Alexander Zverev names the greatest women’s tennis player of all time ahead of Serena Williams

Many fans consider Serena Williams to be the greatest women’s tennis player of all time.

After all, the American won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, a further 14 in doubles, and two more in mixed doubles. Williams also won four Olympic gold medals and held the world number one ranking for 319 weeks.

However, she’s not the only player in the conversation. Steffi Graf, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, and Margaret Court are worthy of a mention, too. World number one Alexander Zverev has now named his women’s tennis G.O.A.T.

Alexander Zverev names Steffi Graf as the greatest women’s tennis player of all time

During an interview with ‘BB Tennis‘, Zverev named Graf as the greatest women’s player of all time ahead of Williams, Navratilova, Evert, and Court. The 29-year-old picked his fellow German, but do the numbers back up his choice?

Graf remains the most recent player to have completed the ‘Calendar Grand Slam’, winning all four major titles in a single year back in 1988. She also won the Olympic title that year, improving her Calendar Grand Slam to a ‘Calendar Golden Slam’.

The German also held the world number one ranking for more weeks than any other woman (377), 58 weeks more than Williams, won 34 more WTA titles and defeated 30 more top-10 opponents.

Comparing Steffi Graf and Serena Williams

Steffi Graf

• Grand Slam singles titles – 22
• Total Grand Slam titles – 23
• Olympic gold medals – 1
• Calendar Grand Slam – Yes (1988)
• Weeks at number one (singles) – 377
• Weeks at number one (doubles) – 0
• WTA Finals titles (singles) – 5
• Top-10 wins (singles) – 208
• WTA titles (singles) – 107

Serena Williams

• Grand Slam singles titles – 23
• Total Grand Slam titles – 39
• Olympic gold medals – 4
• Calendar Grand Slam – No
• Weeks at number one (singles) – 319
• Weeks at number one (doubles) – 8
• WTA Finals titles (singles) – 5
• Top-10 wins (singles) – 178
• WTA titles (singles) – 73

On the other hand, Williams has won more Grand Slam singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles than Graf. She has four Olympic gold medals to Graf’s one, and has been ranked number one in doubles as well as singles.

It really is a matter of preference as to who you pick as the women’s G.O.A.T. Grand Slam wins are the metric most use, which explains why many choose Williams, but as evidenced above, you can easily make a case for Graf as well.

Could any current players end up surpassing Steffi Graf and Serena Williams?

To be considered the greatest women’s tennis player of all time ahead of Williams and Graf, you would likely need at least 20 Grand Slam singles titles. Unless something extraordinary happens, that all-but-eliminates the world number one and two, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka.

At 27, Rybakina has won three major titles. She could win four consecutive Calendar Grand Slams and would still have work to do in her 30s to catch Graf and Williams. The same can be said about 28-year-old Sabalenka, who has won four major titles.

Mirra Andreeva and Coco Gauff, two of the youngest players in the top 10, are more likely to hit 20 major titles. They may only have one and two Grand Slams, respectively, but have time on their side.

Other players to watch out for are Iva Jovic, Victoria Mboko, Alex Eala, and Lili Tagger. All four players are yet to win a major title, but have immense potential, and like Gauff and Andreeva, have plenty of time to reach that potential.