The women’s game has seen many different legends play and retire. Chris Evert dominated the early Tour, Navratilova took on the 80s, Graf dominated the 90s, Henin took the 2000s, and Serena Williams dominated the 2010s. The game as seen many consistent champions, but Serena and Steffi are clearly a step above their peers. So today, I’m going to analyze these two legends of the sport, and decide who the real women GOAT is.

Grand Slams

Steffi Graf: Steffi Graf has 22 grand slams to her name, most coming during the late 80s and 90s. Graf won a majority of her slams using her sharp slice backhand and her incredible forehand. Graf performed well at all the slams, with her best being Wimbledon claiming 8 titles, and went to an additional 9 finals in slams. Basically, she made the final of a slam in 57% of the slams she entered. That’s insane.

Serena Williams: Serena Williams has won 23 slams, winning a majority of her slams in the 2010s. Serena uses her hard and powerful groundstrokes to bully her opponents and uses her serve, like Federer, to set up the point before finishing it off. Serena actually had a backhand, unlike Steffi, but she “only” made a final in 44% of the slams she entered. What a slacker.

Competition

Steffi Graf: Graf was forced to compete with Martina Navratilova during the early part of her career, dealt with Monica Seles in the early 90s, and after her stabbing dealt with Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Martina Hingis. All of these players were either all-time greats or extremely solid Andy Murray caliber players, and Graf dominated them all, holding a positive head-to-head against every one of them.

Serena Williams: Williams’s early domination was against the likes of Lindsey Davenport and Martina Hingis, before being forced to face Justine Henin in her prime. We also can’t forget about Venus Williams, who to be fair was Serena’s bitch in grand slam finals. However, in the 2010s, Serena has faced some pretty tough competition including Lucy Safarova, Ana Ivanovic, and Radwanska. Yes, Serena did not face very many beasts in the early 2010s, but has been forced to face players like Muguruza and Kerner, whom have been able to actually challenge her supreme reign.

Domination:

Steffi Graf: Graf dominates the late 80s, knocking Navratilova off her perch, but met her match in a prime Monica Seles. Seles was able to push Graf, and even beat her in the finals of slams. However, after Seles was stabbed Graf was left pretty much alone to win all the slams, and was dominant before her legs gave out. I mean, you gotta be dominant to win 22 freaking slams. And her 377 weeks at #1 ain’t too shabby.

Serena Williams: Williams dominated the game in the early 2000s, facing some tough competition such as her sister Venus and Davenport. However, a knock against Williams is her failure to dominate Justine Henin in her prime,band the fact that Serena’s dominance in the 2010s was mainly due to a lack of competition, and not an increase in her level. She also lacks a large amounts of weeks at #1 compared to Graf, “only” amassing 319.

The Consensus:

Its really hard to determine who the true GOAT of the women’s game actually is. Unlike Federer and Nadal, both Williams and Graf were dominant in each and every one of the slams, and thus my hypothesis is forced to be based on facts, and less opinions. Graf has over a year’s worth of weeks at #1 more than Williams, but Serena has the extra slam. Graf played in a much tougher era, but Serena was riddled with injuries, and could have achieved more in the mid 2000s had she been healthier. Overall, I feel that by using raw stats, Steffi Graf is the GOAT because her weeks at #1 and the competition she faced surpasses those of Serena, and Graf made the most of her shorter career, given that she made the final of 57% of the slams she entered, which is impressive when you understand that fitness and nutrition were not as advanced pre-Serena. So in my opinion, Steffi Graf is the GOAT!