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.
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 Women's Grand Prix circuit with 13 events which included Roland Garros and Wimbledon, 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. In 1973 the majority of the ILTF events remain under direct administration of that organisation and continues with and independent ILTF World Circuit that offered lower prize money and ranking points of the other two circuits.
Composition ILTF Women's Grand Prix Circuit The 1972 ILTF Women's Grand Prix Circuit.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. That circuit ran from 27 March to 4 September. Evonne Goolagong won most events on this circuit with 5 titles.SEWTA Tour Archive
Virginia Slims Circuit Prior 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. 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.
ILTF World Circuit The 1972 ILTF World Circuit tournaments consisted of 125 events, including the Australian Open that were not part of the sponsored Virginia Slims and Commercial Union Grand Prix circuits. It began 27 December 1971 with the Eastern Province Championships in Port Elizabeth, South Africa 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 tournament wins were across two circuits, this one and the Grand Prix.
Schedule This 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.
Key Grand Slam tournamentsVirginia Slims championshipsVirginia Slims Circuit ILTF Commercial Union Grand PrixILTF World CircuitTeam events
December (1971) WeekTournamentChampionsRunners-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists27 DecAustralian OpenMelbourne, AustraliaGrand SlamGrass – 64S/32DSingles – Doubles Virginia Wade 6–4, 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 WeekTournamentChampionsRunners-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists3 Jan New South Wales OpenSydney, AustraliaILTF Evonne Goolagong 6–1, 7–6(7–4) Virginia Wade Patricia Coleman Barbara Hawcroft Anne Coleman Janet Young Olga Morozova Marilyn Tesch Evonne Goolagong Patricia Edwards6–1, 6–2 Lesley Bowrey Virginia Wade10 Jan British Motor Cars InvitationalSan Francisco, United StatesVirginia SlimsCarpet (i) – $17,000 Billie Jean King 7–6(5–0), 7–6(5–2) Kerry Melville Virginia Wade Judy Dalton Nancy Gunter Helen Gourlay Françoise Dürr Rosie Casals Rosie Casals Virginia Wade6–3, 5–7, 6–2 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr17 Jan Indep. Press-Telegram ChampionshipsLong Beach, California, United StatesVirginia SlimsCarpet (i) – $17,000 Rosie Casals 6–2, 6–7(4–5), 6–3 Françoise Dürr Kerry Melville Billie Jean King Helen Gourlay Julie Heldman Virginia Wade Wendy Overton Rosie Casals Virginia Wade6–3, 5–7, 6–2 Helen Gourlay Karen Krantzcke South Australian Championships Adelaide, AustraliaILTF Evonne Goolagong 7–6(7–4), 6–3 Olga Morozova Janet Young Marilyn Tesch Kathy Walker Janine Whyte Christine Matison Barbara Hawcroft Evonne Goolagong Olga Morozova 6–3, 6–0 Marilyn Tesch Kerry Hogarth24 Jan Virginia Slims National IndoorsBoston, United StatesVirginia Slims$18,000 Virginia Wade 6–3, 7–5 Françoise Dürr Rosie Casals Wendy Overton Karen Krantzcke Judy Dalton Lesley Hunt Kerry Melville Rosie Casals Virginia Wade6–7, 6–0, 7–5 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr31 Jan Virginia Slims of Fort LauderdaleFort Lauderdale, United StatesVirginia Slims$25,000 Chris Evert 6–1, 6–0 Billie Jean KingN/A Nancy Gunter N/A N/A N/A Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr6–3, 6–2 Nancy Gunter Virginia Wade Western Australian Championships Perth, AustraliaILTF Evonne Goolagong 6–2, 7–5 Olga Morozova Patricia Coleman Barbara Hawcroft Evonne Goolagong Barbara Hawcroft 6–3, 6–0 Olga Morozova Janet Young
February WeekTournamentChampionsRunners-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists14 Feb Virginia Slims of Oklahoma CityOklahoma City, United StatesVirginia Slims$20,000 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 King6–7(4–5), 7–6(5–2), 6–2 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr21 Feb Virginia Slims of Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., United StatesVirginia Slims$18,000Singles 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 Ziegenfuss7–5, 6–2 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr28 Feb K-Mart InternationalBirmingham, Michigan, United StatesVirginia Slims$15,000 Kerry Melville 6–3, 6–7(3–5), 6–4 Rosie Casals Wendy Overton Helen Gourlay Julie Heldman Betty Stöve Valerie Ziegenfuss Corinne Molesworth Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr6–1, 6–1 Rosie Casals Kerry Melville
March WeekTournamentChampionsRunners-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists7 Mar Maureen Connolly Brinker InternationalDallas, United StatesVirginia Slims$32,775 Nancy Gunter 7–6(5–2), 6–1 Billie Jean King Evonne Goolagong Lesley Hunt Wendy Overton Chris Evert Nell Truman Kerry Melville Rosie Casals Billie Jean King6–3, 4–6, 7–5 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr21 Mar Federation CupJohannesburg, South AfricaFederation CupHard – 31 teams knockout2–1Virginia Slims of RichmondRichmond, Virginia, United StatesVirginia SlimsClay – $18,000 Billie Jean King 6–3, 6–4 Nancy Gunter Kerry Melville (3rd) Rosie Casals (4th) Wendy Gilchrist Marie Neumannová Janet Newberry Lany Kaligis Rosie Casals Billie Jean King7–5, 7–6 Judy Dalton Karen Krantzcke 27 Mar South African Open Johannesburg, South AfricaGrand Prix Hard – 64S/16D Evonne Goolagong 4–6, 6–3, 6–0 Virginia Wade Pat Walkden Gail Sherriff Chanfreau Allison McMillan Lesley Hunt Helen Gourlay Winnie Shaw Evonne Goolagong Helen Gourlay 6–1, 6–4 Winnie Shaw Joyce WilliamsCaribe Hilton InvitationalSan Juan, Puerto RicoVirginia SlimsHard – $18,000 Nancy Gunter 6–1, 6–3 Chris Evert Rosie Casals Billie Jean King Corinne Molesworth Kerry Melville Wendy Overton Nell Truman Rosie Casals Billie Jean King6–2, 6–3 Judy Dalton Karen Krantzcke
April WeekTournamentChampionsRunners-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists3 Apr Virginia Slims of JacksonvilleJacksonville, Florida, United StatesVirginia Slims$18,000 Marie Neumannová 6–4, 6–3 Billie Jean King Lita Liem Kerry Harris Karen Krantzcke Judy Dalton Corinne Molesworth Kerry Melville Judy Dalton Karen Krantzcke7–5, 6–4 Vicki Berner Billie Jean King10 AprVirginia Slims MastersSt. Petersburg, Florida, United StatesVirginia Slims$18,000 Nancy Gunter 6–3, 6–4 Chris Evert Billie Jean King Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr Karen Krantzcke Kerry Melville Jeanne Evert Karen Krantzcke Wendy Overton7–5, 6–4 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr17 AprVirginia Slims ConquistadoresTucson, United StatesVirginia SlimsHard – $18,000 Billie Jean King 6–0, 6–3 Françoise Dürr Rosie Casals (3rd) Judy Dalton (4th) Kerry Harris Valerie Ziegenfuss Janet Newberry Karen Krantzcke Kerry Harris Karen Krantzcke6–3, 6–7, 6–3 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr 24 Apr Italian Open Rome, ItalyGrand Prix Linda Tuero 6–4, 6–3 Olga Morozova Helga Masthoff Gail Chanfreau Vlasta Vopičková Heide Orth Laura Rossouw Alena Palmeová Lesley Hunt Olga Morozova 6–3, 6–4 Gail Chanfreau Rosalba Vido
May WeekTournamentChampionsRunners-upSemifinalistsQuarterfinalists1 MayVirginia Slims of IndianapolisIndianapolis, United StatesVirginia Slims$20,000 Billie Jean King 6–3, 6–3 Nancy Gunter Wendy Overton Rosie Casals Mary-Ann Eisel Françoise Dürr Judy Dalton Karen Krantzcke Rosie Casals Karen Krantzcke6–3, 6–2 Judy Dalton Françoise Dürr 8 May Rothmans Hardcourt Championships Bournemouth, United KingdomGrand Prix Clay Evonne Goolagong 6–0, 6–4 Helga Masthoff Sharon Walsh Joyce Williams Katja Ebbinghaus Helen Gourlay Gail Chanfreau Virginia Wade Evonne Goolagong Helen Gourlay 7–5, 6–1 Brenda Kirk Betty Stöve 15 May Surrey Hardcourt Championships Guildford, United KingdomILTF Evonne Goolagong 7–5, 6–2 Joyce Williams Nell Truman Helen Gourlay Evonne Goolagong Helen Gourlay 6–2, 6–1 Winnie Shaw Joyce WilliamsMay 2229 MayFrench OpenParis, FranceGrand SlamClay (red) – 56S/47Q/32D/32XSingles – Doubles – Mixed doubles Billie Jean King6–3, 6–3 Evonne Goolagong Helga Masthoff Françoise Dürr Katja Ebbinghaus Virginia Wade Olga Morozova Corinne Molesworth Billie Jean King Betty Stöve 6–1, 6–2 Winnie Shaw Nell Truman Evonne Goolagong Kim Warwick 6–2, 6–4 Françoise Dürr Jean-Claude Barclay
June