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9 - Tennis Players and Pioneers 238-239 WTA Alumnae and Friends

240 4 WTA Story

1970 C Women'

s professional tennis is revolutionized on September

23 when nine players sign $1 contracts with World Tennis publisher Gladys Heldman to compete at the $7,500 Virginia Slims Invitational in Houston. The Original 9, as they would come to be known, include Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Judy Dalton, Kerry Melville Reid, JulieHeldman,PeachesBartkowicz,KristyPigeonandValerie Ziegenfuss.The groundbreaking event shakes up the tennis establishment and is such a success it leads to the formation of the first full-scale independent circuit for women the followingyear.

1971 C The Virginia Slims Series debuts with

19 tournaments, with a total purse of $309,100 on offer in the United States. Billie Jean King becomes the first female athlete to cross the six-figuremarkinseasonearnings.

1973 C Billie Jean King founds the Women'

s Tennis Association, uniting all of women'

s professional tennis in one tour. The WTA was born out of a meeting of more than

60 players held in a room at the Gloucester Hotel in London the week before Wimbledon.TheUSOpen,forthefirsttime,offeredequalprize money to men and women. Weeks later, King stuns Bobby RiggsinTheBattleoftheSexesattheHoustonAstrodome.

1974 C The WTA signs the first television broadcast contract in thehistoryoftheorganization,withUSnetworkCBS.

1975 C The computerized ranking era begins with Chris Evert installed as the WTA'

s first official world No.1 on November 3, 1975.

1976 C Colgate assumes sponsorship of tour events from April to November for four years, while Evert becomes the first femaleathletetopass$1millionincareerearnings.

1977 C New York'

s Madison Square Garden hosts the Virginia SlimsChampionshipsforthefirsttime.

1979 C Avon, replacing Virginia Slims as winter circuit sponsor, offers a record $100,000 to the winner of the Avon Circuit Championship. 1980CBynowmorethan250womenareplayingprofessionally all over the world in a tour consisting of

47 global events, offeringatotal$7.2millioninprizemoney.

1982 C Martina Navratilova becomes the first woman to earn over$1millioninaseason.

1983 C Virginia Slims returns, replacing Avon and Toyota, who replaced Colgate in 1981, to sponsor the first unified Circuit ofmorethan$10million.Kingbringsanendtoherillustrious singlescareer,butoccasionallyplaysdoublesuntil1990.

1984 C Navratilova receives a $1 million bonus from the ITF for winning Roland Garros and thus holding all four Grand Slam singles crowns at the same time;

she also crosses the $2 million mark in season earnings, more than men'

s No.1 John McEnroe. The Australian Open joined the US Open in offering the women'

s event equal prize money (temporarily didnotbetween1996-2000). 1986CNavratilovapasses$10millionincareerearnings.

1988 C Steffi Graf becomes the second woman in the Open Era, after Margaret Court, to complete a calendar year Grand Slam C and makes it a '

Golden Grand Slam'

by winning the Olympic title in Seoul. 1990CThetour'

sprizepurseincreasesto$23millionwithnew sponsor Kraft General Foods, and concludes the season at MadisonSquareGarden,inNewYork,withthefirst-ever$1 million tournament in women'

s sports. Navratilova wins a record ninthWimbledon singles title.

1992 C For the second year in a row, the dominating Monica Seles earns more than the top men'

s prize money leader, Stefan Edberg. With429singlestitlesbetweenthem,WTALegendAmbassadorsChrisEvert,MartinaNavratilova,MaryPierce,MonicaSeles,IvaMajoliand ArantxaSánchezVicariogatheredforthe2016BNPParibasWTAFinalsSingaporepresentedbySCGlobal. Photo:GettyImages WWW.WTATENNIS.COM