don’t really think she compares to the other players in this article but she was so good I figured she had to be mentioned.

It’s a so tough to choose but my general feeling is that Martina Navratilova or Margaret Court is the Best Ever if you look at the numbers objectively.  Problem is that I have most of the numbers for Navratilova but Court’s numbers cannot be 100 percent verified.

Yet at the same time I think it’s quite possible the best 3 players of all time could have played during the Open Era with Evert, Navratilova and Graf as the choices.  I know it may be a contradiction in some ways but it is so close between the top players.

Navratilova has won the most tournaments of the Open Era and had probably the most dominant 5 year period of any player of the Open Era.  Navratilova, along with Evert and Graf played some of the greatest players in history.   The level of competition was very high.  She was able to win as a young player and she was able to win as an older player.  Navratilova was good from the backline and was possibly the greatest net player of all time.  Despite all of this it’s still hard to pick her over Graf or Evert.  The records of the latter two are so astonishing.  For example if Evert defeated Martina in just one of the many Wimbledon finals or just any of the major finals they played in, Chris would have 19 majors won and Martina 17 and all of a sudden Chris’ record in the majors looks a lot better now.  Chris would have won 2 more majors than Martina and yet it’s just the difference of one match result being reversed!

Court won tournaments by a higher percentage rate over Martina, at around 63 percent to about 44 percent.  Court won around 190 tournaments to Navratilova’s 167 and won more majors than Martina.  Margaret also played great competition in Bueno, King at her peak, Chris Evert for a few years at the beginning of her career, Goolagong at her peak, Casals, Wade, even Navratilova.  Court also won the first Grand Slam of the Open Era for females.  Not that it made any difference since Court played the best female players in the old amateurs only majors anyway.

This is offset by the fact I believe Navratilova may have played a tougher brand of competition by a little bit.  Martina played Evert at her peak, King, Court, Graf, Seles, Sanchez-Vicario, Sabatini and was able to defeat them into her mid-thirties.  Navratilova’s 5 year peak may have been greater than any female player ever but Court had several 5 year spans which approached this.  I also have to take into account the fact that Court had to take time off to have children and the time to get back into top tournament shape had to give her a few more losses than if she was in top form.  I don’t recall any of the players in this article, with the exception of Goolagong taking time off their tennis career to have children.

Originally I came to the conclusion that Martina Navratilova was by a fraction the best Women’s Player ever but I looked at the UNVERIFIED numbers that I found I realized that Court’s numbers were so overwhelming that I had to give it a second look. It’s hard to ignore the stunning numbers that Court put up in her career.  About 190 tournaments won, unofficially the won, a 92 percent winning percentage, the most majors won and a Grand Slam.  It seems about a toss up to me.

Maybe it’s best I break it up into different periods since I don’t have all the numbers.  I would go with Lenglen over Wills for those players who played totally in the Pre-Open Era.  I would go with Court over King for those players who spanned the Pre-Open Era and the Open Era.  I would go with Martina Navratilova (barely) over Chris Evert and Steffi Graf for people who played in just the Open Era.

Raymond Lee is a tennis historian who lives in New York. His previous articles for Tennis Week include Flash Points: Matches That Changed The Course Of Tennis History, Numbers Reveal The No. 1 Player Of The Open Era, a statistical study of the top male players of the Open Era, The Best Of The Best, a comparison of the Open Era's top women and The Natural, a profile of Hall of Famer Pancho Gonzalez.