Tennis is another one of those sports that have stood the test of time, with thousands of players turning professional and wielding the racquet in Grand Slams over the years.
Throughout the documented history of tennis, there have been players who have left an indelible mark on the game, whether through their success, persona or sheer will to win. The ten players listed below also enjoy a unique distinction, of being the shortest players ever to pick up a racquet.
On our journey to compile the most accurate list of shortest tennis players of all time, we came across plenty of inaccuracies and historical evidence to make this a challenging proposition. The criterion for selection was that the player had to have played some sort of professional tennis during his career. This would be fitting to answer the eternal question: Who is the shortest tennis player in the world?
In our quest to prepare a list that would be the final and definitive word on shortest players in tennis, we came up with this:
10) Billie Jean King
Height: 1.63m (5 feet 4.2 inches)
Wimbledon whiz Billie Jean King (R) is glad to lend a hand to a 55-year-old-Bobby Riggs before their “Battle of the Sexes” match
Billie Jean King is a name synonymous with women’s tennis. Winner of 39 Grand Slam titles, including a record 22 Wimbledon singles and doubles titles, King dominated women’s tennis for a long spell. Her continuous protests against gender inequality led to the creation of the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and a “Battle of the Sexes” match against former men’s champions Bobby Riggs in September 1973, which King won in 3 sets.
And she did all this despite being 5 feet 4.2 inches, a height handicap compared to her peers. Truly staggering.
9) Maureen Connolly
Height: 1.63m (5 feet 4 inches)
Maureen “Little Mo” Connolly of USA, pictured at Wimbledon, where she won the Ladies Singles 3 years running 1952,1953 and 1954, in all winning 12 major titles
Maureen Connolly, nicknamed “Little Mo” on account of her diminutive stature, was the darling of the tennis world in the early 50′s. She was the first woman to win all 4 Grand Slams in the same calendar year (1953) and also the youngest woman to win the prestigious US Championships, when at 16 she claimed the 1951 title.
In an era of serve-and-volleyers, she was a baseline specialist, with tremendous power and accuracy in her groundstrokes. By the age of 19, she had already collected 12 Grand Slam titles, only for her career to end abruptly courtesy a freak horseback riding accident.
“Little Mo” died of cancer at the age of 34, but her short yet successful tennis career gave hope to other players of a similar stature. In Connolly’s case, height was just a number.
8) Angel Gimenez
Height: 1.63m (5 feet 4 inches)
Coach Angel Gimenez (L) with Gabriela Sabatini. Credits Russian Look/IMAGO
A former player but now a coach, Angel Gimenez stands at 1.63m and comes in at no.8 on our list. Gimenez enjoyed limited success as a player, but earned more recognition as a coach.
He has worked with many players, including Gabriela Sabatini, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Daniela Hantuchová. He now works at the Academia Sanchez Casal Vicario in Barcelona, Spain.
7) Bryan Morel “Bitsy” Grant
Height: 1.63m (5 feet 4 inches)
At 5 feet 4 inches and 54 kg, Grant did not have an intimidating presence about him, but that did not stop him from taking down bigger and heavier players with faster groundstrokes than him, thus earning him the nickname “Itsy Bitsy the Giant Killer”. He was also the officially recorded smallest American man to win an international tennis championship.
Not everything was smooth sailing for Grant though. Frank Shields, another tennis player of Grant’s era, was infamous for making fun of Grant’s size. Legend has it that an inebriated Shields once held Grant upside down out of his hotel window!
6) Dominika Cibulkova
Height: 1.61m (5 feet 3.5 inches)
Dominika Cibulkova attends The Slazenger Party 2012 at Aqua on June 28, 2012 in London
Hailing from Slovakia, Cibulkova is tennis player known for her hard-hitting groundstrokes and aggressive style of play which led to 3 singles titles. She achieved a career best rank of 12 in July 2009 following a semifinal appearance at the French Open.
At just 1.61m, Cibulkova’s small stature could have proved to be a stumbling block, but she modelled her game around her size and her exceptional lower body strength, coupled with game intelligence, ensured quickness around the court.
Most recently, Cibulkova defeated the then world no.1Victoria Azarenka in straight sets at the 2012 French
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