Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf or Serena Williams — Who is the GOAT on the women's circuit?

Having dominated three different periods of time in the Open Era, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams are arguably three of the greatest players of all time in women's tennis.

Their contributions go way beyond the magical statistics against their names. The 'Bigger 3' are hugely responsible for attracting quite a significant chunk of tennis fans from around the world, starting in the 1970s up until the late 2010s. That's almost 50 years.

Let's try and decode their individual careers and see if we can pick a winner from the trio.

Serena Williams, whose glorious career came to an end just a few hours ago, is hailed as the single greatest woman player of all time by those who have watched her since her debut 27 years ago. However, older fans who witnessed the brilliance of Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Navratilova, and Graf before Williams, would have a different story to tell.

A couple of years ago, even Navratilova weighed in on the GOAT (Greatest of All Time) debate. Speaking on the Tennis Channel, she stated that it depends on different factors and that the Grand Slam events gained importance only in the 1990s.

“If you just go on Majors, then you have Serena," Navratilova said. "If you go a different way, it would be me or Steffi Graf, perhaps Margaret Court. It just depends how you want to measure that. It's hard for me to talk about it completely objectively because we were playing under a different measuring stick, during my time, with Chris and myself. The Majors became a huge measuring stick in the '90s forward."

As far as Grand Slam titles are concerned, Serena Williams, who has 23 titles in 81 appearances (28%), is the winner among the three players. Graf is right behind the American with 22 Majors in 54 appearances (41%), while Navratilova has 18 titles in 76 appearances (27%).

When it comes to the number of weeks spent as World No. 1, Graf reigns supreme. Her 377 weeks in the top spot win by some distance as Navratilova comes next with 332 weeks and Serena Williams with 319.

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Martina Navratilova

Navratilova was born in Czechoslovakia and became a US citizen in 1981. She dominated the circuit in the late '70s and '80s.

Martina Navratilova was a left-handed player

The one record that is likely to be held by her, maybe forever, is the number of singles titles on the tour. Navratilova has a stunning 167 singles trophies to her name. The highest number of titles among the men is Jimmy Connors' 109.

Navratilova's greatest rival was compatriot Chris Evert, both of whom finished with 18 Majors. They have had the biggest rivalry in the Open Era, facing each other 80 times. Navratilova won 43 of those matches, while Evert grabbed 37.

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Steffi Graf

Graf was born in Germany and ruled women's tennis in the late '80s and '90s. After Navratilova and Evert, Graf has the third-highest number of singles titles — 107, including 22 Majors.

Steffi Graf at the 1990 Wimbledon Championships

In 1988, she became the first woman to achieve the Golden Slam, as she won all four Grand Slam events as well as the Olympic gold medal.

The player that Graf faced the maximum number of times was Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina. Out of the 40 encounters between the two, the German won 29 times, while losing on 11 occasions.

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Serena Williams

Born in the US, Serena Williams turned pro in October 1995, at the age of 14. She won her first Grand Slam event at the 1999 US Open as a 17-year-old, establishing herself as a top player. On the women's circuit, Williams stands in fifth position with 73 singles titles.

Serena Williams during the 2022 US Open

The 40-year-old also won a total of four Olympic gold medals, one in singles and three in doubles. She is believed to have impacted the lives of black people around the world, encouraging them to chase their dreams. Most current WTA players credit Williams for influencing them to pick up a racquet.

She finished her biggest head-to-head against her sister Venus Williams. The two players have squared off against each other 31 times, with Serena winning 19 of those clashes and losing the other 12.

The GOAT Debate

No amount of debate will ever convince all the die-hard tennis fans to change their minds and pick one clear GOAT in any sport — be it Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf and Serena Williams in tennis, or Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in football.

There are millions of fans all over the world and the importance of different parameters varies with each individual. For some fans, the final number of Grand Slam titles will determine who will end up as the GOAT, while others would like to analyze the circumstances — like the impact of injuries, the ability to make a comeback, mental toughness, and the overall conduct of the player.

This debate will never end since all these factors are subjective. More so, players from different eras should never be compared as no one will ever find out how a particular player would have fared in a different period of time. Hence, the best thing to do would be to have healthy debates and discussions, without ever belittling the achievements of players other than your favorite one.