Margaret Court
Billie Jean King
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Margaret Court leads 2 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Margaret Court at #8 and Billie Jean King at #12.
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The case for Margaret Court
Court's 24 Grand Slam singles titles stood alone as the all-time record for half a century until Djokovic equalled it in 2023, and her 64 total majors across singles, doubles and mixed will never be approached. She won the calendar Grand Slam in 1970 — a season crowned by a 14-12, 11-9 Wimbledon final over Billie Jean King, still the longest women's final by games — and she completed the 'boxed set' of every major in every discipline, a feat unique in tennis history. The era caveat is real and must be stated: 11 of her singles majors came at the Australian Championships in years when most top internationals did not make the trip, and her totals straddle the amateur-open divide. But she also won 13 majors after the Open Era began, against fully professional fields, and her serve-and-volley athleticism — she was among the first women to train with weights — was a generation ahead of her peers. Wherever one ranks her, the record book starts with her name.
The case for Billie Jean King
King won 12 Grand Slam singles titles and 39 majors across all disciplines, including a record 20 Wimbledon titles counting singles, doubles and mixed. But her importance dwarfs even those totals. In 1973 she founded the WTA, threatened to boycott the US Open until it became the first major to pay women and men equally, and beat 55-year-old Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes' before an estimated 90 million television viewers — a victory that reshaped public attitudes toward women's sport far beyond tennis. An aggressive serve-and-volley player and ferocious competitor, she reached world No.1 and won titles across grass, clay and hard courts over two decades. No player has done more to build the professional women's game or to win its economic and cultural battles, which is why her place among the immortals rests on a foundation the pure title-counters miss. The tour's premier team competition, the Billie Jean King Cup, now carries her name.