serena, justine and vee are the big three this decade… and their supremacy at slams just supplements their presence at the top…

#1, 2, and 3 are spot on.

She won Wimbledon 2004 at the end of a grass-court season in which she went 12:0 in singles after winning the singles- and doubles-titles at Birmingham.

The US Open 2006 was the start of a 19-match winning-streak for Maria, and the Australian Open 2008 was part of an 18:0 start to that year.

Between the Australian Open 2005 and the French Open 2007, Maria reached at least the semi-finals of every Major except the French Open 2005 and 2006. Then her shoulder-injury worsened.

Matt, the article was great…one of the best in a while.

I definitely agonised over the decision to rank Clijsters ahead of Sharapova. I think I actually had Maria ahead of Kim initially, before ultimately switching them. My reasoning was that Clijsters has been a more consistent presence at the top of the game than Sharapova, and for a longer period. She has been a force in tennis since 2001, and since returning from her brief retirement, she has shot straight back up the rankings. She’s won almost double the number of titles, and she has demonstrated greater proficiency across all surfaces. Their games match up fairly similarly, except that Clijsters is well ahead when it comes to court coverage and athleticism.

This does not discount from Maria’s achievements – winning three different Grand Slams is a magnigficent feat, and is better than what Kim has done. However, it seems to me that these triumphs have been the product of Sharapova having a “hot fortnight”, and she has struggled to maintain her peak form for long periods. She has also been susceptible to bombing out early in Grand Slams (perhaps her shoulder troubles have contributed?) whereas Clijsters has rarely failed to reach the second week in a major. Her longevity is not as impressive as Clijsters’ either, but she has many more years ahead of her to eventually outshine the Belgian.

As for Marine’s comment, I really can’t see how the stats support Henin being ranked ahead of Serena. Serena’s four straight Grand Slam wins and a further six across the decade trumps anything Henin has accomplished. As impressive as Henin’s game and career is, her achievements don’t quite match up to Serena’s.

Hope everybody has been enjoying the list!

This article takes into account only the results of the past decade which is why the total number of Venus and Serena Williams’s titles were not counted.