In France, women's tennis has a long history. To drive the point home: the International Tennis Federation (ITF) set up shop in London in 1913. By that time, French female tennis players had been competing for prizes and prestige for more than fifteen years.
In 1897, the French Tennis Championships debuted the Women's Singles contests. In 1902, this organisation hosted its first Mixed Doubles tournament. Two years later, the Women's Doubles contest provoked even more excitement.
The Roland Garros tennis complex and the Open Era came along much later (1928 and 1968, respectively). The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) was formed still later, in 1973. Each of these innovations in tennis opened more doors for women.
The ten French Open players we feature in this article helped pave the way for today's French Open women winners. They are a part of what makes the Roland Garros tournaments so special.
While we wait for this year's French Open players to take the courts, Superprof looks back through French tennis history. Join us as we highlight the top French Open women's winners.
Roland Garros Winners - The Queen of Clay
Chris Evert grew up in a tennis household. Her father was a professional tennis coach and her siblings all became tennis players, too. However, only Chris and her younger sister, Jeanne, played professional tennis.
Chris started her tennis training when she was five, under her father's tutelage. While still in the Under-14 division, she ranked Number 1 in the United States (US). The next year, she reached the semi-finals in her first-ever senior tournament. Her senior-level success set a 30-year record. Many aspiring Australian players benefit from tennis lessons melbourne to build a strong foundation for their careers.
Born: December 21, 1954, USA
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
French Open Titles: 7 (1974, 1975, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986)
Chris Evert stole the show when she was 15 years old. She'd been invited to play in a clay court tournament, where she defeated French tennis player Françoise Dürr. This tennis great spent many years in the World's Top Ten rankings, reaching a career-high rank of #3.
After the Dürr match, Evert defeated Australian tennis superstar Margaret Court. At the time, Court had just won the Grand Slam in Women's Singles; she ranked Number One in the world.
Chris Evert turned pro in 1972, the year before the WTA was formed. When American tennis legend and WTA founder Billie Jean King announced the initiative, Chris Evert wasted no time signing on. She served as WTA president for a total of 11 years, while still playing in tournaments for all but two of those years.
Chris Evert spent her professional tennis career setting records. She made her Grand Slam tournament debut in 1971 and ran a 46-match winning streak before losing to Billie Jean King. She held the record for oldest WTA Number-One-Ranked woman for more than 27 years. Serena Williams broke it in 2013.
Chris Evert won the French Open seven times: in 1974, 75, 79, 80, 83, 85, and 86. To this day, her clay court win record stands unbroken. However, this tennis legend was equally fierce on other surfaces.
She won 382 of the 404 matches played on clay courts, a remarkable 94.55% win rate. Her career win record is even more dramatic: 1309 wins out of 1455 singles matches played. Her 89.97% win rate is the second highest of the Open Era, for men's and women's singles. All told, Chris Evert is the most phenomenal female tennis player in the history of the French Open.
French Open Women Winners
This chapter's title is misleading. Since 1891, the official name for this tournament has been the French Internationals of Tennis (Internationaux de France de Tennis). Despite the 'international' designation, only players who were French tennis club members could compete. This contest opened up to all amateurs, regardless of club status or nationality, only in 1925.
Suzanne Lenglen
Born: 24 May 1899, Paris, France
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
French Open Titles: 2 (1925, 1926)
Thus, it's no surprise that most of the historical French Open female winners are French. And only a player of Suzanne Lenglen's calibre could follow Chris Evert on our Top Ten list.
Suzanne came from a Paris family of means that wintered in sunny Nice. That's where she picked up a racket for the first time, when she was 11 years old. Her father was a tennis enthusiast, though not a player.
Once returned to the French capital, her father guided her training. He taught her how to play 'men's tennis', a more aggressive style of playing. The next year, she trained with a professional coach.
By age 15, Suzanne was a national champion - the youngest ever, at the time. She is the world's first-ever Number One ranked female tennis player, and the first female amateur to turn professional. All of that is on top of her record-setting performances.
Female Roland Garros winners receive the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen trophy. Besides that commemoration, the second show court at the Stade Roland Garros is called the Court Suzanne Lenglen. After Chris Evert, Suzanne has won the most French Open Women's Singles tournaments, as shown in this table.
| Player name | Representing | Number of French Open wins | Years won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suzanne Lenglen | France | 6 | 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1925, 1926 |
| Steffi Graf | Germany | 6 | 1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999 |
| Adine Masson | France | 5 | 1897, 1898, 1899, 1902, 1903 |
| Margaret Court | Australia | 5 | 1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973 |
| Kate Gillou | France | 4 | 1904, 1905, 1906, 1908 |
Steffi Graf
Born: 14 June 1969, Mannheim, Germany
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
French Open Titles: 5 (1987, 1988, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1999)
Steffi Graf won as many French Open women's singles tournaments as Suzanne, but during the Open Era. Like Suzanne, her father introduced her to the sport but she started playing when she was much younger. She entered her first tournament when she was five years old. By her teen years, she'd already established herself as a winner.
Steffi was a versatile player, equally at home on all court surfaces. By contrast, Adine Masson excelled only on clay. Her father founded the Tennis Club de Paris, which gave her the space to develop her playing style. She was the first female French Championship winner (1897), and the first French Doubles Championship winner (1907).
Margaret Court
Born: 16 July 1942, Albury, Australia
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
French Open Titles: 5 (1962, 1964, 1969, 1970, 1973)
Once again, we jump ahead in time, to marvel over Margaret Court. Hailed as one of the best players of all time, Margaret won 64 major titles across her 17-year professional career. Indeed, she holds the record for the most titles in women's tennis history. Does this statistic make you curious about who holds the record for the most Men's Singles wins?
Kate Gillou
Born: 17 February 1887, Paris, France
Plays: Right-handed
French Open Titles: 4 (1904, 1905, 1906, 1908)
Kate Gillou wraps up this portion of our Top Ten list of French Open women winners. One of Adine Masson's victories came at Kate's expense during the 1903 Women's Tennis Championship. Our table reflects that loss, ahead of Kate's four consecutive tournament wins.
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French Open Women's Singles: Rounding Out the Top Ten
Jeanne Matthey
Born: 25 January 1886, Alexandria, Egypt
Plays: Right-handed
French Open Titles: 4 (1909, 1910, 1911, 1912)
Jeanne Matthey picked up where Kate Gillou left off, scoring French Open wins in 1909, 1910, 1911, and 1912. The following year, in July, she beat up-and-coming Suzanne Lenglen, as well as Kate Gillou. The war cut her on-court career short. The injuries she suffered to her right arm forced her to stop playing.
Helen Willis
Helen Newington Wills
Born:
October 6, 1905, USA
Plays: Right-handed
French Open Titles: 4 (1928, 1929, 1930, 1932)
American Helen Wills was far more prolific at Wimbledon and the US Open than as a French Open winner. Still, she racked up as many French Open wins as Jeanne and Kate: in 1928, 29, 30, and 32. She played against Suzanne Lenglen in 1926, in an event dubbed the Match of the Century.
It took place in Cannes; our French player won both sets: 6-3, 8-6. This match was the last time that era's two pre-eminent female tennis players met, on court or off. These women did not travel in the same social and athletic circles, which made this chance match rather unusual. Helen shied away from fame and renown, and preferred playing opposite male players when not competing.
Justine Henin
Born: June 1, 1982, Liege, Belgium
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
French Open Titles: 4 (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)
Our ninth top player, Belgian Justine Henin, is also a four-time French Open Women's Singles winner. She began her streak of wins on clay three years after turning pro, first in 2003, and then in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She might have won in 2004 but that year, she won Olympic gold, instead.
Tennis legend John McEnroe describes her single-handed backhand as the best ever, in men's and women's games. He credits that powerful stroke as fundamental to her success. She was as great an offensive as a defensive player. And, unlike most others on our Top Ten list, she thrived on clay, racking up more wins at the French Open than at other Grand Slam tournaments.
Like Chris Evert and Margaret Court, Justine received the Philippe Chatrier Award for tennis excellence. This recognition is only for players who make exceptional contributions to the sport. It is the ITF's highest honour, accorded to one player each year.
Hilde Krahwinkel-Sperling
Born:
26 March 1908, Essen, Germany
Plays: Right-handed (one-handed backhand)
French Open Titles: 4 (1935, 1936, 1937)
Our Top Ten list ends with Hilde Krahwinkel-Sperling, who won the French Open in 1935, 36, and 37. She and Justine Henin share the distinction of being among the four women to win consecutive Roland Garros titles. By popular consensus, this Danish-German player is second to Steffi Graff as the best German player in history.
This guide to the French Open Top female players must have whetted your appetite for the upcoming contests. Who will claim the Suzanne Lenglen Cup this year? Let us know your picks in the comments section.
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