No country has achieved as much success in tennis as the United States.
The country is not only the venue for one of the four Grand Slam tournaments, but also hosts numerous other tournaments – and has produced some of the best tennis players of all time.
With the Cincinnati Open taking place this week and the hard court summer in full swing in the USA, we took a look at the record books.
Here we rank the nine greatest US players of the Open Era, with a focus on singles.
9) Nancy Richey
In her career, which spanned both amateur and professional sports, Richey has left a clear mark.
After winning the 1967 Australian Open and reaching three other major finals before the Open Era, Richey became the first French Open winner in the professional era by defeating Ann Jones in the final.
She also finished runner-up at the 1969 US Open, where she was beaten by Margaret Court, and reached further semifinals in New York, Paris and Wimbledon during the Open Era.
She was ranked number 2 in the world in 1969 and ended her playing career in 1978.
8) Jennifer Capriati
A teenage prodigy, Capriati reached several Grand Slam semifinals and won Olympic gold at the 1992 Barcelona Games before running into personal difficulties in the mid- to late 1990s.
However, their comeback in the late 1990s and early 2000s was incredible, making their second chapter even more remarkable than the first.
Capriati defeated Martina Hingis to win her first Grand Slam tournament at the 2001 Australian Open. That same year, she defeated Kim Clijsters to win the French Open title.
In 2002, she regained her Australian Open title and went on to win 14 titles in total, including multiple Wimbledon and US Open titles – and was world number 1 for 17 weeks.
7) Tracy Austin
Austin was another prodigy and his career may have been short but certainly beautiful.
She was just 14 years old when she made her Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon in 1977 and two years later she became the youngest US Open winner in history when she surprisingly defeated Chris Evert in the final.
In 1981, at the age of 18, she won the US Open for the second time against Martina Navratilova. In 1979 and 1980 she reached further semifinals at Wimbledon.
Chronic injuries took their toll on Austin and she was only 19 when she won her last title, but she still won 30 WTA titles and was ranked world number 1 for 21 weeks.
6) Lindsay Davenport
Davenport was a driving force in women’s football from the mid-1990s to the mid-2000s and was one of the main instigators of the “Power” era that swept the women’s game.
Davenport’s first major success was winning the Olympic gold medal in Atlanta in 1996, followed by her first Grand Slam title at the 1998 US Open, when she defeated Martina Hingis in the final.
This was followed by triumphs at Wimbledon in 1999 and at the Australian Open in 2000, where she defeated Steffi Graf and Hingis respectively. She also reached four other important singles finals.
With her 98 weeks as number 1 in the world rankings, she is ranked 10th in the all-time WTA rankings and has an impressive record of 55 singles titles.
WTA Tour News
Tim Henman makes a prediction for Emma Raducanu’s ranking and sends a message to her critics
Iga Swiatek makes ‘scary’ confession as she addresses a worrying tennis issue
5) Venus Williams
Venus is the second most successful woman of the 21st century in terms of number of Grand Slam singles victories and one of the most popular and consistent WTA players of all time.
Remarkably, she reached her first Grand Slam singles final at the 1997 US Open at the age of 17 and won the famous Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic titles in 2000.
Her most successful major tournament was Wimbledon, which she won five times in eight years. However, she also won two major tournaments in a row in New York and finished second in Melbourne and Paris.
Venus has won 49 WTA singles titles throughout her legendary career and was ranked number 1 in the world for 12 weeks.
4) Billie Jean King
No player has had as much of an impact on women’s tennis as King. She was the leading advocate for equal prize money in the early 1970s and played a key role in the founding of the WTA in 1973.
And after winning four majors in the amateur era, she continued her success with an impressive eight majors in the Open Era.
King won four of her six Wimbledon titles and three of her four US Open titles in the professional era, completing the Career Grand Slam at the 1972 French Open.
She won 67 singles titles during the Open Era and peaked at number 2 in the WTA rankings – although she was already recognized as number 1 before that.
3) Chris Evert
As the winner of 157 WTA singles titles and the first WTA world number one, Evert was one of tennis’s first great modern superstars – and her career lived up to that reputation.
She won an impressive 18 Grand Slam singles titles and reached 16 other finals – a total of 34 major singles finals, a record that no other woman can match.
Evert dominated Roland Garros throughout her career, holding a record seven women’s singles titles, but also won six US Opens, two Australian Opens and three Wimbledon titles.
In 56 Grand Slam appearances, she only failed to reach the semifinals four times – and was number 1 in the world for 260 weeks.
2) Martina Navratilova
Navratilova was born and raised in Czechoslovakia, but represented the United States for most of her tennis career—that’s why we’re including her here.
No one will ever come close to her astonishing record of 167 WTA singles titles, 18 of which were Grand Slam victories.
Navratilova is probably best remembered for her nine Wimbledon titles – including six consecutive victories from 1982 to 1987 – although she also won four US Opens, three Australian Opens and two French Opens.
In addition, she reached a further 14 Grand Slam finals and was world number 1 for 332 weeks – a total only surpassed by Steffi Graf in women’s tennis.
1) Serena Williams
Serena is not only the best US player, but probably the best player ever. Her career is unlike anything we have ever seen in women’s tennis.
She was the dominant figure in the sport for nearly two decades, her first Grand Slam title being the 1999 US Open and her last the 2017 Australian Open.
In total, she has won 23 major singles tournaments, including seven Australian Opens, three French Opens, seven Wimbledons and six US Opens. In total, she has won 73 WTA singles titles.
With five WTA finals titles, another ten Grand Slam finals and 319 weeks as world number 1, she is by far the best American player.
Read more: The 9 best male US tennis players of the Open Era – ranked!
