Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova enjoyed an iconic rivalry in women’s tennis with many believing it is the greatest not only in tennis but across all sports.
For context, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal played their 60th top-level match recently yet Evert and Navratilova met in 60 finals – that is not a mistake – during their career.
But while the two have played the most matches in the Open Era, there have been several other brilliant rivalries in women’s tennis since the sport turned professional in 1968.
Most of the prolific rivalries date back to the 70s, 80s and 90s. In terms of most recent rivalries for matches played, Serena and Venus Williams contested 31 matches with Serena winning the H2H 19–12. Serena and Maria Sharapova played 22 matches, but it was a dominant outcome for the American as she won 20 matches.
The 9 most prolific women’s H2H rivalries in Open Era:
9. Martina Navratilova and Wendy Turnbull – 34 matches
Wendy Turnbull reached a career-high of No 5 in the rankings, but unfortunately she competed in an era that was dominated by Navratilova and Evert.
Of the 34 matches she played against Navratilova, she won only five while her H2H against Evert was 21-1. The American also finished runner-up in three Grand Slams finals – two against Evert.
=7. Steffi Graf and Aranxta Sanchez Vicario – 36 matches
Steffi Graf and Aranxta Sanchez Vicario played in seven Grand Slam finals and the German won five of them, including four in a row as Graf won back-to-back French Open and Wimbledon titles in 1995 and 1996 with the Spaniard finishing runner-up on all four occasions.
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