How do you rank these three: Gabriela Sabatini, Conchita Martinez, and Jana Novotna?

Question

I always thought Conchita Martinez, Sabatini, and Jana Novotna had similar careers. Rank these former players, with #1 at the top of your list, and #3 at the bottom. Here are their vital career stats:

Conchita was a 3 time Grand Slam finalist, winning once. Conchita won 33 singles titles, 13 doubles titles, and her highest singles ranking was #2. Conchita's career singles record was 739-297 (71% win percentage).

Sabatini was a 3 time Slam finalist, winning once. Sabatini won 27 singles titles, 12 doubles, and her highest singles ranking was #3. Sabatini's career singles record was 632-189 (77 % win percentage). To me, Sabatini was just a better version of Conchita.

Jana was a 4 time Slam finalist, winning once. Jana won 24 singles titles, 76 doubles, and her highest singles ranking was #2. Jana's career singles record was 571-225 (72 % win percentage).

As for myself, I would rank Jana #1, Sabatini #2, and Conchita #3. Rank these three, and please explain your rankings?.

Answer 1

Strangely enough I agree with you when said you thought they had similar careers.

#1 Gabriela Sabatine - Despite that only one slam, of the three, Sabatine had the most consistent run in the majors, especially from the 1990 Wimbledon Championships to the 1994 Australian Open where she never lost before the Quarterfinals. And for a while at least, she emerged as a true contender for Graf.

#2 Jana Novotna - She had a somewhat solid career in the slams, but had an incredible doubles career. Also she kept winning titles and going deep in the slams towards the end of her career. It doesn't always happen especially when the change-of-the-guard group of players start to dominate and you are suddenly being called a "veteran".

#3 Conchita Martinez - Yes she got to 3 Grandslam finals and winning Wimbledon, but apart from that, Conchita's only consistent year at the majors was in 1995 where she lost in semis in all four. After that her results are a bit sketchy.

Answer 2

Jana Novotna, Sabatini, Conchita Martinez.  So I agree with you.

Answer 3

#1) Sabatini.  It's a close call between her and Novotna for the top spot among these three players, but I put Sabatini ahead because of her career head-to-head with Novotna, in which she leads 10-3.  

#2) Novotna.  Again, very close between her and Sabatini, but she's clearly #2 over Martinez, owning a career head-to-head lead of 4-1.

#3) Martinez.  Although she has the most singles titles in this group, most of them were on clay, which is why it is so surprising that her lone grand slam singles title is the 1994 Wimbledon.  But also she has a losing head-to-head record against both Novotna (1-4) and Sabatini (6-9).