The 1973 WTA Tour was also the first season of the WTA Tour was officially formed by Billie Jean King following a meeting held in the Gloucester Hotel in London during the week before Wimbledon.[1] It was composed of the third annual Virginia Slims Circuit a tour of tennis tournaments for female tennis players, sponsored by Virginia Slims cigarettes.[2] and the ILTF Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix, a circuit of tournaments sponsored by Commercial Union Assurance Company.
 Court pictured in 1964 won 18 tour titles in 1973 | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 26 December 1972 – 26 November 1973 |
| Edition | 1st |
| Tournaments | 65 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) Year-end championships Virginia Slims Circuit (22) Commercial Union Grand Prix (23) Non-Tour Events (13) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles |  Margaret Court (18) |
| Most tournament finals | Margaret Court (19) |
← 1972 1974 → | |
Schedule edit
This is a calendar of all events sponsored by Virginia Slims in the year 1973, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. The table also includes the Grand Slam tournaments, the 1973 Virginia Slims Championships and the 1973 Federation Cup.[2]
- Key
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Virginia Slims championships |
| Virginia Slims Circuit |
| ILTF Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix |
| ILTF Circuit |
| Team events |
December (1972) edit
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Dec 1 Jan |
Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam (A) Grass – 64S/32D Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 6–4, 7–5 |
Evonne Goolagong |
Kerry Melville Kazuko Sawamatsu |
Karen Krantzcke Dianne Fromholtz Virginia Wade Kerry Harris
|
| Margaret Court Virginia Wade 6–4, 6–4 |
Kerry Harris Kerry Melville
|
January edit
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Jan | British Motor Cars Invitational San Francisco, United States Virginia Slims $25,000 Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 6–3, 6–3 |
Kerry Melville |
 Valerie Ziegenfuss Rosie Casals |
Marcie Louie Nancy Gunter  Françoise Dürr Wendy Overton
|
| Margaret Court Lesley Hunt 6–1, 7–5 |
Wendy Overton Valerie Ziegenfuss
| ||||
| 22 Jan | British Motor Cars of Los Angeles Los Angeles, United States Virginia Slims $25,000 Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 7–5, 6–7(1–5), 7–5 |
Nancy Gunter |
3rd:  Betty Stöve4th: Rosie Casals |
Karen Krantzcke Kerry Melville Françoise Dürr Valerie Ziegenfuss
|
| Rosie Casals Julie Heldman Walkover |
Margaret Court Lesley Hunt
| ||||
| 29 Jan | Virginia Slims of Washington Washington, D.C., United States Virginia Slims $25,000 Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 6–1, 6–2 |
Kerry Melville |
3rd: Rosie Casals 4th: Janet Newberry |
Julie Heldman Betty Stöve Wendy Overton Valerie Ziegenfuss
|
| Rosie Casals Julie Heldman 6–3, 6–3 |
Kerry Harris Kerry Melville
|
February edit
March edit
April edit
May edit
June edit
July edit
August edit
September edit
October edit
November edit
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 Nov | Dewar Circuit Billingham, United Kingdom Non-tour event Clay Draw |
Virginia Wade 6–2, 6–0 |
Nathalie Fuchs |
||
| Marita Redondo Virginia Wade 6–7, 6–3, 6–2 |
Glynis Coles Sharon Walsh
| ||||
| 12 Nov | Dewar Circuit Final London, United Kingdom Non-tour event Clay Draw |
Virginia Wade 6–2, 3–6, 7–5 |
Julie Heldman |
||
| Fred Perry Japan Open Tokyo, Japan Non-tour event Carpet (i) Draw |
Evonne Goolagong 6–3, 6–4 |
 Helga Niessen Masthoff |
|||
| 19 Nov | South African Championships Johannesburg, South Africa Grand Prix (A) Hard – 60S/30D/16XD |
Chris Evert 6–3, 6–3 |
Evonne Goolagong |
Kristien Kemmer Virginia Wade |
 Linky Boshoff Pat Pretorius Julie Anthony Ilana Kloss
|
| Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss 7–6, 2–6, 6–1 |
Chris Evert Virginia Wade
| ||||
| Evonne Goolagong Jürgen Fassbender 6–3, 6–2 |
Ilana Kloss Bernard Mitton
| ||||
| Tokyo Gunze Classic Tokyo, Japan Non-tour event Carpet (i) Draw |
Billie Jean King 6–4, 6–4 |
Nancy Richey |
Grand Prix points system edit
The Grand Prix tournaments were divided into four groups. Group AA consisted of the Triple Crown – the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships and the US Open – while the other tournaments were divided into Groups A, B and C by prize money and draw size. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. No points were awarded to first round losers and ties were settled by the number of tournaments played. The points allocation is listed below:
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|
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Statistical information edit
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the 1973 Virginia Slims Circuit. They also include data for the Grand Slam tournaments and the year-end championships. The table is sorted by:
- total number of titles (a doubles title won by two players representing the same nation counts as only one win for the nation);
- highest amount of highest category tournaments (for example, having a single Grand Slam gives preference over any kind of combination without a Grand Slam title);
- a singles > doubles > mixed doubles hierarchy;
- alphabetical order (by family names for players).
Key edit
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Year-end championships |
| Virginia Slims event |
Titles won by player edit
| Total | Player | S | D | X | S | D | S | D | S | D | X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23 | Margaret Court (AUS) |
● ● ● | ● ● ● | ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● | ● ● ● | 16 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Billie Jean King (USA) |
● | ● | ● ● | ● ● ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● | 5 | 6 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Rosie Casals (USA) |
● | ● | ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● ● | 2 | 8 | 0 | |||
| 8 | Françoise Durr (FRA) |
● | ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● | 1 | 6 | 1 | ||||
| 6 | Betty Stöve (NED) |
● ● ● ● ● ● | 0 | 6 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | Virginia Wade (GBR) |
● ● ● | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 3 | Kerry Melville (AUS) |
● | ● ● | 1 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 3 | Lesley Hunt (AUS) |
● ● ● | 0 | 3 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Chris Evert (USA) |
● | ● | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 2 | Kerry Harris (AUS) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Julie Heldman (USA) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Mona Schallau (USA) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | Pam Teeguarden (USA) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Karen Krantzcke (AUS) |
● | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| 1 | Janet Newberry (USA) |
● | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Titles won by nation edit
| Total | Nation | S | D | X | S | D | S | D | S | D | X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 | Australia (AUS) |
3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 6 | 17 | 10 | 0 |
| 23 | United States (USA) |
1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 2 |
| 8 | France (FRA) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| 6 | Netherlands (NED) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 3 | Great Britain (GBR) |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "About the WTA". www.wtatennis.com. Archived from the original on 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
- ^ a b "WTA Tour Finals" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2012-07-06.
External links edit
- Women's Tennis Association (WTA) official website
- International Tennis Federation (ITF) official website