Better get this started before it's 2014...
WOMEN'S TENNIS TOUR
Lexington Herald-Leader
Sunday, January 2, 1983
Author: Ira Rosenfeld, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The curtain rises on the 1983 women's tennis tour this week in the nation's capital with a top-flight field and the return of an old friend.
Thirty-two women, led by 1982's top player, Martina Navratilova, will vie for $150,000 in prize money beginning Monday in the Virginia Slims of Washington.
With every player competing ranked among the top 45 in the world, - including six of the top 10 in the final rankings of 1982 - the winner will have to play her best to take the $28,000 first-prize check.
"I guess you have to play on the tour week in and week out to appreciate how amazing it is to have a field in which no one is ranked lower than 39th," said Pam Shriver, who is ranked No. 5 in the world. "The only place you usually find this kind of field is at the U.S. Open or at Wimbledon."
Shriver, who upset Navratilova, her doubles teammate and close friend, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, and Tracy Austin, the 1981 U.S. Open champion and ranked ninth in the world, were forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Navratilova beat Anne Smith to capture the title here last year and begin one of the most succesful campaigns in history of women' s tennis. Navratilova won 90 of 93 matches and 15 of 18 tournaments last year, including both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Navratilova, 26, capped the year by defeating her chief competitor, Chris Evert Lloyd, in the Toyota Series Championship two weeks ago in East Rutherford, N.J.
If Navratilova is to falter in her first court test of the new year, there are a number of competitors prepared to grab the title.
Andrea Jaeger, ranked third in the world, leads a tightly grouped pack that includes No. 4 Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia, No. 7 Barbara Potter, No. 8 Bettina Bunge, No. 9 Tracy Austin and No. 10 Sylvia Hanika of West Germany.
The tournament marks the return of Virginia Slims to the tennis tour after a four-year absence. The original sponsors of the women' s pro tennis tour, Virginia Slims sponsored its first two tournaments in 1970 with eight women contesting for $7,500 in prize money.
Growing pains over format and the direction of the expanding tour that was becoming a fixture of the sports scene eventually led to a split between Virginia Slims and the Women's Tennis Association. After the 1978 season Virginia Slims ended its sponsorship of tour events.
The differences finally put to rest, the firm has renewed its allegiance to women's tennis, sponsoring 26 events this year and culminating with a $1 million invitational tournament in December.
WOMEN'S TENNIS TOUR
Lexington Herald-Leader
Sunday, January 2, 1983
Author: Ira Rosenfeld, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The curtain rises on the 1983 women's tennis tour this week in the nation's capital with a top-flight field and the return of an old friend.
Thirty-two women, led by 1982's top player, Martina Navratilova, will vie for $150,000 in prize money beginning Monday in the Virginia Slims of Washington.
With every player competing ranked among the top 45 in the world, - including six of the top 10 in the final rankings of 1982 - the winner will have to play her best to take the $28,000 first-prize check.
"I guess you have to play on the tour week in and week out to appreciate how amazing it is to have a field in which no one is ranked lower than 39th," said Pam Shriver, who is ranked No. 5 in the world. "The only place you usually find this kind of field is at the U.S. Open or at Wimbledon."
Shriver, who upset Navratilova, her doubles teammate and close friend, in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open, and Tracy Austin, the 1981 U.S. Open champion and ranked ninth in the world, were forced to withdraw from the tournament.
Navratilova beat Anne Smith to capture the title here last year and begin one of the most succesful campaigns in history of women' s tennis. Navratilova won 90 of 93 matches and 15 of 18 tournaments last year, including both the French Open and Wimbledon.
Navratilova, 26, capped the year by defeating her chief competitor, Chris Evert Lloyd, in the Toyota Series Championship two weeks ago in East Rutherford, N.J.
If Navratilova is to falter in her first court test of the new year, there are a number of competitors prepared to grab the title.
Andrea Jaeger, ranked third in the world, leads a tightly grouped pack that includes No. 4 Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia, No. 7 Barbara Potter, No. 8 Bettina Bunge, No. 9 Tracy Austin and No. 10 Sylvia Hanika of West Germany.
The tournament marks the return of Virginia Slims to the tennis tour after a four-year absence. The original sponsors of the women' s pro tennis tour, Virginia Slims sponsored its first two tournaments in 1970 with eight women contesting for $7,500 in prize money.
Growing pains over format and the direction of the expanding tour that was becoming a fixture of the sports scene eventually led to a split between Virginia Slims and the Women's Tennis Association. After the 1978 season Virginia Slims ended its sponsorship of tour events.
The differences finally put to rest, the firm has renewed its allegiance to women's tennis, sponsoring 26 events this year and culminating with a $1 million invitational tournament in December.