Unlike some other sports, it is difficult to say conclusively which tennis player is the best from the Open Era.
If we’re talking Grand Slam singles titles, then Rafael Nadal and Margaret Court top the list –– the former having won 21 majors, while Court has famously won 24.
However, if we’re talking legacy and impact on the game, then it’s hard to look past the great Billie Jean King.
Another metric that could help sway the debate is analysing which player has won the most career titles, so that’s exactly what we’re doing.
To be clear, we’re only looking at singles titles, so unfortunately the Bryan brothers do not feature in this list.
It’s also important to note that this is not a ranking of who we think is the best player ever, but merely the 12 players who have won the most trophies.
12. Serena Williams - 73
Williams has won 23 Grand Slams, putting her second on the all-time list behind Court.
Somewhat surprisingly, however, the 40-year-old has not won as many career titles as a number of other women featured below.
Nonetheless, Williams has won the Year-end championship finals on five occasions, Olympic gold at London 2012 and has 23 Premier Mandatory victories. Hardly a bad record.
11. John McEnroe - 77
McEnroe won 77 career titles in total, including seven majors, five year-end championship finals and 19 Grand Prix Super Series finals.
The American also has the best single-season match record for any male player in the Open Era, with a win-loss record of 82-3 (96.5%) set in 1984.
10. Billie Jean King -78
Though King won more than 100 career titles overall, only 78 came in the Open Era (from 1968 onwards.)
This still included eight Grand Slam victories, four of which came over Evonne Goolagong Cawley.
9. Novak Djokovic - 86
Djokovic has 20 major singles titles, and is one of just two players, alongside Nadal, to have won each of the four Slams at least twice.
He is also the only male player to have won all nine of the Masters tournaments and has done so twice.
8. Rafael Nadal - 91
Nadal won his 21st Slam title at the Australian Open earlier this year, to move clear of both Djokovic and Roger Federer.
The 35-year-old has also won two Olympic gold medals while representing Spain and is the only Spanish player, male or female, to win all four Grand Slams.
7. Margaret Court - 92
Court has won 92 career titles in the Open Era and remains one ahead of Williams in the all-time list of Grand Slam victories.
The Australian won more than 90 percent of her matches throughout her career and emeged victorious in more than half of the Grand Slams she entered (24 of 47.)
6. Ivan Lendl - 94
Lendl is perhaps more famous for losing finals than he is for winning them, but he still had an outstanding career.
He won eight Grand Slam singles titles, 22 Grand Prix Super Series titles and 94 career titles overall.
5. Roger Federer - 103
While Nadal has now overtaken Federer in terms of major victories, the Swiss star still leads his Spanish rival when it comes to career titles.
The 40-year-old has won 20 Grand Slams, 28 ATP Masters titles, one Olympic gold medal and a record six ATP Finals.
4. Steffi Graf - 107
Graf is one of four players in the Open Era to have more than 100 career titles.
This includes 26 major wins, five WTA Tour Championships, one Olympic gold and 18 Tier I tournament victories.
3. Jimmy Connors - 109
While Connors lost the head-to-head battle with arch-rival McEnroe, he more than eclipsed him in terms of overall titles.
The American has more singles titles than any other male tennis player ever, having won eight Grand Slams and a remarkable 81 Grand Prix events.
2. Chris Evert - 157
The top two on this list are some way clear of the chasing pack, with Evert having won 48 more titles than Connors.
These titles came over a span of 17 years and featured 18 major victories.
1. Martina Navratilova - 167
Navratilova tops the list with 167 career titles, including 18 Grand Slam wins.
The now-commentator also won 177 doubles titles, meaning she won more than 350 tournaments across her distinguished career.
