TENNIS PLAYERS from Belgium

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Belgian Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Belgian Tennis Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Belgian Tennis Players.

1. Justine Henin (1982 - )

With an HPI of 49.05, Justine Henin is the most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 65 different languages on wikipedia.

Justine Henin (French pronunciation: [ʒystin ɛnɛ̃]; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former world No. 1 tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in tennis, helped establish Belgium as a leading force in women's tennis alongside Kim Clijsters, and led the country to its first Fed Cup crown in 2001. She was known for her all-court style of play and for being one of the few female players to use a single-handed backhand. Henin won seven Grand Slam singles titles: the French Open in 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, the US Open in 2003 and 2007, and the Australian Open in 2004. At Wimbledon, she was the runner-up in 2001 and 2006. She also won a gold medal in the women's singles at the 2004 Olympic Games and won the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2006 and 2007. In total, she won 43 WTA singles titles. Tennis experts cite her mental toughness, the completeness and variety of her game, her footspeed and footwork, and her one-handed backhand (which John McEnroe described as "the best single-handed backhand in both the women's or men's game") as the principal reasons for her success. She retired from professional tennis on 26 January 2011, due to a chronic elbow injury. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time. She is widely considered one of the greatest female tennis players of all time. In 2016, she became the first Belgian tennis player inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and in 2023, the International Tennis Federation awarded Justine Henin its highest honor, the Philippe Chatrier Award.

2. Kim Clijsters (1983 - )

With an HPI of 47.22, Kim Clijsters is the 2nd most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 66 different languages.

Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (Dutch pronunciation: [kɪm ˈklɛistərs] ; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, four in singles and two in doubles. Clijsters competed professionally from 1997 in an era in which her primary rivals were compatriot Justine Henin and Serena Williams. Coming from a country with limited success in men's or women's tennis, Clijsters became the first Belgian player to attain the No. 1 ranking. Together with Henin, she established Belgium as a leading force in women's tennis as the two of them led their country to their first Fed Cup crown in 2001 and were the top two players in the world in late 2003. Individually, Clijsters won 41 singles titles and 11 doubles titles on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. She was a three-time winner of the WTA Tour Championships. Between singles and doubles, she has been a champion at all four Grand Slam tournaments, winning the US Open and the Australian Open in singles and Wimbledon and the French Open in doubles partnering Ai Sugiyama. Her success at the majors was highlighted by winning three consecutive appearances at the US Open. Plagued by injuries and having lost some of her desire to compete, Clijsters retired from tennis in 2007 at the age of 23 in order to get married and have a daughter. She returned to the sport two years later and won her second US Open title as an unranked player in just her third tournament back. She defended her title the following year and then won the Australian Open in 2011 en route to becoming the first mother to be the world No. 1. Along with Margaret Court, she also holds the record for most Grand Slam singles titles won as a mother, with three such titles, and was the first to win one since Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1980. Clijsters retired again following the 2012 US Open. Seven years later, she began a second comeback in early 2020, ending in 2022. Clijsters was born to athletic parents with backgrounds in professional football and gymnastics. She was renowned for her athleticism, which was highlighted by her ability to perform splits on court in the middle of points. She built the offensive side of her game around controlled aggression while also using her exceptional movement to become an elite defensive player. Clijsters was very popular and well-liked as a player, having won the Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award eight times. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2017.

3. Nelly Landry (1916 - 2010)

With an HPI of 47.00, Nelly Landry is the 3rd most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Nelly Adamson Landry (28 December 1916 – 22 February 2010) was a tennis player from Belgium (became French citizen after marriage). She was the 1948 women's singles champion at the French Championships beating Shirley Fry. She had been a finalist in 1938, losing to Simonne Mathieu, and reached again the final in 1949, losing to Margaret Osborne duPont. According to John Olliff of The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Landry was ranked in the world top 10 in 1946 and 1948 (no rankings issued from 1940 through 1945), reaching a career high of World No. 7 in these rankings in 1946. Nelly Adamson married Pierre Henri Landry in February 1937 and subsequently Marcel Renault, both former French tennis players.

4. David Goffin (1990 - )

With an HPI of 39.75, David Goffin is the 4th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 34 different languages.

David Goffin (French pronunciation: [david ɡɔfɛ̃]; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10 and currently the No. 1 Belgian. Goffin has won six ATP titles and reached nine other finals, most notably at the 2017 ATP Finals. Goffin's breakthrough came at the 2012 French Open, where he was a lucky loser making his major debut. He reached the fourth round before losing to Roger Federer in four sets. Goffin has since reached four major quarterfinals, at the 2016 French Open, and the 2017 Australian Open, and the 2019 and 2022 Wimbledon Championships. At the 2017 ATP Finals, Goffin defeated Dominic Thiem, world No. 1 Rafael Nadal and world No. 2 Roger Federer en route to the final where he lost to Grigor Dimitrov.

5. Xavier Malisse (1980 - )

With an HPI of 39.23, Xavier Malisse is the 5th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed X-Man, he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David Goffin) to have been ranked in the top 20 of the ATP Tour, with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19.

6. Olivier Rochus (1981 - )

With an HPI of 37.15, Olivier Rochus is the 6th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Olivier Rochus (French pronunciation: [ɔlivje ʁɔkys]; born 18 January 1981) is a retired Belgian tennis player. He is the younger brother of Christophe Rochus, also a former top-40 tennis player. Rochus won two singles titles in his career and in 2004 won the French Open doubles title, partnering fellow Belgian Xavier Malisse. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 24. At 1.68 metres (5 ft 6 in) tall, he was the shortest player on the ATP World Tour.

7. Dominique Monami (1973 - )

With an HPI of 36.63, Dominique Monami is the 7th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Dominique Monami (born 31 May 1973) is a former tennis player from Belgium. She is her country's first ever top-10 tennis professional. Monami was born in Verviers. In 1995, she married her coach Bart Van Roost, with whom she has a daughter, and played under the name Dominique Van Roost for much of her career, until their divorce in 2003.

8. Kirsten Flipkens (1986 - )

With an HPI of 35.48, Kirsten Flipkens is the 8th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Kirsten "Flipper" Flipkens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈkɪrstən ˈflɪpkəns]; born 10 January 1986) is a Belgian former professional tennis player and coach. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 13 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Flipkens has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, winning the 2012 Tournoi de Québec, as well as seven doubles titles. She also won 13 singles and two doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, and one singles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. She had success as a junior, winning the girls' doubles title at the 2002 US Open and the singles titles at the 2003 Wimbledon Championships and the 2003 US Open. Her best Grand Slam performance as a senior was at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, where she reached the semifinal. In the same year, she was crowned Sportswoman of the Year at the Belgian Sport Awards. In 2016, Flipkens entered her first Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and made it to the third round in singles. She is also the Belgian player who has played the most years in Fed Cup (16 years as of 2019). For this reason, she received the Fed Cup Commitment Award in 2016.

9. Elise Mertens (1995 - )

With an HPI of 35.40, Elise Mertens is the 9th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Elise Mertens (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈmɛrtəns]; born 17 November 1995) is a Belgian professional tennis player and former world No.1 in doubles. She reached world No. 1 for the first time in May 2021, the third Belgian to hold the top ranking in either singles or doubles after Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin. Mertens is a four-time Major champion in doubles, having won the 2019 US Open and 2021 Australian Open partnering Aryna Sabalenka, and the 2021 Wimbledon Championships and 2024 Australian Open with Hsieh Su-wei. She also finished runner-up at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships with Zhang Shuai and at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships with Storm Hunter. Mertens has won 20 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, including the 2022 WTA Finals with Veronika Kudermetova, six at the WTA 1000 level, and finished runner-up at the 2021 WTA Finals alongside Hsieh. Mertens is also a successful singles player, and reached her first major semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open, followed by two US Open quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020. Mertens achieved her career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in November 2018, and has won eight WTA Tour titles, including two at the WTA 500 level. She has represented Belgium in the Billie Jean King Cup since 2017, and competed at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in both singles and doubles.

10. Sabine Appelmans (1972 - )

With an HPI of 34.70, Sabine Appelmans is the 10th most famous Belgian Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Sabine Appelmans (born 22 April 1972) is a former professional tennis player from Belgium. She was Belgium's Fed Cup captain from 2007 until 2011.