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Tennis top 5: Countries with the most women’s Grand Slam singles titles


The first women’s Grand Slam tournament was held at Wimbledon back in 1884, and since then there have been a further 455. But, which country has won the most?

Join us, at Tennishead, as we talk you through the top five countries with the most women’s Grand Slam singles titles:

5. France (17)

Sitting in fifth in this list are France, who have won a total of 17 major titles between seven women. However, many of these Grand Slam victories were in the Amateur Era (1884-1968).

The first 25 editions of Roland Garros were won exclusively by French women, but it was not classed as a major tournament until 1925 due to the fact that it was only open to French club members and citizens.

Suzanne Lenglen, who had already won five Wimbledon Championships at this point, won the first Grand Slam edition of Roland Garros and went onto retain the following year.

The eight-time major winner has since been honoured at the Paris major, with Court Suzanne Lenglen (the second biggest stadium at Roland Garros) named in her honour.

French Grand Slam champions have been few and far between in recent times, with Amelie Mauresmo (2), Mary Pierce (2) and most recently Marion Bartoli (1) the only French women to win majors in the Open Era.

4. Germany (30)

Germany have four women winning their 30 majors, but Steffi Graf (22) is the standout with an impressive 73% of her nation’s total.

Graf dominated women’s tennis between 1987 and 1999, winning four Australian Open titles, six Roland Garros crowns, seven Wimbledon Championships and five US Open’s.

The former No.1 was so dominant that she managed to achieve the Calendar Grand Slam (where you win all four majors in a year) in 1988.

Not only did Graf win all four majors in 1988, she also won an Olympic Gold medal in Seoul, becoming the first and only player in history to achieve the Golden Calendar Slam.

Angelique Kerber has carried the torch for German women’s tennis in more recent times, winning three major titles, and only has Roland Garros missing from her trophy cabinet.

The other two German women to win major titles are Hilde Krahwinkel Sperling (3) and Cilly Aussem (2).

3. Great Britain (52)

Like France, a lot of Great Britain’s success in majors came in the Amateur Era with the Wimbledon Championships primarily, if not entirely, consisting of British players.

As a consequence, Wimbledon was won exclusively by home players from 1884-1904, with American May Sutton Bundy breaking the streak.

The most successful British player in history, in terms of major titles, was Dorothea Lambert Chambers (7), who had all of her Grand Slam wins at Wimbledon.

British Grand Slam champions have been a lot more sparse since, with only six titles spread across four players coming in the Open Era.

Most recently was Emma Raducanu, who ended a 44-year draught for British women’s tennis with a shock victory at the 2021 US Open.

The then 18-year-old became the first qualifier in history to win a major title, winning ten consecutive matches without dropping a set.

Other British Open Era major winners alongside Raducanu are Virginia Wade (3), Ann Haydon Jones (3) and Sue Barker (1).

2. Australia (65)

Australia are second in the all-time list for most women’s Grand Slam titles, with 18 players winning a total of 65 major titles.

Despite the Australian Open having a large quantity of home winners in the Amateur Era, the share of Australia’s Grand Slam titles is fairly evenly split between the Amateur and Open Era’s.

The woman who has lifted the most Grand Slam titles for Australia is Margaret Court (24), and she has the most amount of major singles titles in history alongside Novak Djokovic.

Court won 11 Australian Open’s, five Roland Garros titles, three Wimbledon Championships and five US Open crowns, and is one of only three women to achieve the Calendar Slam.

The Open Era has seen five other Australian major winners, with Evonne Goolagong Cawley (7), Kerry Melville Reid (1), Chris O’Neil (1), Samantha Stosur(1), and most recently Ash Barty (3) who elected to retire last year at the age of 25.

1. United States of America (204)

The clear leaders in this race are the USA, who have over triple the total of majors as their nearest rival Australia, with a colossal 204 titles between 45 players.

The American women took the dominance of their home major to another level, winning 82 of the first 101 US Open Tennis Championships.

Helen Wills Moody (19) is the most successful woman from the Amateur Era, despite never managing to get her hands on an Australian Open title.

However, the USA have not relied on their Amateur Era success to keep them going and have won a further 88 Grand Slam titles in the Open Era.

This has been helped by the likes of the Williams sisters, Chris Evert (18), Martina Navratilova (18) and Billie Jean King (12).

Serena Williams (23) is the more successful of the Williams sisters, and has won more major singles titles in the Open Era than any other woman.

Her sister Venus Williams (7), who is still competing at 43 years of age, has also done her fair share to support the USA’s dominance.

The USA had gone 13 majors without winning a title until recently, when 19-year-old Coco Gauff won her maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open.

READ MORE: What are the top five countries with the most men’s Grand Slam singles titles?

Top 5 Countries with the most women’s Grand Slam titles in the Open Era

With the divide between the Amateur and Open Era’s evident in this list, we at Tennishead thought that it was important to showcase a list just from the Open Era.

While there are three countries that remain in the top five, there are also two potentially surprising nations that appear in this new list:

  1. USA (88 titles from 14 players) – Serena Williams (23), Chris Evert (18), Martina Navratilova (18), etc. 
  2. Germany (25 titles from two players) – Steffi Graf (22) and Angelique Kerber (3)
  3. Australia (24 titles from six players) – Margaret Court (11), Evonne Goolagong (7), Ash Barty (3), etc.
  4. Belgium (11 titles from two players) – Justine Henin (7) and Kim Clijsters (4)
  5. Yugoslavia/Serbia (10 titles from three players) – Monica Seles (8), Ana Ivanovic (1) and Mima Jausovec (1)

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Matthew Johns, Tennishead Writer, is a professional tennis journalist with a specialist degree in Sports Journalism. He's a keen tennis player having represented his local club and University plus he's also a qualified tennis coach. Matthew has a deep knowledge of tennis especially the ATP Tour and thrives on breaking big tennis news stories for Tennishead.