1983 WTA Tour
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The 1983 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 13th 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 tenn ...
. It commenced on January 3, 1983, and concluded on March 4, 1984, after 64 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
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 tenn ...
(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 tou ...
from 1983 until 1987 and featured tournaments that had previously been part of the ''Toyota Series'' and the ''Avon Series''. The circuit consisted of 48 tournaments in nine countries, including 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 culminated in the season-ending Virginia Slims Championships played in February 1984. ITF tournaments were not part of the tour, although they awarded points for the WTA World Ranking. Martina Navratilova was the most successful player in both singles and doubles across the season. She won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments in singles, with Chris Evert-Lloyd winning the French Open. In doubles, Navratilova again won all the Grand Slams apart from the French Open, which was collected by
Rosalyn Fairbank Rosalyn Doris Fairbank-Nideffer (born 2 November 1960) is a retired professional tennis player from South Africa. She played her first grand slam in 1979, with her last appearance in 1997. She won a WTA Tour singles event in Richmond in 1983 an ...
and
Candy Reynolds Candy Reynolds (born March 24, 1955) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Career During her career, Reynolds won the women's doubles title at the French Open in 1983 (partnering Rosalyn Fairbank). She was also a runne ...
; Pam Shriver was her partner in all the Grand Slam events. Navratilova won a total of 29 titles in the course of the year and only suffered one defeat in singles, against
Kathy Horvath Erica Kathleen "Kathy" Horvath (born August 25, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. She is best known for upsetting world No. 1 Martina Navratilova in the fourth round of the 1983 French Open, delivering her only defeat for ...
at the French Open. This led to her beginning and ending the year as the WTA number 1. Shriver was her closest challenger with 16 titles, including 14 in doubles events. Players from the United States won 74 of the 125 titles awarded in singles, doubles and mixed doubles; players from Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Netherlands and Switzerland each won a solitary title.


Tour changes

Avon, who had been the sponsors of the January to March U.S. winter circuit of the WTA Tour since 1978, announced in 1982 that they would be trimming back their sponsorship of the tour.
Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
, who sponsored the international tour for the remaining nine months of the season, also withdrew their support. The 1983 season saw
Virginia Slims Virginia Slims is an American brand of cigarettes owned by Altria. It is manufactured by Philip Morris USA (in the United States) and Philip Morris International (outside the United States). Virginia Slims are narrower ( circumference) than st ...
returning to sponsor a unified worldwide tour after an absence of four years. The company sponsored events between 1970 and 1978 but withdrew their support following disagreements with the organisers of the WTA Tour, 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 tenn ...
. However the company decided to associate themselves with the women's tennis circuit again in 1983. The tour was therefore known as the ''Virginia Slims World Championship Series'', with 18 events including the US Open held in the United States and a further 12 events in six other countries incorporated under the Virginia Slims brand in a merged season.


Season summary


Singles

World number-one singles player Martina Navratilova, who had won 90 out of 93 matches the previous year, began the 1983 season in great form, winning successive titles in Washington and Houston, defeating Sylvia Hanika in the final on both occasions. The third best player in the world,
Andrea Jaeger Andrea Jaeger ( ; born June 4, 1965) is an American former professional tennis player. A world No. 2, Jaeger's brief but highly successful tennis career ended prematurely due to major shoulder injuries. Jaeger started her professional tennis career ...
, won the tournament at Marco Island in Florida; Chris Evert-Lloyd, the world number two, took the title at Palm Beach, also in Florida.


Schedule

The table below shows the 1983 Virginia Slims World Championship Series schedule. ;Key


January


February


March


April


May


June


July


August


September


October


November


December

''No events were held this month''


January 1984


February 1984


Rankings


Singles

Below are the 1983 WTA year-end rankings (December 5, 1983) in singles competition:


Points distribution

Virginia Slims ranking points distribution.


Statistical information


Titles won by player

These tables present the number of 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 1983 Virginia Slims World Championship Series: the
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, 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

''The following players won their first title in singles (S), doubles (D) or mixed doubles (X):'' *
Lori McNeil Lori McNeil (born December 18, 1963) is an American tennis coach and former top 10 professional tennis player. McNeil was a singles semifinalist at the US Open in 1987 and Wimbledon in 1994, a women's doubles finalist at the Australian Open in ...
– Bakersfield (D) * Bonnie Gadusek – Deerfield Beach (D) * Sandy Collins – Kansas (D) * Kyle Copeland – Bakersfield (D) * Chris O'Neil – Kitzbühel (D) * Christiane Jolissaint – Lugano (D) *
Catherine Tanvier Catherine ("Cathy") Tanvier (born 28 May 1965) is a former tennis player from France. She peaked at number 20 in 1984, and won one singles and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour. Career In 1982, Tanvier became Wimbledon girls' singles champio ...
– Filderstadt (S) *
Pascale Paradis Pascale Paradis-Mangon (born 24 April 1966) is a former professional tennis player from France. Paradis was the World Junior Champion in women's singles in 1983. Although she failed to reach the heights predicted for her at that time, she did ...
– Kitzbühel (S) * Kim Shaefer – Hartford (S) * Ginny Purdy – Pittsburgh (S) * Etsuko Inoue – Japan Open (S) * Jennifer Mundel-Reinbold – Bakersfield (S) *
Rosalyn Fairbank Rosalyn Doris Fairbank-Nideffer (born 2 November 1960) is a retired professional tennis player from South Africa. She played her first grand slam in 1979, with her last appearance in 1997. She won a WTA Tour singles event in Richmond in 1983 an ...
– Richmond (S) * Jo Durie – Mahwah (S) * Anne Hobbs – Indianapolis (S) *
Elizabeth Sayers Elizabeth Smylie (née Sayers, born 11 April 1963), sometimes known as Liz Smylie, is a retired Australian tennis player. During her career, she won four Grand Slam titles, one of them in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. She also w ...
– Ridgewood (D), US Open (X) * Yvonne Vermaak – Palm Springs (S) *
Barbara Jordan Barbara Charline Jordan (February 21, 1936 – January 17, 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A Democrat, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate after Reconstruction and the first Southern African-A ...
– French Open (X) *
Andrea Temesvári Andrea Temesvári (born 26 April 1966) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. She won the Italian Open at age sixteen, but injuries would later hamper her career. Born in Budapest, Temesvári began playing tennis at age nine. Sh ...
– Perugia (S) * Kathleen Horvath – Nashville (S) *
Alycia Moulton Alycia Moulton (born February 18, 1961) is a retired American tennis player. Career Moulton won the U.S. Junior Championships in 1979 and was runner-up at the Wimbledon Junior Championships in 1979. She was active on the professional tour from ...
– Ridgewood (S) * Bettina Bunge – Hamburg (D) * Pam Whytcross – Kitzbühel (D) * Chris O'Neil – Borden Classic (D) ''The following players mounted a successful title defence in singles (S), doubles (D) or mixed doubles (X):'' * Martina Navratilova – Washington (S), Chicago (S,D), Dallas (S,D), New York Masters (D), Hilton Head (S,D), Orlando (S), Eastbourne (S,D), Wimbledon (S, D), Montreal (S), Stuttgart (S, D), Australian Open (D) * Chris Evert-Lloyd – Palm Beach (S), Amelia Island (S), Deerfield Beach (S) * Billie Jean King (S) * Lisa Bonder – Borden Classic (S) * Pam Shriver – Houston (D), Chicago (D), Dallas (D), New York Masters (D), Eastbourne (D), Wimbledon (D), Brighton (D), Australian Open (D) * Sharon Walsh – New Jersey (D) *
Candy Reynolds Candy Reynolds (born March 24, 1955) is a former professional tennis player from the United States. Career During her career, Reynolds won the women's doubles title at the French Open in 1983 (partnering Rosalyn Fairbank). She was also a runne ...
– Richmond (D)


Retirements

The following are notable players who announced their retirement from women's tennis in 1983. * Anne Smith * Billie Jean King *
Evonne Goolagong Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley (née Goolagong; born 31 July 1951) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s. At the age of 19, she won the French Open sing ...
* Tanya Harford


See also

* 1983 Volvo Grand Prix – men's circuit *
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 tenn ...
*
International Tennis Federation The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. As of 2016, there ...


Notes

* The tournament was halted by rain delays on 23 occasions over the first five days. The tournament was eventually cancelled after players rejected the officials attempts to move the tournament indoors. *Martina Navratilova only lost one match during the whole year, against Kathleen Horvath in the fourth round of the French Open.


References


External links


Official WTA Tour website
{{1983 in tennis
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 tou ...
1983 WTA Tour