Women's Tennis: 5 players with the most Australian Open titles

The Australian Open was the last of the 4 Grand Slams to include the Women's Singles and Doubles competitions to its itinerary. This happened in 1922. The Australian Open offered Women athletes equal pay as Men beginning from the year 2001.

Over the course of the tournament history, the competition has been played on 3 surfaces - first on grass from 1922 till 1987. Following which the surface used was the Rebound Ace. From 2008 onwards, the surface in use is the Plexicushion Prestige.

No female tennis athlete has won the title on both grass and Rebound Ace. However, Serena Williams is the only athlete to have won the Australian Open title on the Rebound Ace and the Plexicushion surface.

Athletes belonging to 13 different nations have won the Australian Open trophy with Australia leading the pack. However, in the Open Era, the United States of America is at the top with its athletes emerging victorious 17 times. The winner of the competition is provided a replica of the Daphne Akhurst Memorial trophy named in honor of the great champion of the same name who won the title on 5 occasions.

We take a look back at 5 of the most successful Australian Open champions in the Open Era.

Disclaimer: We exclude Nancye Wynne Bolton and Daphne Akhurst from the list even though they won 6 and 5 titles respectively as they were inactive during the Open Era.

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# Monica Seles - 4 titles

4-time Australian Open champion Monica Seles

Yugoslavian born Monica Seles was one of the most dominant players of the 1990s. A prodigy, she peaked in her teens rising to the top of the rankings and winning Grand Slam titles. Of her 9 Grand Slam titles, 8 came as a teenager - an all-time record.

If not for the horrifying knife attack on her, she would have probably gone on to win a lot more. In fact, many tennis commentators have expressed their opinion that if Seles hadn't faced that incident, she would have gone on to become the most successful Grand Slam champion of all-time.

Seles won 4 Australian Open crowns including a hat-trick of titles between 1991 and 1993. Her last and only Grand Slam triumph after the stabbing incident was at the Australian Open of 1996.

# Steffi Graf - 4 titles

Steffi Graf and her husband Andre Agassi - the only husband-wife duo to win the Australian Open Singles title

German Steffi Graf was the poster girl of Women's tennis in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Graf and compatriot Boris Becker are credited with popularizing tennis in Germany where it remained a fringe sport for long. The only athlete to win at least 4 Grand Slam titles across all 4 Grand Slams, Graf was the Number 1 ranked player for a record 377 weeks.

The holder of 22 Grand Slam titles, Graf won 4 Australian Open titles (1988, 1989, 1990 and 1994). On all 4 times, she won the final in straight sets. In fact, in 1988, 1989 and 1994, Graf did not lose a single set all through the tournament. Her Australian Open triumph in 1988 marked the beginning of her path to claiming the Golden Slam. Graf was also the runner-up in 1993, losing a tough 3 set match to her great rival, Monica Seles.

# Evonne Goolagong Cawley - 4 titles

Evonne Goolagong Cawley - the only woman to win Wimbledon post childbirth in the Open Era

Since we are talking about the most successful Australian Open winners, it is only apt that an Australian athlete makes the list. One of only 3 women to have won the Australian Open after giving birth to a child (the other being Margaret Court and Kim Clijsters), Evonne Goolagong was the dominant force of Women's tennis in the 1970's - in the pre-Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova Era.

Popularly known as 'Gong', Evonne won 7 Grand Slam Singles titles including the Australian Open on 4 different occasions in 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977. Her 1977 triumph came just 7 months after giving birth to her first child.

Goolagong won a total of 68 WTA Singles titles (6th on all-time list). Apart from Singles, Goolagong also won the Australian Open Doubles title 5 times (1971, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1977).

# Serena Williams - 7 titles

Serena Williams with the 2017 Australian Open trophy

The only active player on the list is the legendary American, Serena Williams. Serena shocked the world in 2017 when it came to light that at the time of her Australian Open triumph that year, she was pregnant. It is truly remarkable that Serena was able to produce such a masterclass winning the tournament without dropping a single set at the age of 35 and carrying her child.

Of all the Grand Slam tournaments, Serena has the least losses at Melbourne - losing just 10 matches since 1998. She is also the only woman to have won the title on both Rebound Ace and Plexicushion surfaces. Her wins in 2003, 2005 and 2007 came on the Rebound Ace surface. Her other wins in 2009, 2010, 2015 and 2017 have been on the latest Plexicushion Surface.

In all, Serena has won the Australian Open Singles title 7 times. Melbourne is one of her favorite venues as she also has 4 Grand Slam Doubles victories here.

# Margaret Court Smith - 11 titles

Margaret Court

Fittingly, the list is headed by an Australian woman and the most successful Grand Slam champion of all-time - Margaret Court. Court's numbers are staggering and are unrivaled in many ways - like for example her feat of winning 192 Singles titles overall and also winning the Calendar Slam in both Singles and Mixed Doubles.

Court was dubbed 'The Aussie Amazon' on account of her rigorous physical training regimen which involved her making long runs on sandy hillsides. Her supreme physical fitness was a key part in her sustaining the juggernaut of winning trophies for so many years. In fact, she was the first woman to win the Australian Open post childbirth.

Court's success at the Australian Open is unrivaled in Singles and Doubles. In Singles, she won 11 titles overall (7 in the Amateur Era and 4 in the Open Era) including on 7 consecutive occasions - another all-time record between 1960 and 1966 inclusive.

In addition to this, she also won 8 Doubles titles and 4 Mixed Doubles titles at the Australian Open.