Grand Slam

For every girl who ever wanted to shoot a basketball, dreamed of running the 100-meter dash, or longed to hit a mean serve, there was a woman who came before her. Last Friday at Family Circle Cup’s 40LOVE dinner, I had the opportunity to listen to one such group of pioneering female athletes—the “Original 9” who changed the game of tennis and women’s sports forever.

As emcees Pam Shriver and Julie Foudy reminded the audience, in 1970, women's professional tennis was born when Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Nancy Richey, Kerry Melville, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Judy Dalton, Valerie Ziegenfuss, and Julie Heldman signed $1 contracts with World Tennis publications publisher Gladys Heldman to compete in what would become the Virginia Slims Series. Incredibly, all nine women were in attendance Friday night—only the second time they’d been together in one room in decades. And because of them banding together to sign that fateful contract 40 years ago, equal pay came to women's tennis tournaments. In 1973, the Women’s Tennis Association was founded and the Family Circle Cup (FCC) tournament began. Today the FCC’s purse alone is $749,160 (and mega-star Serena Williams took home the winnings at this year’s FCC tournament) but it’s thanks to King and the Original 9 that monetary awards on par with men’s tournaments was made possible.

As the nine women sat on stage, with additional tennis greats Martina Navratalova, Martina Hingis, Chris Evert, Rennae Stubbs, Tracy Austen, and surprise guest Venus Williams behind them, it was like staring at the heavens, two rows of title-winning goddesses. They discussed what it meant to fight for equal pay and respect within the sport. “The prize money was ridiculous,” said King recalling that in 1969, ratios of five to one in terms of pay between men and women were common at smaller tournaments. But going pro and signing the $1 contract was a risky move as well. As Dalton remembered, after signing the pro contract, she was banned from entering tournaments back in her native home of Australia.

But it wasn’t all serious talk. Williams jokingly asked King if she recalled coaching at a 1980s clinic in California. “Do you remember an awkward little black girl who was there?” she asked. Not only did King remember, but she said she knew even then that Venus and Serena were destined for greatness. “I remember talking to your mom,” King said, “And thinking ‘these two little girls are going to be very good players.’”

Martina Hingis took the mic and recalled the pressure to live up to the woman her mother named her after, 167-record-title-holder Martina Navratilova. Navratilova and Chris Evert remembered the great rivalry they experienced. “She made me work harder,” said Evert. “When I heard Navratilova had started weight-lifting, I knew I had to start.”

But thanks to the work of the “Original 9” and their descendants, as well as organizations like the FCC, little girls across the country can aspire to athletic greatness.

King who looked at Williams and the other younger players behind her summed it up best when she said, “They’re living our dream.”

For more information on this year’s Family Circle Cup tournament, click here.