Not every streak in tennis is something that players want, with some players struggling to find a win from anywhere.
The longest winning streak in WTA history is Martina Navratilova, who won an incredible 74 consecutive matches in 1984.
Navratilova’s streak was eventually ended by Helena Sulkova in the Australian Open semifinals, and that run has never been beaten since.
While the longest losing streak has come nowhere near to 74 matches, one WTA player did lose 29 matches in a row.
Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty ImagesMadeleine Pegel: The WTA player with the longest losing streak in history
The person who has the most consecutive matches in WTA history is Madeleine Pegel, the Swedish player who competed in the 1960s and 1970s.
At 24 years old, Pegel made her WTA Tour debut at her home tournament in Bastad, losing in the first round to a fellow Swede player.
While many players lose their debut match on tour, what Pegel did not know at the time is that she would go on to lose 29 consecutive matches.
These losses for Pegel included her being beaten by many different players including Billie Jean King.
After continued failed attempts to win her first match, Pegel would finally make her breakthrough in 1972, but this did not appear to spark into a blockbuster career as there is very little public information about the Swedish woman.
One losing streak that did spawn into an impressive run came last year, when Shuai Zhang ended her 24-match losing streak.
Zhang has been ranked as high as world number 22, but just could not find any sort of confidence after losing 24 consecutive matches.
That all changed at the China Open in Beijing last year, where Zhang beat McCartney Kessler to end her losing run.
It did not end there, with Zhang also beating Emma Navarro, Greet Minnen and Magdalena Frech to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament.
WTA Player’s with longest losing streaksMatches they lost in a rowPeriod that the losing streak took place1. Madeleine Pegel29 1968-19722. Shuai Zhang24 2023-20243. Aranxta Rus17 2012-20133. Sandy Collins171984-19875. Kristina Mladenovic152017-2018Former US Open champion extends losing streak to 11 matches
While there is no player currently near the losing streaks of Pegel and Zhang at the moment, former US Open champion Sloane Stephens is still searching for a win after 11 consecutive defeats.
After returning to the WTA Tour in Guadalajara after a foot injury, Stephens lost her first round match to Lucrezia Stefanini.
This means that the former world number three has now lost 11 matches in a row, dating back to Wimbledon in 2024.
TournamentResultWimbledon (2R)Diana Shnaider beat Stephens, 6-1 6-1Washington Open (1R)Amanda Anisimova beat Stephens, 6-3 7-5Canadian Open (1R)Greet Minnen beat Stephens, 6-2 6-2US Open (1R)Clara Burel beat Stephens, 0-6 7-5 7-5Guadalajara Open (1R)Olivia Gadecki beat Stephens, 6-4 6-3Korea Open (1R)Hailey Baptiste beat Stephens, 7-6(4) 6-2Auckland Open (1R)Ann Li beat Stephens, 5-7 6-4 6-4Hobart International (1R)Ann Li beat Stephens, 7-5 6-1Australian Open (1R)Aryna Sabalenka beat Stephens, 6-3 6-2Merida Open (1R)Petra Martic beat Stephens, 6-2 6-3Guadalajara Open (1R)Lucrezia Stefanini beat Stephens, 6-4 4-6 6-1
Despite the disappointment of losing yet another match, Stephens has provided a positive fitness update after a lengthy absence on the sidelines.
Stephens will be hoping to end this losing run as soon as possible, so that she doesn’t join Pegel in the history books.