We've Come A Long Way: The Original 9 and their Fight for Gender Equality in Tennis

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Original 9—the women who decided to take a stand against inequality in tennis. In 1970, when the disparity of prize money at men’s and women’s tournaments reached a critical point, some women players approached Gladys Heldman, publisher of World Tennis magazine, for help in forming a women’s tournament. Together, Peaches Bartkowicz, Rosie Casals, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Billie Jean King, Kerry Melville, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, and Valerie Ziegenfuss signed $1 pro contracts with Heldman and Philip Morris CEO Joseph F. Cullman, 3rd at the Houston Racquet Club. They skipped the sanctioned Pacific Southwest Tournament and played in the newly formed Houston Women’s Invitation for $7,500 in prize money. This became the first tournament on the Virginia Slims Circuit, which eventually became the Women’s Tennis Association. This is their inspiring and groundbreaking story.

When the Open Era began in 1968, tennis was changed forever, though women players soon realized that they weren’t benefitting quite as well as the men. The first few years of the Open Era were confusing for everyone in tennis. Some players remained amateurs and were unable to make money in the Open events they played. Others had signed contracts to become touring pros but were still restricted by their national associations and the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF, now the ITF) in the events which they could play.

In the early 1970s, many of the causes that led to protests and rioting in the 1960s were still ongoing points of contention and the women’s liberation movement was in full swing. Because the Open Era began during these times of change, it was the perfect opportunity for women players to fight for what they felt they deserved. Like many other bureaucracies at the time, the different associations that ruled tennis around the world were run by men. These men were mostly former players themselves and sympathized with the current men’s players.

Some women players met secretly during the US Open to decide whether to boycott the Pacific Southwest. Many knew that if they did boycott, they might incur stiff penalties from their countries’ associations. Heldman came to the rescue, informing the women that they did not need to boycott and eight of them could participate in the new Houston Women’s Invitation.

The impact of the Original 9's break from the establishment in 1970 has been felt in sports and society ever since. Women's tennis players are some of the highest-paid and most renowned athletes in the world. Their efforts have inspired women in other sports to take control of their careers as well, most notably the players of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) in their lawsuit with the United States Soccer Federation over gender-bias and pay equality.