Women's Tennis : Most weeks as WTA World Number 1

#2 Martina Navratilova

Martina Navratilova at the Wimbledon Royal Box

Widely considered by pundits and fans alike to be the 'Most complete' player of all-time, Czech-American Martina Navratilova achieved unprecedented success across all three formats of the game. In a career-spanning 31 years, Navratilova captured 18 Grand Slam singles titles, an all-time record of 31 doubles titles and 10 mixed doubles titles. Her combined tally across all three formats is second to none in tennis history.

She is the only player to have been ranked World Number 1 in singles and doubles for over 4 years each. Navratilova first rose to the summit of the WTA rankings in July 1978. Her last stint at the top came in August 1987. In all, Navratilova had 9 spells at the top of the rankings - a record she shares with Chris Evert. Navratilova was the Number 1 ranked player for 332 weeks including 156 consecutive weeks (almost 3 years) between 1982 and 1985.