Althea Gibson, Rosie Casals, Billie Jean King, Venus Williams, Sania Mirza…..and the list just goes on. It reads like a “Who’s Who” in history of women in tennis and is just a microcosm of the level of diversity within the sport. We at USTA Northern California are proud to lead the tennis community in honoring these and all amazing female players because they bring such a wealth of richness and style to USTA and to the sport of tennis.
Women's History Month is an annual declared month in the United States that highlights contributions of women to events in history. March has been set aside as this month. The event traces its beginnings to the first International Women's Day in 1911 and much of the evolution of the celebration began right here within the NorCal section.
In 1999, the school district of Sonoma, California, participated in Women's History Week, an event designed around the week of March 8th (International Women's Day). The week experienced increased momentum at all levels throughout the 80’s and 90’s, and 2001 saw the first Joint Congressional Resolution proclaiming an official "Women's History Week." Within a few years, thousands of schools and communities got on the bandwagon that was National Women's History Week, with the support and encouragement from governors, city councils, school boards, and the U.S. Congress. Congress legally expanded the focus to a whole month in 1987.
USTA would like to thank these and so many other players who have made remarkable contributions to our everyday world in the face of extraordinary obstacles. They rallied against the odds, have broken through barriers in what was at one time considered a male only sport and have set a true definition of inspiration for all players regardless of gender.
Billie Jean King
Billie Jean Moffit, born in California, was an exceptional softball player in her early years, yet her parents introduced her to tennis, the game that would change her life and the lives of other women players. In 1967 she was selected as "Outstanding Female Athlete of the World". In 1972 she was named Sports Illustrated "Sportsperson of the Year", the first woman to be so honored; and in 1973, she was dubbed "Female Athlete of the Year" following the historic “Battle of the Sexes’ match between her and Bobby Riggs in which she dominated. She was the first female athlete to win over $100,000 prize money in a single season. She spoke out for women and their right to earn comparable money in tennis and other sports. Her constant lobbying and commitments have broken many barriers. For her contributions to tennis as President of Tennis-America, Billie Jean King was awarded the National Service Bowl.
Althea Gibson
Gibson, Althea 1927–2003, African-American tennis player, was born in Silver, South Carolina. In 1948 she won the first of 10 straight national black women's singles championships. She was the first African American to play in the U.S. grass court championships at Forest Hills, N.Y. (1950), and at Wimbledon, England (1951). In addition to many international tournament victories, she won the French women's singles championship in 1956 and the U.S. and British championships in both 1957 and 1958. She retired from competition in 1958. In 1971 she was named to the National Lawn Tennis Hall of Fame.
Rosie Casals
Rosemary "Rosie" Casals (born September 16, 1948) is a former American professional tennis player. She was born in San Francisco, California, to Salvadoran parents. Casals was twice the women's singles runner-up at the US Open, losing to Margaret Court in the 1970 final as she completed a calendar year Grand Slam and losing to Billie Jean King in 1971.
Casals won twelve Grand Slam doubles tournaments during her career, nine of which were in women's doubles. Seven of those titles were in partnership with King. Casals was part of the losing team in fifteen other Grand Slam doubles finals. Casals won 112 professional doubles tournaments, the second most in history behind Martina Navratilova.[1] Her last doubles championship was at the 1988 tournament in Oakland, California, where her partner was Navratilova. Casals played in a total of 685 singles and doubles tournaments during her career. Casals was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996.
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is a former World No. 1 American tennis player who, as of February 23, 2009, is ranked World No. 5. She has won the Wimbledon singles title the last two years and is the reigning Wimbledon and Australian Open doubles champion. A 16 year participant on the Women's Tennis Association tour, Williams has won 56 titles, which includes 17 Grand Slam titles - seven in singles, eight in women's doubles, and two in mixed doubles. She has won more Olympic gold medals than any other tennis player (male or female) in history - one in singles and two in women's doubles. She is the older sister of world ranked tennis player Serena Williams.
Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (born 15 November 1986), is an East Indian tennis player and is the current youth icon in her native country. Coming from Hyderabad, this teenager is creating history in Indian tennis by becoming the first ever Indian to break into the top-50 WTA rankings. She also became the first Indian woman to win a WTA tourney when she lifted the Hyderabad Open trophy in February 2005.
Still not out of her teens, Sania Mirza has got a huge fan following, both inside and outside the country. Having trained under C.G.Krishna Bhupathi (father of another famous Indian tennis star, Mahesh Bhupathi), Sania's ambition is to one day become one among the top-20 in the world. At the rate in which she is going currently, that day is not far off. Sania Mirza has also been honored with the prestigious Arjuna award by the Indian government for the year 2004.
With the goodwill and support of an entire nation behind her, Sania Mirza is sure to reach great heights and do her country proud.