In a sport as old as Shakespeare, it's no surprise the fairer sex has a long history of looking damn good while playing. It’s probably the most we’ll ever support wantonly smacking balls. Tennis players spend all day in a total body workout, wear ponytails and miniskirts, and grunt emphatically with every strike. Also, a great number are from Eastern Europe, a sector known for cold climes and hot women.
Here’s a look at the evolution of the Lovely Lady Tennis Player in our time.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King isn’t just the first lady of tennis, she’s the first lesbian of any sport, toughing out discrimination and collapsed endorsements after being unwillingly outed, but standing up to the pressure. By beating obnoxious showboat Bobby Riggs in The Battle of the Sexes, she struck a blow for women...or maybe just younger players. Either way, she put nerdy-cute, "men can never have me" ladies on the map.
Steffi Graf
Steffi Graf is widely considered the greatest female tennis player of all time, and has the peak physical condition to prove it. She married men’s No. 1 Andre Agassi and has two children who are presumably superhuman and definitely fated to face off on the court in an apocalyptic match that freezes time and resolves once and for all the battle between good and evil. Or possibly just play a nice game of doubles.
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis spent 209 weeks at the No. 1 spot, meaning for four years she could bound into a room and say “Tennis, anyone?” and all the women would look sadly at their feet while she took her pick of their boyfriends. And she’s Swedish, which counts for something. We’re not sure what, but it counts.
Serena & Venus Williams
Ah, sisters. Stylish sisters with devastating backhands. Serena and Venus Williams face each other as often as the play together, but either way, it’s good tennis, and even better ogling. Everything they do is powerful, which must make it really hard to brew a refreshing glass of iced tea, but terrific when you’re making out. Known as much for their outfits as their playing style, they've made tennis more interesting than it had been in years.
Anna Kournikova
1995, that was a good year, kids. Not only did Serena join her sister on the court, but the world met Anna Kournikova, who became the baseline for tennis hotness (not athletic prowess). Don’t get us wrong, she’s a great tennis player, but this babyfaced beauty is the only woman on the list who hasn’t occupied the No. 1 slot for singles. (She has been No. 1 in doubles after some team-ups with Hingis.) She just joined "The Biggest Loser," meaning all that time you spent perfecting your game in hopes of meeting this Google goddess was just thwarted by obese people getting paid to have intense training sessions with her.
Jelena Jankovi?
Serbian slammer Jelena Jankovi? has delivered some great play for more than a decade, and with an awesome record, it’s easy to overlook her physical hotness. She has the sweetest smile, something Orbit gum noticed when it picked her up as their spokesperson. Her official title is “smile ambassador,” which sounds like the best job ever, unless she’s hiring for a towel boy.
Maria Sharapova
Maria Sharapova is like an Anna Kournikova with game. She became the No. 1 player at just 17, meaning before she could buy a gun, she could hit bullets at you and is also knock-down, drag-out, drop-dead, hyphenated-words gorgeous. Maxim named her hottest athlete on Earth four years running. We like her.
Ana Ivanovi?
Behold! The pinnacle of modern tennis! Seeded No. 16, Ana Ivanovi? is currently wiping the court with her US Open opponents, is nine kinds of beautiful and everyone says she’s the sweetest person you can ever hope to meet (and oh, how we hope to meet her). She’s also a UNICEF ambassador, because hey, kids need to know how awesome she is too. Here she is again, because: yes.
Simona Halep
Simona Halep is a Romanian firecracker who attracted a lot of creepy attention from adult male fans for her sizable 17-year-old bust. Committed to her game, she got a breast reduction (despite fan petitions) and in the next two years soared 450 spots to No. 57. Recently, she beat top 10 player Li Na. Good for her for going after what she wants rather than basking in attention. Athletic excellence, drive and ambition, and self-confidence? Now that’s sexy.