When the Women’s Tennis Association was founded, Billie Jean King was one of nine players that comprised the WTA, also referred to as the Original 9, that included Julie Heldman, Valerie Ziegenfuss, Judy Dalton, Kristy Pigeon, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kerry Melville Reid, Nancy Richey, and Rosie Casals.
Similarly one may ask, who were the original nine in women’s tennis?
The nine women were Americans Peaches Bartkowicz, Rosie Casals, Julie Heldman, Billie Jean King, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, Valerie Ziegenfuss, and Australians Judy Tegart Dalton and Kerry Melville Reid, and together with Heldman, they were committed to creating a better future for female athletes.
Just so, what did the Original 9 do?
The players, dubbed the Original 9, rebelled against the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) due to the wide inequality between the amount of prize money paid to male tennis players and to female tennis players.
Who is #1 in women’s tennis?
Top 100 List of Women’s Tennis Ranking 2021
RANKING | PLAYER NAME | COUNTRY |
---|---|---|
1 | Ashleigh Barty | Australia |
2 | Aryna Sabalenka | Belarus |
3 | Karolina Pliskova | Czech Republic |
4 | Elina Svitolina | UKraine |
How did the WTA start?
THE WTA STORY
In September 1970, the birth of women’s professional tennis was launched when nine players signed $1 contracts with World Tennis publisher Gladys Heldman to compete in a new women’s tour, the Virginia Slims Series.