Tennis world No.1s: Iga Swiatek loses her crown to finish 2024 after WTA Finals boilover
Updated . First published
Modern greats: women to hold the No.1 ranking
After a dominant period from Poland's Iga Swiatek, women's tennis has a new world No.1, with the top ranking changing hands just before year's end in 2024.
Here are all 29 players to have held the women's world No.1 ranking since computer rankings were introduced in 1976.
It is an eclectic mix, with some incredible - and at times shocking - stories.
Scroll on to see every player who's held the crown, in order from the first official world No.1.
1. Chris Evert
Chris Evert, seen here at Wimbledon in 1976, became the inaugural world No.1 under the computer rankings system on November 3 of that year. She held top spot until April 25, 1976, meaning that she was also the first year-end No.1. The American great had nine stints as No.1 between 1976 and 1985, totalling 260 weeks; fourth on the all-time list. Her second stint lasted 113 weeks, making her one of just four players to hit the 100 consecutive weeks milestone. She was the year-end world No.1 five times. Evert was an 18-time Grand Slam singles champion who enjoyed a legendary rivalry with Martina Navratilova. She won the career Grand Slam, topped by seven French Opens, and notched an incredible 157 career singles titles; third on the all-time list topped by Australia's Margaret Court (197). Evert was also an eight-time Fed Cup winner with the USA.
2. Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Evonne Goolagong Cawley, seen here at the 1976 US Open, became world No.1 from April 26 to May 9 that year. While it was her only stint in the top ranking, the Australian great enjoyed an incredible run during that period of her career; from 1971-77, she played in the final of 17 of the 21 Grand Slams in which she competed, winning six titles. She won her seventh and last major at Wimbledon 1980, becoming the first and only mother to win since Dorothea Douglass-Chambers 66 years earlier. She could not quite complete the career Grand Slam, losing four consecutive US Open finals, but finished with 86 career singles titles; sixth on the all-time list. Goolagong Cawley was also a three-time Fed Cup winner for Australia.
3. Martina Navratilova
Martina Navratilova, seen here during Wimbledon 1978, first became world No.1 on July 10 that year. She recorded an incredible 332 weeks in the top ranking across nine stints, from 1978 to 1987, often swapping the No.1 spot with great rival Chris Evert. Navratilova held the top spot for 156 weeks from 1982 to 1985 and was the year-end No.1 seven times. Her total weeks and year-end tallies were both records, eventually overhauled by Steffi Graf; though she remains the only player to be year-end No.1 for five consecutive years. One of the true icons of tennis, Navratilova won 18 Grand Slams singles titles and 31 doubles majors, holding the doubles world No.1 ranking for a record 237 weeks. She won a staggering 167 singles titles and 177 doubles titles across her career, both record marks. Having also won 10 mixed doubles majors, she is the Open era leader for most total Slams (59). Chief among her singles titles are nine Wimbledons and she also won eight Tour Finals. She also won four Fed Cups, firstly with Czechoslovakia and then three with the USA.
4. Tracey Austin
Tracey Austin, seen here at Wimbledon in 1980, had two stints as world No.1 that year, totalling 21 weeks. She went on to win the 1980 Tour Finals. The American shot to fame in 1979 when she became the youngest-ever winner of the US Open, beating Martina Navratilova in the semis and Chris Evert in the final at 16 years and nine months old. She became a dual US Open champion, winning her second singles Grand Slam in New York in 1981, beating Navratilova in the final. Austin won 30 career singles titles and was a three-time Fed Cup winner with the USA, though her career was severely hampered by back injuries, plus a near-fatal car crash in 1989. She retired in 1994, having had limited success in her comeback attempts.
5. Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf, seen here at the 1987 French Open, first claimed the world No.1 ranking on August 17 that year and held it for an astonishing 186 weeks, a record that she that now shares with Serena Williams. The German icon held top spot for 377 weeks in total, also a record, across seven stints through to 1997. Graf was the year-end No.1 eight times, another record, though there is a sad asterisk over her total numbers due to the stabbing attack suffered by arch rival Monica Seles. After Seles was attacked on April 30, 1993, by a crazed Graf fan during a match at Hamburg, she spent two years out of tennis. Graf compiled an 87-week run as No.1 after Seles dropped from top spot. There is also conjecture over how many majors Graf would have won has Seles not been hurt. Regardless of the fallout from the grisly incident, Graf was a mighty champion. She won the French Open in 1987 for her first Grand Slam singles titles and ended her career with 22, the most of the Open era until surpassed by Serena. Graf won the 'Golden Slam' in 1988, winning all four majors plus the Seoul Olympics singles gold medal. She won three majors in four other years, 1989, 1993, 1995 and 1996; in 1989 and 1993, she was runner-up in the only major she didn't win and in 1995-96, she was absent from the Australian Open. She won the 1999 French Open 12 years after her first Roland Garros title; her first and last majors. Graf also won five Tour Finals amongst 107 career singles titles (third all-time) and two Fed Cups. Later in life, she formed one of the great tennis power couples by marrying men's legend Andre Agassi.
6. Monica Seles
Monica Seles, seen here during the 1991 US Open, first claimed the world No.1 ranking from March 11 to August 4 that year, then representing Yugoslavia. She was already the 1990 French Open champion and won the Australian Open, Roland Garros and the US Open in 1991. She amassed eight Grand Slam singles titles between 1990 and 1993, including three major final wins over Steffi Graf, before her career took a tragic turn. On April 30, 1993, during a match against Magdalena Maleeva in Hamburg, an obsessed Graf fan stabbed Seles between the shoulder blades while she sat in her chair on court between a change of ends. She needed surgery but doctors were confident of a quick return; alas, the mental scarring from the incident kept her out of tennis for more than two years. It was decided that she should be reinstated as a co-No.1 alongside Graf upon her return and she had another 65 weeks in the top ranking, for a total of 178; which included three year-end No.1s. Seles, who represented the USA from 1994 onwards, won just one more Grand Slam after the stabbing; the 1996 Australian Open, where she beat Anke Huber in the final for a total of nine career singles majors. She won 53 career singles titles in all, including three consecutive Tour Finals, and was a three-time Fed Cup winner. Seles vs Graf might have been a rivalry to match Evert vs Navratilova; sadly, we will never know. Graf beat Seles in the 1992 Wimbledon final, denying her two-handed opponent a career Grand Slam.
7. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, seen here during Wimbledon 1995, had three stints as world No.1 totalling 12 weeks, between February and June that year. The tenacious Spaniard had won the French and US Opens in 1994 and made three consecutive Grand Slam finals in 1995, at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Sanchez Vicario was a four-time major singles champion, claiming the French Open title three times, and won 29 career titles. She was also a stellar doubles player and won the Fed Cup five times with Spain. There were explosive postscripts to Sanchez Vicario's career, headlined by a claim in her 2012 autobiography that her parents lost all of her $60 million career earnings. "They left me with nothing and I owe the tax authorities," she wrote. "How can it be that everything I achieved has vanished, that it does not exist?" She sued her father (Emilio) and brother (Javier) that year and reached a settlement three years later. She also faced multiple court actions regarding tax evasion and fraud, spanning from 2009 to 2018.
8. Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis, seen here at the 1997 US Open, first claimed the world No.1 ranking on March 31 that year and held it for 80 weeks, until October 11, 1998. The 'Swiss Miss' ended the era of rankings dominance enjoyed by Steffi Graf and Monica Seles, recording five stints as No.1 totalling 209 weeks. She was the year-end world No.1 three times. Hingis had an exceptional 1997, winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, and reaching the French Open final. She became the youngest Grand Slam winner of the 20th century with her first Australian Open win, at just 16 years and three months. She also won at Melbourne Park in 1998 and 1999, giving her five Grand Slam singles titles, and twice won the Tour Finals. She claimed 43 career singles titles and was also a decorated doubles player, winning 20 majors across the women's and mixed categories. Her last doubles Slams came in 2017, with her success lasting well beyond her brief but brilliant singles reign. Hingis retired at just 22 in 2003, citing injuries, but got back to world No.6 when she returned to the WTA Tour in 2006. She retired again in 2007 after being suspended for testing positive to a metabolite of cocaine, during a urine test at Wimbledon, and specialised in doubles once a two-year ban expired.
9. Lindsay Davenport
Lindsay Davenport, seen here at the 1998 Australian Open, first became world No.1 from October 12 of that year to February 7, 1999. She recorded eight stints as world No.1 between 1998 and 2006 for a total of 98 weeks, including four year-end No.1 finishes. The powerful American won the US Open in 1998 and later added Wimbledon (1999) and Australian Open titles to end her career as a three-time Grand Slam singles champion, with her All England Club triumph sealed by beating Steffi Graf in the final. She also won the 1996 Olympic gold medal, the 1999 Tour Finals and three Fed Cups with the USA. Davenport notched 55 career singles titles, largely thanks to her powerful groundstrokes. She was hampered by poor mobility early in her career but vastly improved her conditioning to reach the pinnacle of women's tennis.
