The 1972 ILTF Women's Tennis Circuit was the 58th season since the founding of the International Lawn Tennis Association and was the final season to be solely administered by the ILTF.
.jpg) Evonne Goolagong was the titles leader for 1972. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | 26 December 1971–18 December 1972 |
| Edition | 58th |
| Tournaments | 161 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) Year-end championships (1) Virginia Slims Circuit (20) Commercial Union Grand Prix (11) ILTF Circuit (125) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most tournament titles |  Evonne Goolagong (12) |
| Most tournament finals | Evonne Goolagong (20) |
← 1971 1973 → | |
It was composed of the 2nd annual Virginia Slims Circuit with 20 events, a tour of tennis tournaments for female tennis players, sponsored by Virginia Slims cigarettes, but approved by the ILTF and the 2nd annual ILTF Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix circuit with 13 events which included Roland Garros and Wimbledon,[1][2] and sponsored by Commercial Union insurance company and the 58th annual ILTF World Circuit with 125 events.
The following season would see the formation of the Women's Tennis Association in which the ILTF would eventually have to share responsibility for administering the worldwide tour for women something at this time it was resisting to change.[3] In 1973 the majority of the ILTF events under direct administration of that organisation will form the ILTF Independent Tour.
Composition
editGrand Prix Circuit
editThe 1972 Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix was a tennis circuit administered by the International Lawn Tennis Federation which served as a forerunner to the current Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) World Tour and the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour. The circuit consisted of two of the four modern Grand Slam tournaments including Roland Garros, Wimbledon and open tournaments recognised by the ILTF.[4] That circuit ran from 27 March to 4 September. Evonne Goolagong won most events on this circuit with 5 titles.[5]
Virginia Slims Circuit
editPrior to the establishment of this circuit there was an inequality between the prize money purses for male and female tennis players which gave rise to complaints from a number of the leading female tennis players of the time. Nine of them, including Billie Jean King, became later known as the "Original 9" after being banned from the then existing multi-gender invitational professional events run by the influential United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) due to their boycotting of the Pacific Southwest Championships. This resulted in the first Virginia Slims-sponsored event being held in September 1970 in Houston, an event which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the annual Virginia Slims Circuit the following year. The 1972 Virginia Slims Circuit consisted on 22 tournaments including the U.S. Open the circuit began on 12 January and ended on 11 October and offered $587,775 in prize money.[5] Billie Jean King won most events on this circuit with 7 titles of her 11 titles in total she played on all three circuits and won events across all three.[5]
ILTF World Circuit
editThe 1972 ILTF World Circuit consisted of 125 events including the Australian Open that were not part of the sponsored Virginia Slims and Grand Prix circuits. It began 29 December 1971 and ended on 25 December 1972 with Border Championships, East London, South Africa This years singles title leader Evonne Goolagong won 5 tournaments on this circuit her total 12 tournaments were across two circuits, this one and the Grand Prix.[5]
Schedule
editThis is an incomplete calendar of all events that formed the majority of the ILTF Circuit and the Commercial Union Assurance Company and Virginia Slims sponsored tennis circuits in the year 1972, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. The table also includes the Grand Slam tournaments, the 1972 Virginia Slims Championships and the 1972 Federation Cup.[1]
- Key
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Virginia Slims championships |
| Virginia Slims Circuit |
| Commercial Union Grand Prix |
| ILTF circuit |
| Team events |
December (1971)
edit| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 Dec | Australian Open Melbourne, Australia Grand Slam Grass – 64S/32D Singles – Doubles |
 Virginia Wade6–4, 6–4 |
Evonne Goolagong |
Helen Gourlay Kerry Harris |
Barbara Hawcroft Olga Morozova Gail Chanfreau Patricia Coleman
|
| Helen Gourlay Kerry Harris 6–0, 6–4 |
Patricia Coleman Karen Krantzcke
|
January
editFebruary
edit| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 Feb | Virginia Slims of Oklahoma City Oklahoma City, United States Virginia Slims $20,000 Singles – Doubles |
 Rosie Casals 6–4, 6–1 |
Valerie Ziegenfuss |
 Betty Stöve Judy Dalton |
Billie Jean King Wendy Overton Julie Heldman Françoise Dürr
|
| Rosie Casals Billie Jean King 6–7(4–5), 7–6(5–2), 6–2 |
Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr
| ||||
| 21 Feb | Virginia Slims of Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., United States Virginia Slims $18,000 Singles – Doubles |
Nancy Gunter 7–6(5–1), 6–1 |
Chris Evert |
Kerry Melville Rosie Casals |
Julie Heldman Françoise Dürr Barbara Downs Wendy Overton
|
| Wendy Overton Valerie Ziegenfuss 7–5, 6–2 |
Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr
| ||||
| 28 Feb | K-Mart International Birmingham, Michigan, United States Virginia Slims $15,000 Singles – Doubles |
Kerry Melville 6–3, 6–7(3–5), 6–4 |
Rosie Casals |
Wendy Overton Helen Gourlay |
|
| Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr 6–1, 6–1 |
Rosie Casals Kerry Melville
|
March
edit
April
edit
May
editJune
edit
July
edit
August
edit
September
edit| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 Sep | Four Roses Classic Charlotte, United States Virginia Slims $40,000 Singles – Doubles |
Billie Jean King 6–2, 6–2 |
Margaret Court |
Rosie Casals Nancy Gunter |
Mona Schallau Kerry Melville Françoise Dürr Wendy Overton
|
| Françoise Dürr & Betty Stöve vs Margaret Court & Lesley Hunt(Divided) | |||||
| 18 Sep | Virginia Slims Golden Gate Classic Oakland, United States Virginia Slims $20,000 Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 6–4, 6–1 |
Billie Jean King |
Rosie Casals (3rd) Kerry Melville (4th) |
Julie Heldman Veronica Burton Lesley Hunt Mona Schallau
|
| Ann Jones Billie Jean King 7–5, 2–6, 7–6(5–4) |
Margaret Court Lesley Hunt
| ||||
| 25 Sep | Virginia Slims of Phoenix Phoenix, United States Virginia Slims $25,000 Singles – Doubles |
Billie Jean King 7–6(5–3), 6–3 |
Margaret Court |
Rosie Casals (3rd) Wendy Overton (4th) |
Veronica Burton Karen Krantzcke Françoise Dürr Nancy Gunter
|
| Rosie Casals Wendy Overton 6–4, 6–3 |
Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve
| ||||
October
editNovember
edit
December
edit| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Dec | Western Australian Championships Perth, Australia Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 6–3, 6–2 |
Evonne Goolagong |
Lesley Hunt  Kazuko Sawamatsu |
Nathalie Fuchs Christine Matison Glynis Coles  Monique van Haver
|
| 11 Dec | South Australian Championships Adelaide, Australia Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles |
Evonne Goolagong 6–1, 6–2 |
Kerry Harris |
||
| Eugenia Birioukova Janet Young 6–3, 6–2 |
Evonne Goolagong Helen Gourlay
| ||||
| 18 Dec | New South Wales Open Sydney, Australia Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles |
Margaret Court 6–3, 6–2 |
Evonne Goolagong |
||
| Evonne Goolagong Melissa Edwards 6–1, 6–2 |
Lesley Turner Virginia Wade
|
Statistical information
editThese tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the 1972 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
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Year-end championships |
| Virginia Slims event |
Titles won by player
edit| Total | Player | S | D | X | S | S | D | S | D | X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 16 | Billie Jean King (USA) |
● ● ● | ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● | 9 | 7 | 0 | ||
| 13 | Rosie Casals (USA) |
● | ● ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● | 3 | 9 | 1 | |||
| 5 | Virginia Wade (GBR) |
● | ● | ● ● ● | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||
| 5 | Nancy Gunter (USA) |
● ● ● ● ● | 5 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 4 | Françoise Durr (FRA) |
● | ● ● ● | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | Margaret Court (AUS) |
● | ● ● | ● | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||
| 4 | Wendy Overton (USA) |
● ● ● ● | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||||
| 4 | Karen Krantzcke (AUS) |
● ● ● ● | 0 | 4 | 0 | |||||
| 3 | Betty Stöve (NED) |
● ● ● | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||||
| 2 | Helen Gourlay (AUS) |
● | ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2 | Kerry Harris (AUS) |
● | ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | ||||
| 2 | Chris Evert (USA) |
● | ● | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2 | Judy Dalton (AUS) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 2 | Lesley Hunt (AUS) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 2 | Valerie Ziegenfuss (USA) |
● ● | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| 1 | Evonne Goolagong (AUS) |
● | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||
| 1 | Kerry Melville (AUS) |
● | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1 |  Marie Neumannová (TCH) |
● | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1 | Ann Jones (GBR) |
● | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Titles won by nation
edit| Total | Nation | S | D | X | S | S | D | S | D | X |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35 | United States (USA) |
3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 13 | 19 | 15 | 1 |
| 14 | Australia (AUS) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| 6 | Great Britain (GBR) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 4 | France (FRA) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 3 | Netherlands (NED) |
0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "WTA Tour Finals" (PDF). www.wtatennis.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 2012-04-27.
- ^ John Dolan (2011). Women's Tennis 1968–84: the Ultimate Guide. Remous. pp. 105–114.
- ^ "Kramer". Press-Telegram. The Wikipedia Library - Newspapers.Com. 14 Nov 1973. p. 46. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- ^ "SEWTA Tour Archive: 1972 Virginia Slims Circuit" (PDF). London, England: Wayback Machine. p. 49. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-01. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
- ^ a b c d SEWTA Tour Archive