As I sit here watching the lovely Ms. Maria Sharapova, it seems like a perfect time to continue my US Open 50th anniversary celebration by choosing the top 10 women ever to play in the event. Same deal as the men. Since we're talking about the US Open here, I'm only going back to 1968. Which still leaves us with plenty of the all-time greats in women's tennis.
Also of note, I only have two active players (you can probably guess who they are), but the other eight aren't all members of the US Open Court of Champions. In fact, only six of them are. That doesn't mean the other two are any less deserving, though. (Frankly, I'm not even sure they induct people into the Court of Champions anymore.)
And with that, here we go. I present to you the top 10 women's players in the 50-year history of the US Open...
10. Margaret Court (1969-70, 1973): She's got a court named after her in Australia, and it's her record that Serena is chasing. Margaret Court won five US titles staggering the amateur and Open eras. Her win in 1970 (her second straight) completed a Grand Slam and was the fifth of a remarkable six straight Major titles. She only played the US Open 11 times and won it five, with a final, two semis and two quarters among the other six trips.
9. Tracy Austin (1979, 1981): One of the original teen prodigies, Tracy Austin made her US Open debut at 15 and her final appearance (as a player) at 20. She crammed a lot into those six years, though--her only two Grand Slam titles (1979 & 1981), with a semifinal loss sandwiched in between, and quarterfinal appearances in her other three trips.
8. Venus Williams (2001-02): Venus sure made quite a splash when she burst on the scene at the 1997, didn't she? (Little did we know Serena was even better.) Her first six US Opens were incredible--two wins, two finals, two semis. She's made the semis three more times since, including last year, 20 years after her debut! Venus will forever be known for her five Wimbledon titles, but the fact that she's played in 20 US Opens is incredible.
7. Monica Seles (1991-92): If not for a deranged Steffi Graf fan, Monica Seles certainly would've had more than two US Open titles. In fact, she was the two-time defending champion when her career was put on hold in 1993. The 1995 US Open was just her second tournament back after nearly two years away...and she made the final! She made the final again in 1996 (losing to Graf both times), then made the quarters in the next four years.
6. Kim Clijsters (2005, 2009-10): Remember when Kim Clijsters had that dreaded "Best Player to Never Win a Slam" distinction? I don't either, but she had it for a while. After making the final in 2003, she missed 2004 with an injury before finally breaking through in 2005. That was just the beginning. After a three-year retirement to have a baby, she returned to the US Open in 2009 and won the title as an unseeded wild card. She then won again in 2010, giving her a final, then three straight wins over four appearances. That's a 27-1 record during that stretch.
5. Billie Jean King (1971-72, 1974): Arthur Ashe had the main stadium named after him. Billie Jean King got THE ENTIRE FREAKIN' TENNIS CENTER! She was one of the most significant, most important figures in the history of sports in the 20th Century. All sports. She's right up there with Jackie Robinson for her influence. I can't say enough good things about what Billie Jean King means to not just tennis, but women's sports as a whole. Part of the reason she was able to be such a pioneer was because she was a damn good tennis player! Made the first-ever US Open final, then won three of the next four titles (to go along with a win in the final pre-Open US Championships in 1967).
4. Martina Navratilova (1983-84, 1986-87): You know there are some heavyweights still to come if Martina's only No. 4. For all her success at Wimbledon, Martina made five consecutive US Open finals while she was at her peak in the mid-80s. In fact, she won an incredible six straight Grand Slam titles between 1983 Wimbledon and the 1984 US Open (the Australian Open was last then, so she didn't technically win the "Grand Slam"). Her most remarkable US Open stat might be this, though. In 2006, she won the mixed doubles title with Bob Bryan...when she was 50 years old!
3. Steffi Graf (1988-89, 1993, 1995-96): Steffi won every Grand Slam tournament at least four times, so it's tough to say which one was her best (it was Wimbledon, who we kidding?). She won this one five times, with her first US Open crown capping her remarkable Grand Slam in 1988 (she added Olympic gold a few weeks later for a truly incredible "Golden Slam"). Steffi defended in '89, then won three in four years from 1993-96. The year she didn't win during that stretch, 1994, she lost 6-4 in the third set in the final.
2. Serena Williams (1999, 2002, 2008, 2012-14): It'll take me a while to run through all of Serena Williams' exploits. She's arguably the greatest player in history, and she's won two other Grand Slams twice each. But the US Open will always be where she left her mark. When she came out of nowhere to win in 1999, little did we know what was about to happen. In 2002, she beat her sister for the third part of a Serena Slam. Twelve years later, she started another Serena Slam with her third straight title. Then in 2015, she was denied a calendar year Grand Slam with a semifinal loss that shocked the tennis world. If she wins this year, it won't just be a record seventh US Open crown (and the third Grand Slam she's won seven times). It would also be that all-time record-tying 24th career major title. Winning it at the US Open, the site of her first two decades ago, would be only fitting.
1. Chris Evert (1975-78, 1980, 1982): So why Chrissie over Serena at No. 1? A few reasons. The main one being perhaps the most staggering stat for any tennis player at any Slam with the possible exception of Nadal at the French. She played in 19 US Opens...and never lost before the quarterfinals! Chrissie made her debut in 1971, and made the semis, something she would do every year until 1986. After somehow losing in the quarters in '87, she was back in the semis in '88 before making the quarters again in her final professional tournament in 1989. Evert also won a record six titles and made the final three other times in that span. She won 13 of her 18 majors at either the US or French Open, but that sustained run of 19 straight years in the quarterfinals is simply remarkable. And she did that in New York, not Paris.
The Chrissie/Serena/Martina/Steffi debate regarding who's the greatest women's player of all-time will continue to rage on. Just like the debate about the current Big Three in the men's game and their place in history will continue. But regardless of what order you have them in, there's no question Chris Evert and Serena Williams are the two best women's players ever to take the court at the US Open.
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