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* Tennis during this time was called "jeu de paume"--the game of the palm of the hand. It was something like handball played in a court with the ball hit over the net. It also bounced against the walls and the roof. 1673 * British Army officer, Walter C. Wingfield adapted rules and techniques of court tennis to devise a game to be played on grass. 1874 * Wingfield patents the game. * Mary E. Outerbridge introduced tennis to the United States. 1881 * Formation of what was to become the U.S. Tennis Associatior 1887 * Eleven women compete in the United States Lawn Tennis Association matches. 1889 * The United States Lawn Tennis Association extends its protective wing to "lady lawn tennis players". 1900 * Marion Jones Farquhar wins the bronze medal in tennis singles competition in the second Olympiad. 1904 * May Sutton wins the tennis championship of the United States. 1905 * Sutton becomes the first American to win Wimbledon. According to one sportscaster, she is the "first woman with the courage to show up at Wimbledon in a dress that could be almost considered short". 1907 * Sutton wins Wimbledon singles championship again 1909 * Hazel Hotchkiss wins the U.S. singles and doubles tennis tournaments. 1910 * Hotchkiss wins the American singles and doubles tennis tournaments. 1911 * Hotchkiss wins her third straight American singles and doubles titles. 1912 * May Sutton Bundy becomes the clay court tennis champion in the United States. 1923 * Helen Wills defeats Molly Mallory at Forest Hills, New York and becomes the U.S. women's singles tennis champion at 18. 1924 * Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman wins an Olympic gold medal in tennis. * Helen Wills Moody wins Olympic gold medals in singles and doubles tennis events. 1926 * Suzanne Lenglen of France defeats Helen Wills Moody before a standing-room only crowd of 4,000 at the Carelton Club in Cannes. The two women are recognized as the greatest women tennis players of this era. 1932 * After the Olympic Games, Babe Didrikson tours the United States starring in track and field, tennis, golf, basketball, diving, skating and lacrosse. She is named Female Athlete of the Year. 1933 * Helen Wills Moody, world champion tennis player defeats Phil Neer before 3,000 fans, but sportswriters claim that she is not tested by a good male player. 1936 * Alice Marble wins her first United States Open women's singles title for the second time. 1938 * Marble wins the U.S. Open singles title for the second time. 1939 * Marble wins a third U.S. Open singles title. 1940 * Alice Marble wins her fourth U.S. Open singles title and wins her second doubles title with Sarah P. Fabyan. * Marble turns pro and signs for a tour, on which she will receive $25,000 and a percentage at the gate. 1941 * Marble begins her professional career at Madison square Garden. 1944 * Jean Doyle and Margret Varner are the national junior girls' doubles champions. 1945 * Doyle and Varner win second doubles championship. 1948 * Pat Canning Todd wins the U.S. tennis indoor singles championship. 1949 * Maureen Connolly wins the National Girls Tennis Championship. 1950 * Patsy Zellmer and partner Maureen Connolly win the national junior girls' doubles tennis championship in Philadelphia. 1951 * Maureen Connolly at 16 becomes the youngest woman to win the U.S. singles championship in tennis. 1952 * Connolly wins the singles titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. 1954 * Connolly is the women's singles champion at Wimbledon for the third consecutive year. 1956 * Tennis star Maureen Connolly Brinker is honored by her hometown and elected to the San Diego Hall of Champions. 1957 * Althea Gibson, 19, is the first black to win a Wimbledon singles title. 1958 * Billie Jean Moffitt wins her first singles tournament. * Gibson wins Wimbledon again. 1959 * Karen Hantze of San Diego and Kathy Chabot win the national girls' doubles championship. 1960 * Hantze and Chabot win their third national doubles title. 1961 * Hantze, 18, and Moffitt, 17, are the youngest team to win the women's doubles at Wimbledon. 1962 * Karen Hantze Susman captures the singles championship at Wimbledon. She and Moffitt win another Wimbledon doubles title. 1964 * Moffitt and Hantze Susman win U.S. Open women's doubles title. It is Susman's 17th national tennis title. 1966 * Billie Jean King wins her first Wimbledon singles crown 1967 * Billie Jean King wins the singles, doubles, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon. She wins the U.S. Open women's singles and doubles title as well. 1968 * King wins her third Wimbledon singles trophy in a row. 1969 * Hogan wins the Eastern Grass court singles title. 1971 * Karen Hantze Susman is inducted into the San Diego Hall of Champions. * Billie Jean King wins the U.S. Open singles titles. 1972 * King wins her fourth Wimbledon singles crown. * Women tennis pros receive prize money equal to that of men at the U.S. Open * Title IX passed. 1973 * Black Sports magazine honors Althea Gibson in the Black Sports Hall of Fame. * Chris Evert takes the singles title at the U.S. Clay Court Championship in Indianapolis. * Billie Jean King wins her fifth Wimbledon singles crown. In a $100,000 winner-take-all tennis match she beat Bobby Riggs at the Houston Astrodome before 30,492 people, the largest audience in tennis history. 1974 * Chris Evert wins her first singles title at Wimbledon. * Billie Jean King wins the U.S. Open singles title. 1975 * King wins her sixth Wimbledon singles crown. * Chris Evert wins the U.S. Open singles title for the first of four consecutive years. 1977 * Tracy Austin, 14, beats fourth seed Sue Barker in the U.S. Open. She is the youngest competitor in Wimbledon history. By the end of the year, she is ranked fourth in the world. * The court upheld Renee Richards' request to compete as a female in the U.S. Open, stating that her age, 43, counterbalance her advantages as a 61211 former male athlete. 1978 * Chris Evert wins her fourth consecutive U.S. Open singles title, defeating 16-year-old Pam Shriver in the Finals. * King and Navratilova team up to win the U.S. Open doubles title. * Navratilova wins the singles title at Wimbledon. 1979 * Tracy Austin wins the U.S. Open singles championships. * Navratilova wins Wimbledon again. * Lloyd wins the singles title at the French Open. 1980 * Evert Lloyd wins another U.S. Open singles title and her second French Open. * King and Navratilova win U.S. Open doubles once again. 1981 * Austin wins the U.S. Open singles title, defeating Navratilova in the finals. * Rinaldi, 14, of the U.S. becomes the youngest person ever to win at Wimbledon. Two days later, she loses to Claudia Pasquale. * Evert wins Wimbledon again. 1982 * Lloyd wins another U.S. Open singles title. * Jaeger beats Lloyd for the first time winning the Avon of California. * Navratilova wins the women's singles titles at Wimbledon and the French Open. 1983 * Navratilova wins the singles titles at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Evert wins the singles at the French Open. 1984 * Navratilova wins the Grand Slam. She sets a single season earnings of $2million. 1985 * Navratilova wins Wimbledon. * Lloyd wins the French Open. From 1971 to 1985, she has not lost a single match. The Women's Sport Foundation declares her the Greatest American Woman Athlete in the last 25 years. 1986 * By the end of this year, Navratilova has earned $11.5 million for her career. She wins titles at Wimbledon and Forest Hills en route to 1,000 career victories. * Lloyd loses for the first time in years. 1987 * Navratilova wins her eighth singles title at Wimbledon. 1988 * Graf wins the Grand Slam and the Olympic gold medal. She replaces Navratilova as the world's No. 1 player. 1989 * Navratilova wins her ninth Wimbledon title. 1990 * Graf holds the No. 1 spot for 160 consecutive weeks. |
