So, the other day, I was just channel surfing, landed on some tennis match replay. And one of the players looked really, really tall. Like, surprisingly tall. It got me thinking, who actually holds the record? Who’s the tallest woman to ever play professional tennis?
My first move was pretty basic. Just grabbed my phone and typed something like “tallest woman tennis player” into the search bar. Expected a quick, clear answer. But nope.
What I got back was a mix of stuff. Some articles mentioned one name, others mentioned another. Some lists seemed pretty old. It wasn’t as simple as I thought it would be. Names like Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams popped up because they are tall, sure, but I had a feeling there were others even taller.
Trying to get it right
Okay, clearly needed to dig a bit more. I tried changing my search terms. Added words like “ever” or looked specifically for official rankings or player profile pages. I spent a good while just clicking around different sports sites and those big online encyclopedia pages, trying to cross-reference the info.
It seems like player heights aren’t always super consistently reported, which is kind of weird. But a few names kept coming up again and again when looking for the absolute highest measurement.
- Eva Hrdinová – This name appeared a lot, listed around 6 ft 3 in or 1.91m.
- Akgul Amanmuradova – Another very tall player, often listed right around the same height, maybe 6 ft 3 in (1.90m).
- Erin Routliffe – Saw her name mentioned too, seems she’s up there as well, around 6 ft 3 in (1.91m).
- Naomi Broady – She was frequently on the lists, around 6 ft 2 in (1.89m).
Getting Closer
So, comparing the numbers, it looked like a few players were clustered right around that 6 foot 3 inch mark. Eva Hrdinová from the Czech Republic seemed to be the one most often cited as the tallest, or at least tied for the tallest, based on the info I could piece together. She primarily played doubles, I think.
Eva Hrdinová seems to be the common answer people land on, usually citing that 1.91m height. Right alongside her, you often see Akgul Amanmuradova from Uzbekistan, listed at 1.90m, which is basically the same neighborhood height-wise.
It’s tough to be absolutely certain down to the last centimeter sometimes, especially with older records or players who might not be active anymore. Official sites sometimes list slightly different heights too. But after looking through various sources, Hrdinová’s name came up most consistently attached to the “tallest” claim at 6’3″.
Anyway, that was my little research journey. Started with simple curiosity watching a match, ended up digging through player stats for a while. Seems like Eva Hrdinová is the name that comes out on top most often. Quite the presence on the court, I imagine!
