The 8 women with the most Grand Slam final losses in Open Era: Steffi Graf’s career Silver Slam, Venus Williams denied by Serena

The great Chris Evert played in a record 34 Grand Slam finals in the Open Era, but she had a 52.9% win-loss record in those matches as she finished runner-up 16 times. Her great rival Martina Navratilova – who is not far behind her in terms of most major finals lost – denied her on 10 occasions in Grand Slam finals. Steffi Graf and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, meanwhile, have runners-up finishes at all four Grand Slams and also won silver medals at the Olympics.

Here are the nine women with the most Grand Slam final runners-up trophies in the Open Era:
9. Martina Hingis – 7
Swiss legend Martina Hingis was 5-2 in her first seven Grand Slam finals as she won three consecutive Australian Open trophies and one each at Wimbledon and the US Open, but then it went pear-shaped as she lost her next five. After her hat-trick at Melbourne Park, she claimed another hat-trick as she finished runner-up in the next three editions of the Australian Open. In addition, she also twice finished runner-up at the French Open and twice at the US Open.

8. Arantxa Sanchez Vicario – 8
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario won two of her first three Grand Slam finals against Steffi Graf, but then lost four in a row. The Spaniard ended with a 33.3% win-loss record in finals with three of her titles coming at Roland Garros and one at the US Open, but she also lost three at the French Open. Her other defeats came at the Australian Open (2), Wimbledon (1) and US Open (2).

=5. Steffi Graf and Venus Williams – 9
Steffi Graf played in 31 Grand Slam finals – the fourth most in the Open Era – and she won 22 of those matches.
She, of course, completed a Golden Slam in 1988 as she won all four majors and gold at the Seoul Olympics, but she also completed a career Silver Slam as she lost finals at the four majors and claimed silver at the Barcelona Games. Three of her major losses came at the French Open, three at the US Open, two at Wimbledon and one at the Australian Open. Three of her defeats came against Monica Seles.

Venus Williams won seven Grand Slams and finished runner-up in nine tournaments with seven of her defeats coming against sister Serena Williams, including five in a row at one stage. Venus won Wimbledon five times, but she also finished runner-up on four occasions while she also lost twice in finals at the Australian Open and US Open and once at Roland Garros. Martina Hingis and Garbine Muguruaz were the other players to beat her in a major final.

4. Serena Williams – 10
Serena Williams sits first on the list for most Grand Slams won in the Open Era with 23 and is second for most major final appearances (33). The all-time great won seven titles and Wimbledon and six at the US Open, but she also finished runner-up four times at SW19 and four times at Flushing Meadows. Williams, of course, lost her final four Grand Slam finals (two at Wimbledon and two at the US Open) following her return from maternity leave. In fact, the American was 21-4 in major finals at the end of the 2015, but then lost six out of her next eight finals.

3. Evonne Goolagong Cawley – 11
Evonne Goolagong Cawley played in 18 Grand Slam finals, but she only has a 38.9% win-loss record. The Australian lost four consecutive US Open finals from 1973 to 1976 while she also lost three in a row at the US Open. Three more Grand Slam finals defeats were at Wimbledon and one at Roland Garros. Her seven Grand Slam titles came at the Australian Open (four), Wimbledon (two) and the French Open.

2. Martina Navratilova – 14
Martina Navratilova won 18 of her 32 Grand Slam finals and Chris Evert and Steffi Graf were responsible for eight of her 14 defeats as they each beat her four times.

Four losses came at the French Open – three against Evert and one against Graf – four were at the US Open, three at the US Open and three at Wimbledon.

1. Chris Evert – 16
All-time great Chris Evert is joint-third with Navratilova on the list for most Grand Slams won in the Open Era with 18, but it is a case of “what could have been”. She finished runner-up at 16 Grand Slams with her great rival Navratilova denying her in 10 finals while Evert won four. Navratilova beat her in five Wimbledon finals, two Australian Open finals, two US Open finals and one French Open final. In total, she lost seven Wimbledon finals, four at the Australian Open, three at the US Open and two at Roland Garros.