The Australian Open: Women greats

The Australian Open, played at Melbourne Park is the first of the four Grand Slams played throughout the year – French Open, Wimbledon, U.S. Open being the others. In retrospect, there have only been about a handful players who have won the title more than 3 times. The Legendary Margaret Court, is arguably the greatest woman tennis player in the history of the tournament, having won it a massive 11 times. There are others such as Nancye Wynne Bolton (6-time champion), Daphne Akhurst (5-time champion), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (4-time champion) etc. who go down the history books as Legends.

Let’s have a look at some celebrated greats who have had a stake quite a few times on the Australian Open in the past.

1. Steffi Graf (4-time winner) - 1988, 1989, 1990, 1994

The venue for the Open, having been moved to the Flinders Park in 1988, saw Steffi Graf win her first ever Australian Open title. The final against Chris Evert being interrupted by rain when Graf was leading 2-1, that led to a 90-minute delay. After the disruption, she won 9 straight games, almost unperturbed by the distraction. Evert, who was playing her what turned out to be last appearance in a Grand slam final, fought hard but couldn’t resist the German’s force. She won the game 6-3 7-6, who won her first ever Australian Open.

Pounding those massive forehands, in 1989, Graf made it easier for herself by getting to the final for the loss of 16 games. Up against Helena Sukova, the final was a good contest, but Steffi overcame the Czech’s defiance, winning 6-4 6-4.

In contention for another Australian Open title 1990, in the final Graf was up against a very good friend and doubles partner, Mary Joe Fernandez. Fernandez led 4-1 lead in the second before Steffi upped her momentum and never lost a game thereafter, sealing her win 6-4 6-4 and winning her eighth Grand Slam title.

Not until 1994, had Graf made an appearance in another final at the Australian Open. In that final, she won the fastest final in history superseding Spanish Arantxa Sanchez Vicario’s record, 6-0 6-2. The win was Steffi’s 80th singles title. She played in the Australian Open for the last time in 1999. She had a 47-6 record against her name when she retired later that year.

2. Monica Seles (4-time winner) - 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996

The first time Monica Seles featured in the Australian Open, she won the tournament for the loss of one set in 1991, where she was ranked no.1 in the world. In 1992, Seles beat Mary Joe Fernandez, the two-time finalist. For her third title in 1993, she beat her arch-rival Steffi Graf at a time when their rivalry was at it’s peak and defeated the German 4-6 6-3 6-2, equaling Court and Cawley’s triple crowns of the 1970s.

Seles’ dream-run halted during a quarterfinal in Hamburg, when she was stabbed by an obsessive Graf fan in April 1993. While she was peaking in her career, she was sidelined to recover from the incident that left not just affected her physical, but mentally, for two whole years. She returned to the Australian Open in 1996 and looked in impeccable touch.

The Yugoslav-born, 22-year old American sailed through the cruising through the beginning stages of the tournament. Seles was facing Anke Huber of Germany in the final, whom she beat in straight sets – 6-4 6-2. This was the last Grand Slam title of her career and she held an incredible 32-match Australian Open winning streak.

She missed the tournament in 1997 and 1998, and in 1999 she lost to Martina Hingis in the semifinal, who went on to win the tournament eventually. Having skipped the tournament in 2000 again, she was a quarter-finalist in 2001, semi-finalist in 2002 and played her last Australian Open match in 2003, losing to Kara Koukalova in the second round, to finish with an outstanding win-loss record of 43-4 at the Australian Open.

3. Serena Williams (5-time winner) - 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010

Following her 2002 victories at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, Serena Williams won her maiden Australian Open title in 2003 after beating her sister, Venus Williams 7-6 3-6 6-4 completing a set of 4 titles, she called the ‘Serena Slam’. In 2005, Serena was just 22-years-old when she won the fifth major of her career in Melbourne, which wasn’t her claim to fame at the Grand Slam though.

In 2007, she was unseeded and ranked No.81 in the world, she crushed six others to become the third-lowest ranked player in the history of tennis to win a Grand Slam title. Against Nadia Petrova and Shahar Peer, twice, Serena stood only points from being sent home, only to fightback, ultimately defeating then, world No.1 – Maria Sharapova, 6-1 6-2 in the final.

The Australian Open in 2009 saw Serena continuing her series of winning in odd-numbered years after her victories in 2003, 2005 and 2007. Serena demolished Elena Dementieva 6-3 6-4 in the semi-finals. Up against No.1 seeded Dinara Safina for the silverware, Williams conceded just three games in the match, leaving the top seeder stunned, winning her fourth Australian Open. She joined Margaret Court, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Monica Seles and Steffi Graf as the only women before her to have won and lifted the Daphne Akhurst Memorial Trophy four times in the Open history. Williams sealed her place among the champions of the Australian Open when she was 27.

Finally ending the pattern of winning in odd-numbered years, in 2010, Serena won the Australian Open for the fifth time in her career. Being the first time they were playing each other in a Gran Slam final, Williams, the defending champion claimed her twelfth Grand Slam title over arch-rival Justine Henin 6–4, 3–6, 6–2.