Chris Evert Heads the Class: Women's Tennis' Top French Open Finalists

How do you measure the greatness of an athlete within their respective sport? What factors determine the degree of greatness over a period of time, be it years or decades?

Further, how do you determine who is number one in any given list or ranking?

First you must find a pattern and then you must determine the significant components of the ranking—does each factor merit being used as part of the overall equation? Sometimes it does, without question, like the score in a game. The highest or lowest score wins as in football or golf.

It is not always a simple task to determine who is the greatest because such discussions invariably have subjective components.

For this ranking, first consider the number of times a woman made it to the French Open finals since 1968 (Open Era) as the initial demarcation of greatness.

To be considered she must have made it to the finals of the French Open at least three times. Within the number of appearances, measure the wins against the losses in a given number of tries.

9. Mima Jausovec appeared in three French Open Finals

8. Mary Pierce triumphed once in three tries at the French Open

7. Margaret Court won three French Open titles in the Modern Era

Margaret Court of Australia won the French Open three times in the modern era—1969, 1970, and 1973. Prior to the modern era, Court also won the French singles title in 1962 and 1964. In all Court played in 10 French Open singles contests, but only four of those occurred in the modern era.

The Aussie phenom holds more records in the sport of tennis than any other player living or dead. She ruled the tennis world with her impressive career in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles.

Her career, however, spans two eras and puts her in both worlds. Even considering only her marks in the modern era, Court still ranks very high when considering her appearances in French Open finals.

Court’s total winning percentage at the French Open in the modern era remains at 95.8 percent (23-1).

6. Monica Seles remains the youngest French Open Champion

Monica Seles won the French Open three times in four appearances. Her three wins, however, were consecutive from 1990 to 1992. She is tied for most consecutive wins with Justine Henin in the modern era.

Seles also holds the record for the youngest champion ever, at 16 years and six months. She won that first championship in 1990, defeating defending champion and world No. 1 Steffi Graf in the process.

Seles’ grunting became the talk of the tennis world early on. But it was the little Yugoslavian’s aggressive style of play and her early return of the ball that made her game so dominating in the early '90s. Seles stepped into the court and hit the ball hard on the rise which robbed her opponents of valuable time to react.

It was on the clay where her tactics reaped large dividends, giving her three championships. Moreover, Seles loved the crowds in Paris.

It was unfortunate that after Seles was stabbed on court in Germany in 1993, she never recaptured her winning form or her obvious joy on court.

Seles competed at the French Open 11 times. Her winning percentage stands at 87.1 percent (54-8).

5. Justine Henin has a chance to add to her impressive record..

Justine Henin is the only active player on this list. When she retired from tennis in May of 2008, just prior to the commencement of activities in Paris, Henin was in line to win her fifth French Open title.

Everyone thought she would do exactly that until the Belgian stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the game.

Now, out of retirement, Henin heads into action on the clay once again. There is still no one who stands out as a challenger to Henin at the 2010 French Open championships. Many expect the Belgian to pick up her fifth French Open trophy in five appearances.

Justine Henin’s game is made for the red dirt where her pin-point accuracy and her mental acumen give her the necessary edge over bigger and more powerful opponents. Henin plays smart aggressive tennis aided by a powerful one-handed backhand that allows her more reach and more variety on that side.

Still a bit rusty, Henin will need to hone her match strength prowess. Even so, the Belgian seems destined to head back to the top of the women’s game.

Henin has competed in eight French Open tournaments, making it to four finals and winning all four, including three consecutive times from 2005 to 2007. Her overall winning percentage at Stade Roland Garros stands at 90.5 percent (38-4).

4. Martina Navratilova fought her way into six French Open finals.

Martina Navratilova, who appeared in six French Open finals, never truly loved the red clay. Her serve-and-volley style of play, although successful at times on the red dirt, did not provide the Czech-American with enough weapons to stand toe-to-toe with the game’s best players rifling passing shots by her as they stood on the baseline on the opposite side of the net.

The red clay worked to neutralize Navratilova’s game, allowing additional time for her opponents to react and move into place—time very often not available on grass and hard courts.

Navratilova won at Stade Roland Garros twice in singles. In 1982 Navratilova defeated Andrea Jaeger, and in 1984 she finally overcame Chris Evert in straight sets during the French Open finals.

Navratilova is tied with Evert and Steffi Graf for appearing in four consecutive French Open finals.

Navratilova’s winning percentage is 82.3 percent (51-11) at the French Open championships, where she participated in 13 tournaments on the red clay.

No 3 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario was relentless on the red clay.

Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario made six trips to the finals at Stade Roland Garros, winning the French Open title three times in 1989, 1994, and 1998, where she defeated Steffi Graf, Mary Pierce, and Monica Seles, respectively.

The fiery Spanish lady, nicknamed the "Barcelona Bumblebee" by the irascible Bud Collins, proved to be a handful to any opponent standing on the other side of the net.

Like a terrier, the tenacious Sanchez-Vicario refused to give up on a point, running down balls and fighting for each and every point as if her life depended on it. It was her all-out competitive spirit that Rafael Nadal parallels today. It made the young lady from Spain a winner.

At the time she won her first French Open title, Sanchez-Vicario was the youngest player ever to win it, at age 17. Monica Seles, however, soon supplanted this record by winning her first French Open championship at age 16 years and six months the following year.

Sanchez-Vicario’s winning percentage is 83.7 percent (72-14).

No. 2 Steffi Graf imposed her will on the clay at Stade Roland Garros

Steffi Graf appeared in nine French Open finals, winning six of them over the course of her career. Like Chris Evert, the German is also considered a natural on the red clay.

Appearing in four consecutive finals at Stade Roland Garros from 1987 to 1990, Graf won two of them. She is tied with Evert and Martina Navratilova for the most consecutive French Open final appearances.

The German's last final came in 1999 when she defeated Martina Hingis in a memorable match with the young Swiss, suffering a huge meltdown after gaining what most would have surmised as an insurmountable lead.

Her win over Hingis marked Graf's final appearance at the French Open and was her last Grand Slam victory, the 22nd of her stellar career.

Graf used a superior service game combined with a lethal inside out forehand drive and a backhand slice to nullify her opponents.

Her foot speed on court also made it almost impossible to get anything past the wily German, who stalked the baseline, waiting to pounce. Even her volleying skills were more than adequate on the red clay.

Graf appeared in the French Open Finals in 1987, '88, '89, '90, '92, '93, '95, '96, and '99. Winning six in all, Graf’s winning percentage at the French Open was 89.7 percent (87-10).

No 1. Chris Evert remains Queen of the Court at the French Open

Chris Evert, in winning seven of nine final appearances, remains the undisputed leader on the clay at the French Open in Paris, surpassing even her male counterparts in some estimations.

Clay brought out the strengths of Evert’s game—her patience, determination, and her ability to construct points. She was tireless and unflappable on the red clay at Stade Roland Garros—hence her nickname, the Iron Princess.

The fact that she owns the clay-court record with an 125-match win streak from 1973 to 1979 illustrates her prowess on the surface. During that run she lost only seven sets.

It was the one surface on which Evert generally prevailed over her arch-rival Martina Navratilova, whose one weakness might have been the slow clay. They met in four finals on the red dirt with Evert coming out on top in three—all Evert’s wins over the Czech were three-set finals.

In all Evert appeared in nine finals at the French Open in 1973, '74, '75, '79, '80, '83, '84, '85, '86, winning them all except in 1973 and 1984. Evert’s winning percentage stands at 92.4 percent (73-6).