Virginia Slims Circuit

The Virginia Slims Circuit was a women’s professional tennis tour launched in 1970 with backing from the Virginia Slims cigarette brand. It gave women players a separate, organized circuit and helped establish the modern women’s professional tour.

Original 9: Nine women tennis players who broke with the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1970 to form a professional circuit. Their breakaway action launched the circuit.
Rosie Casals: An American tennis player who was among the Original 9 and a leading advocate for women’s professional tennis. She was one of the players who accepted the circuit’s initial contract.
Women’s Tennis Association: The governing organization for the leading women’s professional tennis tour, founded in 1973. The association unified the women’s tour that the circuit helped build.
Amateurism in tennis: The system that restricted tennis competition to players who received no direct prize money. The circuit offered paid competition in defiance of amateur restrictions.
Gladys Heldman: An American tennis promoter and publisher who organized the Original 9 and secured backing for their 1970 tour. She assembled the players and arranged the tour’s sponsorship.
Kerry Melville Reid: An Australian tennis player who was one of the Original 9 and later won the 1977 Australian Open singles title. Her participation made the founding group international.
Battle of the Sexes (tennis): The 1973 exhibition tennis match in which Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in Houston. The match amplified public attention to women’s tennis and equality.
Open Era: The period in tennis beginning in 1968, when major tournaments admitted both amateur and professional players. The circuit emerged during tennis’s broader transition to open professional competition.
Houston Women’s Invitation: A September 1970 women’s professional tennis tournament in Houston, regarded as the first event of the Virginia Slims Circuit. The circuit’s first tournament took place here.
Julie Heldman: An American tennis player who joined the Original 9 and later served as president of the Women’s Tennis Association. She connected the founding circuit to later tour leadership.

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