The 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 15th season since the foundation of the

Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenni ...

. It commenced in March 1985, and concluded in March 1986 after 52 events. The Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the elite tour for professional women's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

organised by the

(WTA). It was held in place of the

WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...

from 1983 until 1987 and featured tournaments that had previously been part of the ''Toyota Series'' and the ''Avon Series''. It included the four

Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

tournaments and a series of other events. ITF tournaments were not part of the tour, although they awarded points for the WTA World Ranking. The season was dominated by

Martina Navratilova Martina Navratilova ( cs, Martina Navrátilová ; ; born October 18, 1956) is a Czech–American, former professional tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Navratilova won 18 major singles titles, 31 maj ...

, who won 13 tournaments and reached the finals of the four

events. She defeated

Chris Evert Christine Marie Evert (born December 21, 1954), known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record ...

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and the

Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...

. Navratilova also won the

Virginia Slims Championships Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

in March and ended the year at World Number 1. Evert, the winner of ten titles in 1985, emerged victorious at

Roland-Garros The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

, while Hana Mandlíková won the U.S. Open. Newcomer of the Year

Gabriela Sabatini Gabriela Beatriz Sabatini (; born 16 May 1970) is an Argentine-Italian former professional tennis player. A former world No. 3 in both singles and doubles, Sabatini was one of the leading players from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, amassing 41 ...

won the first title of her career in Tokyo. In doubles, the pairing of Navratilova and

Pam Shriver Pamela Howard Shriver (born July 4, 1962) is an American former professional tennis player and current tennis broadcaster and pundit. During the 1980s and 1990s, Shriver won 133 titles, including 21 singles titles, 111 women's doubles titles, an ...

won the title at Roland-Garros and the Australian Open,

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

and Smylie won the Wimbledon title and Kohde-Kilsch– Suková were victorious at the US Open.

Schedule

The table below shows the 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series schedule.

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

January 1986

February 1986

March 1986

Statistical information

Titles won by player

These tables present the number of

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

(S), doubles (D), and

mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...

(X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series: the

tournaments, the Year-end championships and regular events. The players/nations are 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).

Titles won by nation

Rankings

Singles

Awards

The winners of the 1985

WTA Awards This article lists the WTA Awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players and coaches for achievements during a season or their careers. Player of the Year Doubles Team of the Year Most Improved Player Newcomer of the Yea ...

were announced in 1986.

References

External links

Official WTA Tour website
{{1985 in tennis Virginia Slims World Championship Series

1985 WTA Tour The 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 15th season since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced in March 1985, and concluded in March 1986 after 52 events. The Virginia Slims World Championship Series ...