This article appeared in the online edition of The Toronto Sun on August 2, 1999 Top 10 females in tennis By GEORGE GROSS Corporate Sports Editor With the current crop of female tennis stars set to assemble next week at York University's Tennis Centre to compete in the Canadian Open championships, a question comes to mind. Who are the greatest female tennis players of the 20th century? It's nearly impossible to fairly evaluate players during the span of 100 years because of the varying factors each generation of female tennis stars played under. I'm referring to such things as equipment (racquets are made more powerful, balls have a different bounce, the court surfaces are different) and the obvious fact that successive generations of players never got a chance to play against each other. Accordingly, for The Baron's Top 10 I imposed the following criteria for my selections: - The number of Wimbledon titles, since it is generally accepted that Wimbledon is the championship tournament. - The most Grand Slam tournament titles, which includes Wimbledon, the U.S., French and Australian Opens. - The longest winning streaks. - Personal judgment of tactical playing styles of competitors I have seen either live, or on film. - Appreciating the fact that more women have been playing tennis in more countries in the second half of the century. Here, then, is the list of the top 10 grand dames. 1. Martina Navratilova The woman whom I call Lady Martina of the Court had every stroke in the book and placed her mark in the history books of tennis. She was to women's tennis what Bobby Orr was to hockey - she changed she game with her serve-and- volley tactics. No other woman has won nine Wimbledon tennis titles and no other woman has won six consecutive Wimbledon crowns. Moreover, only three other woman - Maureen Connolly, Margaret Smith Court and Steffi Graf - have had their names inscribed in the book of career Grand Slam champions. Martina was also the one who introduced physical fitness to women's tennis. 2. Steffi Graf Fraulein Forehand, as this magnificent German tennis player often is referred to, is without doubt second only to the great Martina. Ms. Graf, in spite of family problems and a series of injuries and surgeries, has won seven Wimbledons, five French Opens, five U.S. Opens and four Australian Open crowns. She dominated the game with her powerful forehand. Too bad she's retiring. 3. Suzanne Lenglen The French star dominated women's tennis in the early part of the century, having won six Wimbledon and two French Open titles between 1919 and 1926. She kept the ball in play from the baseline and was the type of player who not only hated to lose a match, or set, but even a game or a single point. One time she missed two service returns and when reminded of it, she said: "Oui, I remember, once on Wednesday and once on Friday." 4. Helen Wills Moody Until Martina Navratilova appeared on the scene she was the overall Wimbledon queen with eight victories in the 1920s and 1930s. Her record of not having lost a single set in six years is unparalleled in women's history. 5. Billie Jean King Another player in the offensive mould who destroyed male machismo when she clobbered Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes. She has won six Wimbledon singles titles to go with 10 doubles and four mixed-doubles honours, plus a number of French, Australian, U.S. and Italian titles. 6. Margaret Smith Court A great player with three Wimbledon, five U.S. Open, 11 Australian Open, three Italian and two West German titles to her credit. She was almost unbeatable on her home court. 7. Chris Evert The retired crowd favourite and now television commentator with the girl-next-door personality won three titles at Wimbledon, six in the U.S. Open, five Italian and one Australian with her precision ground-stroke technique. Her battles with Navratilova were legendary. 8. Maureen Connolly Little Mo, as she was known, burst on to the tennis scene with a vengeance and captured three Wimbledon and three U.S. Open titles before reaching age 20. She won Wimbledon in 1952, losing only two sets. In the ensuing two years she never dropped a set. Her career ended tragically when she broke her leg in a riding accident. The talented young woman died of cancer at age 34. 9. Louise Brough Clapp Another star of a different era in the late 1940s who won 30 Grand Slam titles, including four at Wimbledon. 10. Monica Seles The queen of grunting was on her way up the list when a crazed German fan knifed her in the back in Hamburg and she missed two years of action. She still has won four Australian, three French, and two U.S. Opens, five Canadian Opens and made it to one final at Wimbledon. She's the fourth female tennis player to earn more than $10 million.