Empty Voices

Women’s professional tennis is something that has gained enormous attention and continued interest around the world due to the extent of talent, determination and skill of the players. Currently at the top of the game are sisters Venus and Serena Williams who dominate the court, while some of the past greats continue to remain icons of the sport. Players like Billie Jean King, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graff remain archetypes of the game and are permanently embedded in the collective tennis greats consciousness. Too bad these greats won’t be in the Wimbledon 2010 championship.

Billie Jean King is a retired American player who was one of the first great women players to gain popular recognition in the 1970s. After an extensive and extremely successful career she retired in 1983. During her professional career she won 12 Majors singles titles, 16 doubles titles and 11 mixed doubles. She was an early advocate for equality in the sport and fought against sexist views. In addition to her great career achievements she has started the Women’s Tennis Association, Women’s Sports Foundation, and together with her former husband Lawrence King founded the World Team Tennis.

Martina Navratilova , a Czech American, is frequently regarded as the best women’s tennis player of all time. Billie Jean King regarded her as the greatest singles, doubles and mixed doubles player that ever lived. She has won an impressive 18 Grand Slam singles titles and record 31 doubles titles. She won the singles at Wimbledon tennis a record total of nine times. Steffi Graff is a retired German player who now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a former World No. 1 player and holds the record for most consecutive weeks on the list, at 377 total weeks. She also holds the distinction of being the only player to win all four Grand Slam singles titles in a single year.

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