Top 10 women with the most Grand Slam singles titles

All-time and Open Era records

The Open Era began in 1968, when major tournaments opened their fields to professionals as well as amateurs. This puzzle includes the earlier period. Margaret Court’s overall singles total and Serena Williams’ Open Era record can therefore both be correctly described as records under different scopes. Removing pre-1968 results is not a minor formatting change: it changes the data being counted and can remove earlier players from the leading group. Look for the era qualifier whenever a tennis article describes a record.

Singles is a specific competition

A Grand Slam tournament awards titles in several events. Counting women’s singles does not add a player’s women’s doubles or mixed doubles championships. Nor does one major victory equal a calendar Grand Slam, which means winning all four major singles tournaments in the same year. The wording can be confusing because the same phrase refers both to the tournaments and to that particular achievement. Here, one completed singles championship contributes one title to the career count.

Ties and comparing different careers

Some players in the archived answer set share a title total. The game uses a fixed display order for those tied entries, rather than claiming that the higher row won more championships. Court, Williams and Graf help anchor the top of the list, while the earlier champions remind us that an all-time table spans very different competitive conditions. A trophy count cannot settle comparisons of playing strength across eras. To verify an entry, use the singles records in the WTA or ITF reference, and compare the same cutoff and era definition rather than a player’s total career tournament wins.

Sources & further reading

• ITF: Grand Slam tournaments and singles records
• WTA: Margaret Court career record
• WTA: Serena Williams career record

Explanation updated Thursday, October 1, 2026. The puzzle’s original data date is listed below.