Tennis is a racket sport and an Olympic sport. The modern form of tennis originated in Birmingham, England, as lawn tennis in the late 19th century. Women’s Tennis Association is the main organization designated for women’s tennis, founded by Billie Jean King in 1973.
Did you know that Wimbledon is the world’s oldest and most prestigious tennis tournament?
The game has been played since 1877 and is the only major still played on the grass. With so much history, Wimbledon has seen many great players.
Therefore, it is safe to say that many great female tennis players have graced the sports tournament. But among all those female players, how many have been able to win the title more than once?
Hence to answer this query, we have prepared this list of the most Wimbledon titles won by female tennis players. These female tennis players have been able to make history with their wins.
So without any further ado, let us know about these female players and the total number of titles they have won in Wimbledon.
But before getting into the details, let us look at the rankings of the table first. We have prepared the list primarily with the help of Wikimedia.
| Players Name | Total Wimbledon Titles |
| 10. Venus Williams | 5 |
| 9. Lottie Dod | 5 |
| 8. Charlotte Cooper Sterry | 5 |
| 7. Billie Jean King | 6 |
| 6. Blanche Bingley | 6 |
| 5. Serena Williams | 7 |
| 4. Steffi Graf | 7 |
| 3. Dorothea Lambert Chambers | 7 |
| 2. Hele Wills Moody | 8 |
| 1. Martina Navratilova | 9 |
Most Wimbledon Titles: 10 Female Winners
10. Venus Williams
- Country: USA
The tenth female tennis player with five Wimbledon titles is Venus Williams. She was born Venus Ebony Starr Williams and is a former world no. 1 player in singles and doubles.
Williams is regarded as one of the all-time greatest tennis players. She was the first African-American woman to reach the No.1 ranking in singles in 2002.
The athlete is well known for her aggressive playing style and powerful groundstrokes. Aside from her five Wimbledon titles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam titles.
Similarly, she has reached the Grand Slam finals 16 times and won 7 times. She also has four Olympic gold medals on the list of her achievements. All and all, she has collected 49 titles in singles and 22 titles in doubles.
Another notable achievement of William is the record she broke for the longest time between her first and most recent grand slam singles final appearances. Additionally, she was the first tennis player to win the Olympic games in singles, doubles, and mixed events.
As of 2024, the African-American tennis player has an estimated net worth of around $95 million.
9. Lottie Dod
- Country: United Kingdom
Lottie Dod is the next tennis player on the list of female players with the most Wimbledon titles. She has won five Wimbledon titles. Although she was an English multi-sport athlete, Dod was best known as a tennis player.
Born on September 24, 1871, Dod played tennis during the era when it was considered the highly fashionable sport for the wealthy ones in England. She entered her first tennis tournament in the 1883 Northern Championships at age 11.
Dod entered her first Wimbledon Championships in 1887, where only six other competitors participated. She became the youngest title holder of the female singles champions at age 15.
An injury occurred when she played her final match at Wimbledon. She wore a metal-and-whalebone corset during the match. Unfortunately, the corset punctured her skin and caused her to bleed.
During that era, Dod’s playing style was considered unorthodox. However, it looks modern at present, and she was perhaps the first tennis player to advocate hitting the ball just before the bounce.
Dod was a tennis player who was ahead of her time. Being one of the most versatile athletes, she has her name in the Guinness Book of Records as the most versatile female athlete of all time.
This legendary figure of the tennis world died at the age of 88 on June 27, 1960.
8. Charlotte Cooper Sterry
- Country: United Kingdom
Charlotte Cooper Sterry is tied in the list with Venus Williams and Lottie Dod, with five Wimbledon titles. She was born on September 22, 1870, and was the first English female tennis player to win five singles titles at the Wimbledon Championships.
Cooper Sterry first learned to play tennis at the Ealing Lawn Tennis. In 1893, she won her first senior singles title, while she won her first singles title in 1895.
She was deaf since the age of 26. However, this did not stop her from competing in the tennis tournament. Cooper Sterry participated in 21 Wimbledon tournaments between 1893 and 1917.
In 1900, she became the first female Olympic tennis champion and the first individual female Olympic champion. During the 1902 Challenge Round match against Muriel Robb, she and her opponent made a record for the longest women’s singles final.
Cooper Sterry is the oldest Wimbledon female singles champion. She passed away at the age of 96 on October 10, 1966. In 2013, Cooper was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
7. Billie Jean King
- Country: USA
On our number 7 on the list of female winners with the most Wimbledon titles is a former world no.1 tennis player Billie Jean King. She has six Wimbledon titles and is regarded as one of the greatest women’s tennis players of all time.
King started playing tennis at age 11, switching from softball. Moreover, she left her school to focus on tennis in 1964. Then her most notable win came in 1972.
Her winning the King’s French Open in 1972 made her the fifth woman in tennis history to win the singles titles at all four Grand Slam events. Aside from her Grad Slam singles title, King also won a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles.
She earned 39 Grand Slam titles during her playing career, including 12 singles, 16 doubles, and 11 mixed doubles. Additionally, from 1959 to 1983, King made appearances in 51 Grand Slam singles events.
A little fact about her, she is the shortest player to win a grand slam. King was inducted into the Women’s Hall of Fame in 1990, and in 2018, she won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award.
6. Blanche Bingley
- Country: United Kingdom
English tennis player Blanche Bingley is tied with six Wimbledon titles with Billie Jean King. She was born on November 3, 1863, as Blanche Bingley Hillyard.
Bingley was a member of the Ealing Lawn Tennis. She competed in the first-ever Wimbledon championships for women held in 1884. Two years later, she won her first of the six singles titles.
Aside from winning six Wimbledon titles, Bingley won Irish Championships three times, the German Championship twice, and the South of England Championships eleven times.
She was considered the second-strongest female tennis player, the first being Lottie Dod. Bingley’s career spanned almost 30 years, the longest by any other woman to date.
She was married to Commander George Whiteside Hillyard, one of the foremost men’s players on the international tennis circuit, between 1886 and 1914.
Bingley passed away at age 82 on August 6, 1946. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2013.
5. Serena Williams
- Country: USA
On number 5 of our list is Serena Williams. She is widely regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time. She has won seven Wimbledon titles to date.
Serena Williams is the sister of Venus Williams and attended a tennis academy before making her professional debut at age 14. She bagged her first professional singles titles at the 1998 Open Gaz de France.
Between 2002 and 2017, Williams was ranked as the singles world no. 1 eight times. Furthermore, she is the only American player to win more than 20 major titles.
Besides her seven Wimbledon titles, she is among the only active players with the most major titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined. Williams is among one of the most popular American athletes.
William has 23 Grand Slam singles titles which is the most by any player in the Open Era.
Since Serena was not playing any games since September 2022, news surfaced on the internet about her retirement. But in October, she made it clear at a conference in San Francisco that she is not retiring. She quoted, “I am not retired. The chances are very high. You can come to my house, I have a court.”
4. Steffi Graf
- Country: Germany
The next female tennis player on our list is German-born Steffi Graf. Born on June 14, 1969, she is a former world no.1 and tied with Serena Williams with seven Wimbledon titles.
After an impressive junior career, Graf made her senior debut. In 1982, she played her first professional tournament. However, Graf’s Grand Slam breakthrough came in 1987. She won six tournaments and headed to French Open.
Graf was ranked singles world no.1 for a record time of 377 weeks. It is the longest period for any tennis player, male or female, to hold the singles no. 1 ranking. Similarly, during her playing career, she won 107 singles titles.
Additional to her single titles, Graf won 22 major singles titles. In addition, Graf was the first tennis player to win the Golden Slam and Olympic gold medals in the same calendar year.
She achieved many records and won many titles during her playing career. Considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time, Graf retired at the age of 30 in 1999.
One of the greatest tennis players of the 20th century, she was inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame in 2004. Graf is also credited for popularizing tennis in Germany.
Steffi was featured on the cover of Vogue Germany magazine’s June issue of 2022.
3. Dorothea Lambert Chambers
- Country: United Kingdom
Dorothea Lambert Chambers was an English tennis player tied with Steffi Graf and Serena Williams with seven Wimbledon titles. She was born on September 3, 1878.
She made her singles debut at Wimbledon in 1900. Chambers won her first Wimbledon title in 1903. Then in 1908, she won her gold medal in the 1908 Summer Olympics women’s singles.
After winning the 1911 Wimbledon, she became the first female player to win a Grand Slam singles final without losing a game. Chambers played the longest Wimbledon final at that time in 1919.
She also participated in the doubles match. During her career, she played a total of 11 singles. After her retirement, she turned to professional coaching. Sadly, Chambers died at the age of 81 on January 7, 1960.
She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1981 posthumously.
2. Helen Wills Moody
- Country: USA
Helen Wills Moody is number 2 on our list of females with the most Wimbledon titles. Born on October 6, 1905, she was born Helen Newington Wills but is known by her married name Helen Wills Moody.
Moody became interested in tennis after watching exhibition matches by famous Californian players. Then in 1919, she joined the Berkeley Tennis Club as a junior member.
At age 13, she entered her first tournament in the California State Championships. Although she lost the game, Moody had ranked 7th among the junior player in California by the end of the year.
Moody won her first singles title in the 1922 Pacific Coast Championships. After that, Moody won 31 Grand Slam titles during her playing career, including 19 singles titles.
Additionally, she was one of the greatest female players in history. She was also the first American woman athlete who became a global celebrity. Moody had admirable fluid motions and a graceful physique.
She had the title of most Wimbledon title wins until Martina Navratilova surpassed the record. Moody was an iconic figure and famous for her attire and signature white visor.
Described as the most dominant tennis player of the 20th century, she was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1935. Unfortunately, the player passed away at the age of 92 on January 1, 1998.
1. Martina Navratilova
- Country: USA
And the number 1 female tennis player with the most Wimbledon titles is Martina Navratilova. She is a former Czech-American professional tennis player. Navratilova is widely regarded as the greatest tennis player of all time.
Starting her playing career at 7, by the time Navratilova was 15, she had won the Czechoslovakia national tennis championship. The following year, she made her debut in the United States Lawn Tennis Association.
In 1974, Navratilova won her first professional singles title. After turning professional, she won 18 Grand Slam singles titles. She also won 31 major women’s doubles titles and 10 major mixed doubles titles.
Navratilova was stripped of her Czechoslovakia citizenship at age 18. After that, she asked for political asylum in the USA, and in 1981, she was granted US citizenship.
She was WTA world No.1 in singles for 332 weeks and 237 weeks in doubles. Navratilova is the only player in history to have held the top position for over 200 weeks in singles and doubles.
After her playing career, she transitioned into a coaching career. Many critics regarded Navratilova as one of the best female tennis players of all time. In 2013, she was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
On January 2, 2023, news surfaced that the tennis legend was diagnosed with stage 1 throat and breast cancer.
Conclusions
These female tennis players have the most Wimbledon titles, but more than that, these wins are proof of their skills. Furthermore, these female players have paved a path for future generations of female tennis players.
These female players have left an important mark in tennis history and are prominent figures in the tennis world. It would not be wrong to label them as the greatest female tennis players of all time.
