From Evert to Osaka: All 26 WTA World No.1s
From Chris Evert to Naomi Osaka, only 26 women have reached the summit of the WTA rankings.
01
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Naomi Osaka rose to World No.1 after capturing her second consecutive Grand Slam title at the 2019 Australian Open - the first Asian player ever to hold the top spot (Getty)
02
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Simona Halep became World No.1 for the first time after making the final of the 2017 China Open then reclaimed top spot in February 2018 (Getty)
03
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No.2 Garbiñe Muguruza reached World No.1 in September, but was knocked off her perch. She is the reigning Wimbledon champion (Getty)
04
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No.4 The 2016 US Open runner-up, Karolina Pliskova, held No.1 for eight weeks this summer (Getty)
05
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Angelique Kerber rose to No.1 after winning her second Slam title at the US Open in 2016, a year when she was also Australian Open champion and finalist at Wimbledon, the Olympic Games and the WTA Finals, and has notched up 34 weeks at the summit (Getty)
06
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Two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka held No.1 for 19 weeks in 2012, a year she began with a 26-match winning streak (Getty)
07
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Caroline Wozniacki held No.1 for 67 weeks between October 2010 and January 2012 then reclaimed top spot for a month by winning the 2018 Australian Open (Getty)
08
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Three-time Slam finalist Dinara Safina rose to No.1 off the back of a 38-6 record in the summer of 2009, and scored 26 weeks in the top spot in total (Getty)
09
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Jelena Jankovic first seized No.1 in August 2008, and promptly reached the US Open final and put together a three-tournament winning streak to end the year in the top spot and notch up 18 weeks in total there (Getty)
10
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Ana Ivanovic's Roland Garros title in 2008 enabled the Serb to rise to No.1 for 12 weeks that year (Getty)
11
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Maria Sharapova has had five stints as No.1 totalling 21 weeks: first in August 2005, again later that year, in early 2007 as the US Open holder, in summer 2008 after winning the Australian Open and in 2012 after triumphing at Roland Garros (Getty)
12
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Amélie Mauresmo first hit No.1 in September 2004 before she had won a Slam, but returned two years later as Australian Open and Wimbledon champion to chalk up 39 weeks in total (Getty)
13
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Famed for the poetry of her one-handed backhand, Justine Henin won seven Slam titles, including four French Opens, and ended 2003, 2006 and 2007 as No.1, holding the summit for 117 weeks in total (Getty)
14
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Kim Clijsters first reached No.1 before she had won a Slam, in 2003, but returned as the US Open holder in spring 2006 - and then for one week in her second career in February 2011 after winning the US and Australian Opens (Getty)
15
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Winner of 23 Slam titles to date, Serena Williams first hit No.1 in July 2002 and held it as recently as May 2017; she holds the joint record for consecutive weeks at the summit with 186, and her total of 319 is the third-highest in history (Getty)
16
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Despite dominating the second half of 2000, Venus Williams only reached No.1 in February 2002, when she held both Wimbledon and the US Open; in total, she would remain in the top spot for 11 weeks (Getty)
17
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Winner of three Slams between 2001-02, Jennifer Capriati first hit No.1 in October 2001; swapping every few weeks with Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams she would total 17 weeks, but never more than four consecutively (Getty)
18
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Lindsay Davenport hit No.1 after capturing the 1998 US Open, returned after winning Wimbledon in 1999, and again after victory at the 2000 Australian Open - but her consistency also enabled her to finish 2004-05 at the top, totalling 98 weeks (Getty)
19
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Martina Hingis became World No.1 in March 1997 at the age of 17 years and six months, the youngest ever to hold the top spot; she would go on to win five Slams and pile up 209 weeks at the summit, ending 1997, 1999 and 2000 there (Getty)
20
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The first Spaniard to be ranked No.1, Arantxa Sánchez-Vicario won four Slams between 1989 and 1998; her 12 weeks at No.1 came in spring 1995, when she held the Roland Garros and US Open titles from the previous year (Getty)
21
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Nine-time Slam champion Monica Seles hit No.1 in 1991 and held the spot until 1993, when she was stabbed in a horrifying on-court attack; on her 1996 return, she was reinstated as joint No.1 with Stefanie Graf for a year (Getty)
22
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Stefanie Graf holds the all-time record for weeks at No.1 with 377. The winner of 22 Slams, including the Golden Slam in 1988, Graf first ascended to the top in August 1987 and was last ranked there in March 1997 (Getty)
23
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Tracy Austin's 21 weeks at No.1 came in 1980, starting when the 17-year-old held the first of her two US Open crowns; she was the only player to interrupt over a decade of Evert/Navratilova hegemony at the top between 1976-87 (Getty)
24
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Martina Navratilova first ascended to No.1 in July 1978 after the first of her nine Wimbledon trophies and 18 Slams in total, and she would spend the next decade swapping position with Chris Evert, only ending her 332 weeks in August 1987 (Getty)
25
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Evonne Goolagong Cawley's fortnight at No.1 came in April 1976, four months after winning the fifth of her seven Slam titles at the Australian Open (Getty)
26
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When the WTA began producing rankings in November 1975, the very first No.1 was Chris Evert, who would eventually win 18 Slams and total 260 weeks at the top (Getty)
