How And When The Women's Lawn Tennis Association Was Formed

On 23 September 1970, the daring women who would become known as the WTA’s Original 9 signed $1 contracts to create professional women’s tennis - a moment that would change the sport forever.

The precursor to the WTA

Fifty-five years ago, the Jack Kramer Open floated the idea of paying male tennis players more than eight times as much as female competitors - so World Tennis magazine founder Gladys Heldman organized the women-only Virginia Slims Invitational in response. The nine women who joined, including Billie Jean King and Peaches Bartkowicz, faced threats from the United States Lawn Tennis Association that they could lose their national rankings and eligibility to compete at Grand Slams by participating.

But they were unwavering, signing $1 weeklong contracts to play in the tournament that ultimately led to the creation of the Women’s Tennis Association, which was founded by King. “This is a real moment of truth for us because we may or may not make it, but I knew we were doing the right thing for the future generations and that’s really what we cared about,” she said in a 2020 WTA panel that commemorated the famous moment the group held up their $1 bills.

Credit: WTA

Gladys Heldman arranged for the Houston Racquet Club to host a women-only tournament. The event's initial $5,000 purse was to come from ticket sales to women's groups associated with tennis in the city. Heldman also persuaded her friend Joseph Cullman III, an avid tennis fan and chairman of tobacco giant Philip Morris, to provide an additional $2,500 - creating the Virginia Slims Invitational. Despite threats from the United States Lawn Tennis Association that they would be banned from competing at Grand Slams and lose their national rankings, nine women signed up: Billie-Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Judy Dalton, Kerry Melville Reid, Julie Heldman, Kristy Pigeon, Peaches Bartkowicz and Valerie Ziegenfuss.

The tennis world has a lot to thank them for.