TENNIS PLAYERS from Slovenia

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Slovene Tennis Players of all time. This list of famous Slovene 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 Slovene Tennis Players.

1. Mima Jaušovec (b. 1956)

With an HPI of 47.78, Mima Jaušovec is the most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 28 different languages on wikipedia.

Mima Jaušovec (Slovene pronunciation: [ˈmìːma jaˈùːʃɔʋɛts] ; born 20 July 1956) is a retired Yugoslavian tennis player. She won the 1977 French Open singles championship.

2. Katarina Srebotnik (b. 1981)

With an HPI of 39.51, Katarina Srebotnik is the 2nd most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 32 different languages.

Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 20, on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she became the No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ranking for ten weeks. Srebotnik won four singles titles on the WTA Tour and was ranked inside the top 30 for several years. However, her best results have been in doubles draws, where she won 39 career titles, including one Grand Slam title, at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships alongside Květa Peschke. She also won five major titles in mixed doubles, at the French Open in 1999, 2006 and 2010, the US Open in 2003 and the Australian Open in 2011. In September 2021, Srebotnik was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the first (and youngest) tennis player – men or women – to win their first tournament across all three disciplines – singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Srebotnik won her debut in singles (1999 Oeiras), in doubles (1998 Makarska, with Tina Križan) and mixed doubles (1999 Roland Garros, with Piet Norval).

3. Polona Hercog (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 33.38, Polona Hercog is the 3rd most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Polona Hercog (Slovene pronunciation: [pɔˈlóːna ˈxèːɾtsɔk], born 20 January 1991) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA rankings are 35 in singles and 56 in doubles. She has won five titles on the WTA Tour, three in singles and two in doubles. Hercog also has had success on the ITF Women's Circuit, winning 19 singles and five doubles titles. Partnering with Jessica Moore, she won the French Open and Wimbledon Championships junior titles in the doubles competition in 2008.

4. Grega Žemlja (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 30.54, Grega Žemlja is the 4th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Grega Žemlja (born 29 September 1986) is a retired Slovenian tennis player. He has won five singles titles and one doubles title on the ATP Challenger Tour. In 2012, he reached the third round of the US Open, the first Slovenian male player ever to reach that stage in a Grand Slam tournament. He is also the first Slovenian ATP player who in 2013 reached third round at Wimbledon. He reached his highest ATP ranking of world No. 43 in singles in May 2013, becoming the first Slovene ATP player to reach the top 50. Žemlja also became the first Slovene player earning over 1 million US dollars in prize money, and he was the highest-paid Slovene player in history until he was passed by Blaž Kavčič. He represented his country as a member of Slovenia Davis Cup team.

5. Aljaž Bedene (b. 1989)

With an HPI of 30.51, Aljaž Bedene is the 5th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Aljaž Bedene (born 18 July 1989) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as No. 43 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2018. He reached four singles finals on the ATP Tour as well as the third round at three of the four Grand Slam tournaments. He also attained his career-high ranking of No. 127 in doubles in October 2013. Between 2015 and 2017, Bedene represented Great Britain after becoming a naturalised Briton before he returned to represent Slovenia in 2018. As a junior, Bedene was ranked as high as No. 31 in the world (achieved in 2007) and won eight titles across singles and doubles. As a professional, Bedene made his top 100 debut in 2012 shortly after winning his fourth title on the ATP Challenger Tour that year. He has since won a total of 21 singles titles and three doubles titles across both the Challenger Tour and the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. Bedene represented Slovenia after turning professional in 2008. On 31 March 2015, he was granted UK citizenship and began representing Great Britain, but the International Tennis Federation rejected his application to represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup as he had previously played three dead rubbers for Slovenia. After his appeals failed, Bedene switched his representation back to his birth country of Slovenia for the 2018 season.

6. Tamara Zidanšek (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 29.71, Tamara Zidanšek is the 6th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Tamara Zidanšek (Slovene: [zíːdanˈʃɛːk]; born 26 December 1997) is a Slovenian professional tennis player. She has career-high rankings of No. 22 in singles and No. 47 in doubles by the WTA, and has won one singles title and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour and three singles titles along with one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour. She has also won 17 titles in singles and six in doubles on the ITF Circuit. Playing for the Slovenia Fed Cup team, she has a win–loss record of 12–11.

7. Andreja Klepač (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 29.53, Andreja Klepač is the 7th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Andreja Klepač (born 13 March 1986) is a Slovenian former tennis player. On 14 July 2008, she reached her career-high singles rankings of world No. 99. On 11 April 2022, she peaked at No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings. She qualified also with Darija Jurak for the 2021 WTA Finals after nearly 20 years on the professional tour.

8. Tina Križan (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 29.36, Tina Križan is the 8th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Tina Križan (born 18 March 1974) is a former Slovenian professional tennis player. Known primarily for her achievements playing doubles, as the first Slovenian in the 90' she reached a career-high singles ranking of 95, including a win over Jana Novotna and a career-high doubles ranking of 19 in 2002, including wins over Martina Navratilova, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, Ana Ivanovic and Flavia Pennetta. She has won 6 WTA doubles titles and has been runner-up in more than 10 WTA doubles events, she has also won 10 ITF tournaments. Tina represented Slovenia in doubles at the Olympics in 1992, 2000 and 2004 (both latter years partnered with Katarina Srebotnik). She qualified twice for the doubles season end Masters Championships in Munich and Los Angeles. Tina Križan holds the record for Fed Cup appearances for her country, representing Slovenia in 46 ties playing a record 72 matches. She graduated from Maribor University in 2004.

9. Blaž Kavčič (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 29.04, Blaž Kavčič is the 9th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Blaž Kavčič (born 5 March 1987) is a Slovenian tennis coach and former professional player. He was the highest ranked Slovenian male player ever, achieving a career-high of World No. 68 in August 2012, until Aljaž Bedene began to play for Slovenia again in January 2018, overtaking him with a career high ranking of 49. He became the first Slovenian ATP singles player to: achieve a Top 100 ranking, win a Grand Slam main draw match and perform at the Summer Olympics. He became the second Slovene ATP player earning over 2 million US dollars in prize money and is the second highest ever paid male Slovene player in history after Aljaž Bedene.

10. Kaja Juvan (b. 2000)

With an HPI of 28.79, Kaja Juvan is the 10th most famous Slovene Tennis Player.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Kaja Juvan (born 25 November 2000) is a Slovenian tennis player. She turned professional on 17 October 2016. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 58, achieved on 6 June 2022. On 18 July 2022, she peaked at No. 97 in the WTA doubles rankings. Juvan won her maiden WTA Tour doubles title at the 2021 Winners Open in Cluj-Napoca, partnering with Natela Dzalamidze.