Top 10 tallest active female tennis players ft. Venus Williams, Elena Rybakina, and Aryna Sabalenka

Height plays an important role in shaping a tennis player's style of play. In a sport that revolves around how quickly and powerfully you can return a ball, a pair of long legs and hands could determine a player's success on the tennis court.

Taller tennis players tend to have a powerful serve and better reach which helps them in returning shots during a rally.

A tall stature, however, comes with its own set of limitations. Due to a high center of gravity, tall players are required to put more effort into being agile and maintaining balance while running up and down the court.

Here are the top 10 tallest female tennis players who continue to make an impact in the sport with all the advantages and disadvantages of their physical attributes.

#1 Erin Routliffe (1.9m/6'2ft): Tallest tennis player on women's tour

Erin Routliffe hails from New Zealand and is currently ranked 11th on the doubles circuit in tennis. To date, Routliffe has won a total of 20 doubles titles, and in 2023, she won her first Grand Slam at the US Open alongside Gabriela Dabrowski.

In singles, Routliffe’s numbers are not as impressive. She currently sits 675th in the WTA singles rankings and achieved a career-high rank of 582 in June this year.

#2 Karolina Pliskova (1.86m/6'1ft)

Karolina Pliskova from Czechia is a former World No. 1 WTA player. At the moment, she is ranked 38th in the singles tally. Interestingly, she’s the only active tennis player to ever hold the World No. 1 position without winning a Grand Slam title.

Pliskova has won a total of 16 singles titles to date. She has also picked up five doubles titles, and was once ranked 11th on the doubles circuit. At present, she sits 239th in the doubles rankings.

#3 Venus Williams (1.85m/6ft)

Venus Williams is a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, winning five Wimbledon and two US Open titles. She has also held the World No. 1 singles ranking for 11 weeks.

Williams is currently ranked 407th in the women's singles category. She has enjoyed more success in the doubles category, with 14 Major doubles titles in her cabinet. The American has won two Grand Slam mixed-doubles tournaments as well.

#4 Beatriz Haddad Maia (1.85m/6ft)

Beatriz Haddad Maia is a 27-year-old professional tennis player, and is currently ranked 11th in women's singles. She has won four singles titles to date, with the most recent one coming at the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy tournament.

In doubles, Haddad Maia has six trophies in her bag and is ranked 24th. She recently won the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy’s doubles event, and was ranked as high as 10th in June 2023.

#5 Elena Rybakina (1.84m/6ft)

World No. 4 Elena Rybakina is the 2022 Wimbledon women’s singles champion. The Kazakh turned pro in the year 2016, and has won a total of five trophies in singles events around the globe.

In 2023, Rybakina won the Italian Open and Indian Wells Masters, while finishing as the runner-up at the Australian Open. She also reached her career-high ranking of World No. 3 in June 2023.

#6 Kristina Mladenovic (1.84m/6ft)

Kristina Mladenovic is a former World No. 1 doubles tennis player and is currently 72nd in the women's doubles rankings. She has won a total of 28 trophies, including six Grand Slams, on the doubles circuit to date.

In mixed doubles, the Frenchwoman has won a Major tournament thrice. She won the Australian Open in 2014 and 2022, and secured victory at Wimbledon in 2013.

#7 Victoria Azarenka (1.83m/6ft)

Victoria Azarenka from Belarus is a former World No. 1 singles tennis player, who is currently ranked 22nd in women's singles. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the Australian Open in 2012 and 2013.

Azarenka also has two Major mixed-doubles trophies in her cabinet. She won the French Open in 2008 and the US Open in 2007. The Belarusian also possesses an Olympic gold in mixed doubles, which she won in London in 2012.

#8 Aryna Sabalenka (1.83m/6ft)

Aryna Sabalenka is the reigning Australian Open champion, and in September 2023, she became the top-ranked female player on the singles circuit. However, she lost the top spot recently to Iga Swiatek and is currently second in the WTA rankings.

Sabalenka turned pro in 2015 and has collected 13 trophies thus far. The 25-year-old also has two Major titles in the doubles category, having won the US Open in 2019 and the Australian Open in 2021.

#9 Petra Kvitova (1.82m/5'11ft)

Petra Kvitova from Czechia is a former World No. 2 and a two-time winner of the Wimbledon Championships (2011, 2014). She has won 31 singles titles in total.

Currently ranked World No. 14, Kvitova won the German Open and Miami Open in 2023. She is also an Olympic bronze medalist, which she achieved in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

#10 Petra Martic (1.81m/5'11ft)

Petra Martic is a former World No. 14, who turned pro in 2008. She has won two singles titles, the second of which came last year at the Ladies Laussane Open. Her first title was the 2019 Istanbul Cup, which she secured with a victory over current Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

In 2023, Martic competed at all four Grand Slam events of the calendar but failed to make an impact. She suffered second-round exits at the Australian Open, French Open, and US Open. At Wimbledon, she lost to Iga Swiatek in the third round in straight sets.

Edited by Anantaajith Raghuraman