Geoff Hunt
Sarah Fitz-Gerald
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Geoff Hunt leads 3 of 4 categories. Our all-time ranking places Geoff Hunt at #5 and Sarah Fitz-Gerald at #11.
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The case for Geoff Hunt
The bridge between the amateur game and the modern professional one, and the man who beat everybody before Jahangir Khan arrived. Hunt won eight British Opens between 1969 and 1981 and the first, second, fourth and fifth World Opens in 1976, 1977, 1979 and 1980 — twelve majors — after collecting multiple world amateur titles in the late 1960s. He matched Jonah Barrington's training revolution and added a far superior technical base, and their rivalry through the 1970s defined the decade. His last great act was the 1981 British Open final, in which he beat the 17-year-old Jahangir Khan; it was the final defeat before Jahangir's 555-match streak began, and Hunt retired soon afterwards, his body worn out by the volume of work the era demanded. He later became one of the sport's most influential coaches, running Australia's national programme and shaping a generation of Australian world champions.
The case for Sarah Fitz-Gerald
Five World Open titles — in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002 — put Fitz-Gerald behind only Nicol David and Nour El Sherbini in the history of the women's world championship, and she added a British Open crown to go with them. Her career divides in two: three straight world titles in the late 1990s, then a serious knee injury and a comeback that produced two more at an age when most players of the period had retired. She reached world number one in 1996 and returned to it after the injury, a rare double ascent. Fitz-Gerald was known for a compact, low-error game and exceptional composure in deciding games, and she was central to Australia's dominance of the World Team Championship through the 1990s. She later moved into coaching and administration and served on the World Squash Federation's board during the sport's Olympic campaign.