Grass, the traditional surface for lawn tennis, has gone from being the court that hosted three of the four Grand Slams, to one that is res...
Grass, the traditional surface for lawn tennis, has gone from being the court that hosted three of the four Grand Slams, to one that is restricted to a few weeks on the calendar.
Grass has been a surface that has seen the greatest champions in women’s tennis prosper. In the amateur era and the start of the Open era, players like Margaret Court, Helen Wills Moody and Suzanne Lenglen scripted win after win and lifted trophy after Major trophy. Most of them on grass.
But in the Open era, the top players only have the green lawns of Wimbledon to showcase their grass prowess. Yet, they have made the oldest Major the perfect stage for excellence. Some of the top contenders for greatest of all time have claimed a bagful of Wimbledon trophies – both champion and runners up. Of Serena Williams’ 23 and Steffi Graf’s 22 Majors, seven came at Wimbledon.
The truncated season, though, makes it harder to ascertain who fits the bill across eras: the ones who shined when grass was the predominant surface or now, when it’s all about Wimbledon. To narrow it down, we look at the numbers mainly from the Open era with Wimbledon success.
Grass greats: Federer’s records to...Read more
