WTA Tour 1970

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The WTA Tour 1970 (officially: Virginia Slims Circuit ) consisted of a tennis tournament.

The 1970 Houston tennis tournament with all the events before and after it was the beginning of an independent women's tournament series. The trigger was an unequal treatment of the prize money, which in 1970 at the Pacific Southwest Tournament in Los Angeles was 8: 1 in favor of the men. Angry about the difference, Billie Jean King , Rosie Casals and Nancy Richey turned to Gladys Heldman , founder and editor of World Tennis Magazine and a former tennis player herself, to ask if she could help them. They managed to organize this tournament in a very short time and sponsor it with their own money. In Joseph Cullman, a good friend of hers and chairman of Philip Morris, she found someone who would provide prize money and support five tournaments. Heldman signed a contract with nine players, the Original 9, for one US dollar. The contract entitled the players to compete in the Virginia Slims Series. These 9 were: Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Kerry Melville , Peaches Bartkowicz , Kristy Pigeon , Judy Dalton , Valerie Ziegenfuss and their daughter Julie Heldman .

date competition Winner Final opponent Result
25-27 September Virginia Slims Invitational Houston , United States $ 7,500 Clay - 8E
United StatesUnited States 

United StatesUnited States Rosie Casals AustraliaAustralia Judy Dalton 5: 7, 6: 1, 7: 5

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Gladys Heldman: A Daughter's Perspective , wtatennis.com, April 13, 2012 ( Memento of August 15, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. wtatennis.com: Julie Heldman's Reunion Blog
  3. nytimnes.com: Gladys Heldman, 81, a Leader in Promoting Women's Tennis
  4. wtatennis.com: Still Feisty and Fabulous
  5. wtatennis.com: About the WTA