Last week we took a look at the best male players. Now let’s take a look at the best female players since Hard Courts became an important feature of Professional Tennis.
All of the players here are current or former world number 1 champions. Showing once again that to be the very best, you have to excel on hard courts because it’s played so often throughout the Tennis season, both indoor and outdoor.
Kim Clijsters
Whenever I think of Kim Clijsters I think of Andre Agassi. Kim hasn’t achieved anything near as much as Agassi, but she certainly shares one thing in common which is her love of hard courts.
Clijsters has won 41 titles and 29 have come on hard court. So like Agassi, three quarters of Clijsters’ titles have come on hard courts.
Putting aside the statistics, what reminds me of Agassi is the way Kim approaches hard court matches. Clijsters seems to have faith in the bounce where she knows there will not be any bad or strange bounces that you would get on clay and grass, consequently Clijsters feels very comfortable and can go for her shots very freely indeed.
Clijsters had a great year in 2005 when she did the Indian Wells / Miami double, and won nearly all of the summer hard court tournaments she entered which culminated with her first title at the US Open.
Since Clijsters returned from her retirement in 2009, she has won only hard court events including winning the US Open in 2009 and 2010, the end of year WTA Championships in 2010 and the Australian Open in 2011. Clijsters also won Miami and Cincinnati in 2010 but unfortunately has suffered a lot of injuries since winning the Australian Open in January.
Clijsters’ strengths on hard courts are undoubtedly her movement—she is a great athlete who can get to any ball at any time when stretched, and is one of the best players at employing the wide to wide tactic, especially when serving. It’s in the genes as Clijsters’ father was a professional footballer for Belgium, and her mother was a gymnast.
Surprisingly, Clijsters’ weakness is that she doesn’t like high balls to her backhand, especially on return of serve. Not many players are able to exploit that—mainly because women players just don’t play a varied game.
Amelie Mauresmo however, consistently exploited that with high topspin backhands to Kim’s backhand and then low slices making Kim hit up a lot, that put Clisjters’ off her rhythm often. But only the best and tactical players are able to exploit that weakness.
Monica Seles
Monica Seles is without doubt another legend of this type of surface. Out of Seles’ 53 titles, 28 of them were on hard court. Like most American based players, Seles grew up on the hard courts of Florida at the Nick Bollettieri Academy.
Seles was also a mean clay court player as well having won the French Open three times in a row.
Seles won the US Open in 1991 and 1992 and got to the finals in 1995 and 1996. Seles also won the Australian Open 4 times from 1991 to 1993, and 1996. She also won the Canadian Open four times in a row between 1995 and 1998, and quite rightly is a legend in Canada.
Seles’ approach to tennis was the successful Bolliettieri blueprint—which was to control the middle of the court and move the opponent side to side wearing them out with punishing groundstrokes. She didn’t go to the net often, something she attempted to do more later in her career to shorten the points. Seles also developed a stronger serve later in her career.
Like Agassi, Seles used the serve more as a tool to get the point started and to take the offensive, as opposed to looking to hit aces or end the point with unreturnable serves too often. However, the lefty serve gave Seles a big advantage, especially on the ad court (the decision court).
Seles wasn’t the most athletic player though (this is a trait I find with many players who excelled at the Bolliettieri Academy, hence the focus on dictating play by controlling the middle of the court)
Therefore, latter players like Venus Williams was able to give Seles a lot of trouble. So did Steffi Graf with constant slices to Seles’ backhand—keeping the ball low making Monica have to hit up often.
Seles’ main strengths were her return of serve, which she used to punish opponents, especially off the 2nd serve. Seles was also double handed off both sides so had great control, even if it limited her on wide balls, although she was happy to take one hand off the racquet to get the reach.
Monica was also legendary for being a cool customer under pressure and had nerves of steel in the big moments, playing more aggressive when backed into a corner score wise.
Lindsay Davenport
Whilst you can associate Monica Seles’ game with the Nick Bollettieri formula in Florida, Lindsay Davenport’s game can definitely be associated to what is referred as the California Big Game—Big serve and big groundstrokes. Davenport was among the best in both departments. Naturally that type of game lends itself to the hard courts which she grew up on.
Most of Davenport’s titles have come on hard court. Out of the 55 titles Davenport has won, 34 have come on hard court. Davenport won the US Open in 1998 and the Australian Open in 2000, each time defeating Martina Hingis.
Davenport also appeared in the 2000 US Open final losing to Venus Williams and the 2005 Australian Open final, losing to Serena Williams. On each occasion Davenport seemed set to win, but was not able to see it through to victory.
Davenport has also won Indian Wells in 1997 and 2000 plus Olympic Gold in Atlanta in 1996. Davenport was also an excellent doubles player, winning 38 doubles titles including 24 on hard court. Davenport also won 3 Grand Slam doubles titles: French Open in 1996 with Mary Joe Fernandez, US Open in 1997 with Jana Novotna and Wimbledon in 1999 with Corina Morariu.
Her best weapon was her serve. As I mentioned before, Davenport embodied the big game, which always starts with the serve. She had a stint under Robert Landsdorp who also coached Pete Sampras and Tracy Austin. And like Sampras, Davenport placed her serve beautifully into the corners with a lot of spin. It wasn’t the fastest, but it was certainly a heavy serve and her 2nd serve was very good indeed.
Davenport also had an excellent forehand which she really drove through the ball, it was very penetrating and perfect for hard courts, Davenport was also good with crosscourt shots, making her opponent move, where she could control the point or attack the net. She also had a very good double handed backhand, therefore in her ground game, was a very secure player and often put her opponents into difficult situations.
Davenport’s biggest weakness was her movement. She was very tall and had difficulty getting around the court, and must be given credit for recognizing the problem early in her career and working on it.
By the time she won the US Open in 1998 as a 22 year old, she had shed 30 pounds in weight from the previous 24 months. That ensured Davenport could compete consistently at the highest level.
And that consistently ensured that not too many players could get the better of Davenport as Davenport often sought to get the first strike in. Only Venus and Serena Williams due to their superior athleticism were able to give Davenport problems and win big matches they looked like they might lose to her. She had the upper hand often on the rest of the field.
Venus Williams
Venus Williams is definitely another product of The Californian Big Game. Starting with her serve, Venus holds the world record with, plus speed records at Wimbledon and many other tournaments around the world.
Venus is also one of the most athletic female players ever to play tennis, and some people may argue the most athletic.
Venus has won 43 titles so far in her career, 26 coming on hard court. Venus won the US open in 2000 and 2001; plus Olympic Gold in Sydney in 2000 in both singles and doubles. She has also won Miami in 1998, 1999, 2001, and the year end Sony Ericson Championships in 2008 in Qatar.
Surprisingly Venus has never won the Australian Open on rebound ace or conventional hard court. Venus’ most incredible statistic is she has won 5 grass court titles, all at Wimbledon.
Venus’ strengths are her serve and athleticism. Venus has the fastest serve in the womens game. Her world record stands at 130mph. She can also be described as an all court player who uses her groundstrokes to put her opponent into a defensive position to finish the points off at net. Venus is very athletic and balletic around the net , and due to her height and spring is difficult to lob.
Her weakness is probably her forehand which can be shaky when under pressure. Also, despite having a great 1st serve, Venus often has quite a shaky 2nd serve which can break down under pressure due to having problems with the ball toss.
Her best groundstroke is her two handed backhand which she can hit down the line or crosscourt with angle.
Another strength Venus has is her speed around the baseline which means she defends fantastically well and stays in points other players wouldn’t be able to, and hits brilliantly on the run.
Venus’ defensive skills, and her athleticism to go with her aggressive play make her one hell of a player on hard courts.
Justine Henin
Justine Henin is the most petite of the ladies here in this company. The fact that Henin is able to compete so well at the top level is a credit to her. Henin has made the maximum of her abilities as a Tennis player.
There are a few players you see for the first time, who you know is going to be a good player. I saw Henin the first time in 2000 at the Canadian Open, and I instantly knew she would be top class, her backhand was incredible.
It was nice to see a new player coming through with a single handed backhand at the time. The other player who came through around the same time with a single handed backhand was Amelie Mauresmo.
As time went on, Henin improved her forehand to make it a weapon. Henin has been forced to remodel her serve on a few occasions, and although not a major weapon, she makes the most of it, able to serve up to 110 mph at times and uses an intelligent 2nd serve.
Whereas a lot of female players use topspin 2nd serves, Henin used a slice 2nd serve which often skids at the opponent, often into the body, and making returning difficult.
Henin won 43 titles, of which 25 came on hard court. Henin won the US Open in 2003 and 2007, plus the Australian Open in 2004 on rebound ace.
Henin also won Olympic Gold in Athens in 2004, and the WTA Championships in Madrid in 2006 and 2007 on indoor hard court.
Her strengths were her backhand which she used to slice, hit with topspin, and hit flat for winners down the line and crosscourt. Henin often hit winners when leaning back, as opposed to weight transfer forward, making her backhand winners look even more spectacular.
Justine also can be described as an all court player, she was equally at home at the net, able to pull off stunning volleys. Even though Henin is 5 ft 6 in height, she was difficult to lob due to her athleticism and quickness.
Henin’s only issue is the fact that she had to put so much into her game to get results, she was often prone to injury and illness. An arm injury sustained at 2010 Wimbledon put paid to a substantial comeback . However, Henin never looked the same player on her comeback and retired for a 2nd time in December 2010.
Serena Williams
Serena Williams is one of the all time greats at Grand Slam level along with Seles, Graf, Navratilova and Evert in modern times.
Serena has the best serve in the game, probably the best serve in the history of womens Tennis. Again, it can be traced to the Californian game of the big serve and big ground strokes.
Like Davenport, Serena is able to mix up her serve with tremendous placement and different spins, with slice and topspin. Serena’s deliveries are therefore not only fast, but full with spin which makes her serve very heavy and difficult to return. Serena also has the best 2nd serve delivery in the womens game at present which has depth, and placement.
Serena has has won 39 titles so far with 28 coming on hard court. Serena won her first US Open title in 1999 as a 17 year old and has won 3 US Opens overall. Serena also lost the 2001 US Open final to Venus Williams.
Serena has also won the Australian Open 5 times in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010. Williams has won the tournament on both rebound ace, and plexicushion hard court.
Serena has also won 12 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Venus, and two mixed doubles titles at the 1998 Wimbledon and US Open events, with Max Myrni. She's won Miami 5 times (tied with Steffi Graf), Canadian Open in 2001 and 2011 plus Indian Wells in 1999 and 2001. Serena also won Olympic doubles with her sister Venus at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and the 2009 WTA Championships in Doha.
Besides her serve, Serena’s strengths are also her athleticism, movement and will to win, which in the present era is probably matched only by Justine Henin.
Serena has a great two handed backhand and probably the best return of serve in the business, taking over from Monica Seles and Lindsay Davenport. Especially when it comes to standing inside the baseline and punishing fairly weak 2nd serves.
Like her sister Venus, Serena is great at defence and retrieving lost causes and turning them into winning situations in rallies, which make her very dangerous.
Serena’s forehand can be technically shaky at times but that’s about it as far as weaknesses go. Her only real issue is been injury prone, which is preventing her from winning even more titles more often as she gets older.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is the most successful Grand Slam champion in the Open era. Steffi Graf won an incredible 22 Grand Slam titles and lost 9 finals, she played in 31 finals overall.
Steffi Graf won 107 titles overall, and a large proportion of those coming on hard court. Graf has won the US Open 5 times and the Australian Open 4 times, all on rebound ace. She has also won Miami 5 times in 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1996. Graf won Olympic Gold in 1988 in Seoul as part of her golden slam.
Steffi Graf is one of the most athletic and graceful female players of all time. She had tremendous footwork, often dancing into her shots. Of course, Graf was known primarily for her tremendous forehand and slice backhand.
Along with Ivan Lendl, Graf took the forehand shot to a new level from the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s. She loved to run around her backhand to hit the big forehand inside out or down the line.
Like many of the male players mentioned in my previous article, Graf liked to camp on the backhand side, always looking to get the forehand into play whenever possible.
Graf also had tremendous speed and athleticism which was put to good use on all surfaces. In Graf’s case, it’s actually difficult to argue what was her best surface because she seemed equally at home on all of them.
Her slice was designed to stay low, always making her opponents constantly hit up, a great weapon against the many two handers she was facing at the time. Graf didn’t hit too many topspin backhands in her career, but was capable of hitting backhand passing shots against players like Navratilova.
Graf was a good volleyer although she didn’t use her athleticism too often to take her to net, Graf preferred to play most of her Tennis from the baseline.
In Graf’s case, it’s fair to say that despite the fact she didn’t like to hit too many topspin backhands, she had no weakness in her game.
Martina Navratilova
Martina is probably the last great female serve and volleyer to play Tennis. There have been players since her who have succeeded at that tactic, but only on grass. Jana Novotna won Wimbledon in 1998 with that tactic, and Amelie Mauresmo won Wimbledon in 2006.
However, both players were more likely to stay back on their serve on other surfaces, and serve and volley as a surprise tactic. Martina served and volleyed all of the time on every surface she played on, making her a master of that art.
Navratilova won a whopping 167 titles and an even more whopping 223 doubles titles. Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam titles and played in 32 finals.
On hard court, she won the US Open 4 times in 1983, 1984, 1986 and 1987. She also won her 3 Australian Open titles back when they played tennis on grass. Navratilova also won the US doubles titles on 9 occasions, 8 of them coming on hard court.
Navratilova had the huge advantage of been left handed and therefore had the advantage of using the lefty swing serve on the ad court (the decision court).
She was the female Lendl of her time, taking fitness training to new levels, to ensure she kept winning at the highest level. That allowed her to go on long winning streaks, and a career grand slam between 1983 and 1984 winning four slams in a row.
Navratilova’s strengths were undoubtedly her athleticism and fitness and speed at net. Navratilova had great reflexes to pull off great volleys off passing shots.
Martina was always willing to use the chip and charge tactic, and used a sliced backhand to attack the net off any relatively short balls. When receiving serve, she would always be looking to get to net.
Navratilova would rally with a purpose, she wouldn’t hit too many baseline winners from the back court too often. Martina was also difficult to lob as she was athletic, and able to track lobs and smash them away for winners.
Navratilova didn’t have any weaknesses once she figured out how to get to the top and stay there. But she was eventually challenged by the younger generation of Steffi Graf and Monica Seles.
The fact that Navratilova was around long enough to compete with those two players, shows why Navratilova is such a legend in womens Tennis.
Chris Evert
Chris Evert is up there with Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf as the most prolific Grand Slam champions in the Open era. Like Navratilova, Evert had a very long and distinguished career and was virtually at the top throughout the whole of her career.
Chris Evert won 18 Grand Slam titles, and played in 34 finals. Evert holds the record of US Open titles with 6 victories with three of those victories coming on hard court. Evert also holds the record of French Open titles with 7. Her Australian Open titles came on grass in the early 1980s before the rebound ace era. Evert also won an incredible 157 singles titles. Along with Navratilova, its unlikely any female player will get near that amount of title wins in future.
Evert’s nickname was the Ice Maiden. Her style of play was extremely consistent and steady, she didn’t make too many mistakes in the course of rallies. However, Evert was definitely capable of cranking up the pace on her shots when required and was helped by the change from wooden rackets to graphite rackets. Evert switched to the famous Wilson Pro Staff original 85 in the early 1980s.
Evert is unique in that respect as the conventional wisdom in Tennis has always been to dictate play by taking the game to the opponent to be very successful.
She was a counterpuncher extraordinaire with great powers of patience and concentration. Tracey Austin and Andrea Jaegger were probably pretenders to the throne, but due to injuries and burn out never managed to usurp Evert from that position.
Evert’s greatest rivalry was of course with Martina Navratilova which was the classic match up of attacker vs baseliner. Navratilova had the edge 43- 37 in their rivalry.
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis won 43 titles in her career and 18 of those titles came on hard court. Hingis was also an excellent indoor player, winning 16 events on carpet as well.
Martina is definitely one of the most naturally talented and instinctive players of the last 30 years. Hingis is the youngest ever number 1 player, a record she took from Monica Seles.
Hingis won 5 Grand Slam titles and played in 12 finals overall, losing 7 finals. Her best results came at the Australian open on rebound ace where she played in 6 consecutive finals from 1997 to 2002.
She won the first three finals defeating Mary Pierce, Conchita Martinez and Amelie Mauresmo. Martina then lost the next three finals to Lindsay Davenport, and twice to Jennifer Capriati.
Hingis also won the US Open in 1997 defeating Venus Williams, but lost the 1998 final to Lindsay Davenport and the 1999 final to Serena Williams. She also won Miami in 1997 and 2000 plus the Canadian Open in 1999 and 2000.
Martina was also an excellent doubles player who won 9 Grand Slam doubles titles, and won at all of the major tournaments.
Hingis’ greatest strengths were her wit and court craft. She always seemed to know what shot to hit and when to bamboozle her opponents and had great hands at net. Those qualities would be successful on any surface although Hingis never managed to win the French Open, playing two finals in 1997 and 1999 losing to Iva Majoli and Steffi Graf.
Hingis was able to dominate many bigger and stronger players ranging from Mary Pierce to Monica Seles. Hingis’ main weakness was her serve and ultimate lack of power as womens Tennis transferred to the power game in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
The media constantly predicted that Hingis would struggle once Venus and Serena Williams, and Lindsay Davenport matured into champions. That proved to be the case. Jennifer Capriati also proved to be quite a rival for Hingis at the Australian open.
It was the 2nd serve that really proved to be Hingis’ downfall as it was near impossible to win a high percentage against the top players as they were sitting on any weak deliveries, waiting to punish them.
Hingis was also not blessed with speed and athleticism and, retired in 2002 with chronic heel trouble. Martina did however, make a comeback in 2006 but after initial good showings including an Italian open victory in 2006, the game had passed Hingis by and she wasn’t the same force she had been in the late 1990s.
That shouldn’t detract from the fact Hingis was one of the very best women players in the Open era.
