Tallest female Tennis Players: Do players who are taller than others have an advantage? It’s challenging to respond to that question. While shorter players are more nimble and can cover larger areas of the court more quickly, taller players do generally have more powerful serves and groundstrokes.
A tennis player’s playing style is significantly influenced by their height. A player’s ability to return a ball with speed and force is what makes tennis a popular sport, so having long hands and legs can be crucial to their success.
Tallest female Tennis Players:
Taller tennis players typically have a stronger serve and longer reach, which aids them in rally returns. However, having a large stature has its own restrictions. Tall players must work harder to be nimble and maintain balance when sprinting up and down the court because of their high centre of gravity.
It can be seen from the Grand Slam singles winners among women that there is minimal relationship between height and success on the court. At 1.64 m (5 feet 4 1⁄2 in), Billie Jean King—one of the shortest—won 12 Grand Slam singles championships. Venus Williams, who stands at one of the highest points in the world at 1.85 metres (6 feet 1 inch), has won seven titles at the Slam level thus far.
The majority of players on tour are over 5 feet and under 6 feet tall, according to the official WTA list of player heights. Eva Hrdinova, however, is the tallest female player ever measured at 1.91 metres, or 6 feet 3 inches.
Top female tennis players who are tall:
1. Venus Williams (1.85 m / 6 ft 1 in):
For more than 20 years, Venus Williams and her younger sister Serena have dominated American tennis. Venus, who gained notoriety as a bright youngster in the 1990s, is still competing on the tour today at the age of 40 and can still give much younger players a run for their money.
Over the years, Venus has made excellent use of her height, and for a while, her first serve was among the best in the world. Venus, who has seven Grand Slam titles under her belt and has won four gold and one silver medal across all categories, is the most successful Olympian in the history of the sport, keeping her younger sister Serena in the background.
2. Karolína Pliskova (1.86 m / 6 ft 1 in):
Over the past six years, Karolina Pliskova, a former world number one, has been among the best players in the world. The Czech has dominated the WTA aces chart for four of the past five years, using her height to hone one of the best serves on the circuit.
The current World No. 3 has been very inconsistent, but she has missed a lot of opportunities to compete at the Grand Slam level. Pliskova, one of the top-ranked WTA players who hasn’t won a Major singles championship, would be looking to make a splash before she ages out.
3. Maria Sharapova (1.88 m / 6 ft 2 in):
Without a doubt, one of the most glamorous tennis players of all time is Maria Sharapova. Sharapova, who is widely acknowledged for having contributed to the rise in the last fifteen years in the popularity of women’s tennis, has always been a bit of a mystery.
Maria Sharapova, who has been the longtime leader of Russian tennis, became well-known at the young age of 17 when she won her first Grand Slam championship at Wimbledon in 2004. Sharapova, the tennis player whom shutterbugs always love to watch, is one of only six players to have accomplished a Career Grand Slam.
Although Sharapova was infamous for making untimely double faults, her tall stature undoubtedly assisted her in hitting strong, flat groundstrokes when she found herself in trouble.
Her legacy was severely damaged when she tested positive for the illegal substance meldonium in 2016, and injuries forced her to retire earlier than she would have preferred in early 2020. However, Sharapova is still among the most prosperous female athletes of all time, and she has already successfully navigated the transition from professional tennis to entrepreneurship.
4. Helena Sukova (1.88 m / 6 ft 2 in):
One of the greatest players to have ever come out of what was once Czechoslovakia is Helena Sukova. The 55-year-old came from a tennis-loving family; her father served as the long-serving President of the Czechoslovakia Tennis Federation, and her mother had placed third at Wimbledon.
Sukova, who stood at six feet two inches, was among the top players in the mid-1980s and early 1990s in both singles and doubles. Fourteen Grand Slam titles (nine in doubles and five in mixed doubles) are in her trophy cabinet. Sukova was a strong singles player as well, finishing fourth in Grand Slams four times and reaching a career-high singles ranking of World No. 4.
Sukova is also renowned for ending her countrymate Martina Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak in the Australian Open semifinals in 1984. This prevented the legendary Navratilova from achieving the highly sought-after Calendar Slam.
5. Erin Routliffe (1.88 m / 6 ft 2 in):
Erin Routliffe, a 25-year-old from New Zealand, is the youngest player on the list. Prior to representing her native New Zealand, Routliffe first represented Canada.
She actually waited until she was 22 to turn pro because her academic obligations kept her busy. To date, she has one singles title and thirteen doubles titles at the ITF level.
6. Lindsay Davenport (1.89 m / 6 ft 2 1⁄2 in):
While the Williams sisters dominated the spotlight in the final years of the previous millennium, Lindsay Davenport, an American, managed to maintain her own and achieve some impressive achievements. Her height enabled her to become one of the world’s best serves, and she could match anyone for power off the ground.
The joint all-time record was achieved by Davenport, who ranked first in the world four times. Along with the Olympic gold medal and three Grand Slam doubles trophies, she also won three Grand Slam singles titles.
One of the greatest women’s matches of all time will always be Davenport’s 2005 Wimbledon Championship matchup against Venus Williams. Davenport lost to Venus in a Wimbledon record 2 hours and 45 minutes even though she had Championship points.
7. Naomi Broady (1.89 m / 6 ft 2 1⁄2 in):
At 6 feet 2 inches, British athlete Naomi Broady is ranked number three on this list. In March 2016, the 30-year-old hit a career-high singles ranking of 76.
In addition to nine singles championships and 19 doubles titles on the ITF Women’s Circuit, Broady has one WTA doubles title. Liam Broady, her younger brother, plays tennis professionally as well.
8. Akgul Amanmuradova (1.9 m / 6 ft 3 in):
Akgul Amanmuradova, a 35-year-old player from Uzbekistan, is ranked second. Amanmuradova, who is currently ranked outside the top 400, has won nine ITF singles titles in addition to two WTA doubles championships.
In 2008, she reached a career-high singles ranking of World Number 50.
9. Eva Hrdinova (1.91 m / 6 ft 3 in):
Czech Eva Hrdinova is the tallest player to have ever competed on the WTA tour. She is another player who prefers playing doubles over singles.
Hrdinová won three singles titles and nineteen doubles titles on the ITF circuit before hitting her career-high doubles ranking of World Number 55 in 2008.
10. Beatriz Haddad Maia (1.85m/6ft):
Professional tennis player Beatriz Haddad Maia, 27, is presently ranked eleventh in the world in the women’s singles division. To date, she has won four singles championships; the most recent one occurred at the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy competition.
Haddad Maia is ranked 24th in doubles and has six trophies in her collection. She placed as high as 10th in June 2023 and most recently won the doubles event of the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy.
So, this was all about the Tallest female Tennis Players. Also read, Who is the Real Owner of UFC? Role of Dana White in UFC