Details | |
---|---|
Duration | March 25, 1985 – March 23, 1986 |
Edition | 13th |
Tournaments | 53 |
Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Championships Tour Events (48) |
Achievements (singles) | |
Most tournament titles | Martina Navratilova (13) |
Most tournament finals | Martina Navratilova (15) |
Prize money leader | Martina Navratilova $1,328,829 |
Points leader | Martina Navratilova 191.32 |
Awards | |
Player of the year | Martina Navratilova |
Doubles team of the year | Martina Navratilova Pam Shriver |
Most improved player of the year | Helena Suková |
Newcomer of the year | Gabriela Sabatini |
← 1984 1986 → |
The 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 13th 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 was the elite tour for professional women's tennis organised by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). It was held in place of the WTA Tour 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 tournaments and a series of other events. [1] ITF tournaments were not part of the tour, although they awarded points for the WTA World Ranking.
The season was dominated by Martina Navratilova, who won 13 tournaments and reached the finals of the four Grand Slam events. She defeated Chris Evert at Wimbledon and the Australian Open. Navratilova also won the Virginia Slims Championships in March and ended the year at world Number 1. Evert, the winner of ten titles in 1985, emerged victorious at Roland-Garros, while Hana Mandlíková won the U.S. Open. Newcomer of the Year Gabriela Sabatini won the first title of her career in Tokyo. In doubles, the pairing of Navratilova and Pam Shriver won the title at Roland-Garros and the Australian Open, Jordan and Smylie won the Wimbledon title and Kohde-Kilsch–Suková were victorious at the US Open.
The table below shows the 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series schedule.
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
25 Mar | WTA of PGA Palm Beach Gardens, United States Clay – $50,000 – 32S/16D/32Q Singles – Doubles | Kathleen Horvath 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 | Petra Delhees | Raffaella Reggi Terry Phelps | Tine Scheuer-Larsen Gabriela Sabatini Beth Herr Shawn Foltz |
Anne Smith JoAnne Russell 1–6, 6–1, 7–6 | Laura Gildemeister Gabriela Sabatini |
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 Dec | Pan Pacific Open Tokyo, Japan Carpet (i) – $250,000 – 28S/16D/29Q Singles – Doubles | Manuela Maleeva 7–6, 3–6, 7–5 | Bonnie Gadusek | Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková | Grace Kim Carling Bassett Annabel Croft Stephanie Rehe |
Claudia Kohde-Kilsch Helena Suková 6–0, 6–4 | Marcella Mesker Elizabeth Smylie | ||||
Nutri-Metics Open Auckland, New Zealand $50,000 – grass −16S/16D/32Q Singles – Doubles | Anne Hobbs 6–3, 6–1 | Louise Field | Beth Norton Anna-Maria Fernandez | Stephanie Faulkner Lea Antonoplis Julie Richardson Candy Reynolds | |
Anne Hobbs Candy Reynolds 6–1, 6–3 | Lea Antonoplis Adriana Villagrán |
Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 Feb | Lipton International Players Championships Boca West, United States Hard – $750,000 – 128S/64D Singles – Doubles | Chris Evert-Lloyd 6–4, 6–2 | Steffi Graf | Kathy Rinaldi Helena Suková | Terry Phelps Carling Bassett Barbara Potter Zina Garrison |
Pam Shriver Helena Suková 6–2, 6–3 | Chris Evert-Lloyd Wendy Turnbull | ||||
24 Feb | Virginia Slims of California Oakland, United States Carpet (i) – $150,000 – 28S/16D Singles – Doubles | Chris Evert-Lloyd 6–2, 6–4 | Kathy Jordan | Martina Navratilova Helena Suková | Zina Garrison Wendy White Alycia Moulton Wendy Turnbull |
Hana Mandlíková Wendy Turnbull 7–6(7–5), 6–1 | Bonnie Gadusek Helena Suková | ||||
Virginia Slims of Oklahoma Oklahoma City, United States Carpet (i) – $75,000 – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles | Marcella Mesker 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 | Lori McNeil | Beth Herr Candy Reynolds | Kathleen Horvath Laura Gildemeister Nathalie Herreman Hu Na | |
Marcella Mesker Pascale Paradis 2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–1 | Lori McNeil Catherine Suire |
These tables present the number of singles (S), doubles (D), and mixed doubles (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 Grand Slam tournaments, the Year-end championships and regular events. The players/nations are sorted by:
Total titles | Player | Grand Slam tournaments | Year-end championships | Regular tournaments | All titles | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singles | Doubles | Mixed | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Mixed |
Total titles | Country | Grand Slam tournaments | Year-end championships | Regular tournaments | All titles | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Singles | Doubles | Mixed | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Mixed |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The winners of the 1985 WTA Awards were announced in 1986. [3]
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 tennis. The WTA's corporate headquarters is in St. Petersburg, Florida, with its European headquarters in London and its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Beijing.
Stefanie Maria Graf is a German former professional tennis player. She won 22 major singles titles, the second-most in women's singles won since the start of the Open Era in 1968 and the third-most of all-time. In 1988, Graf became the first tennis player to achieve the Golden Slam by winning all four major singles titles and the Olympic gold medal in the same calendar year. She is the only tennis player, male or female, to have won each major singles tournament at least four times.
Christine Marie Evert, known as Chris Evert Lloyd from 1979 to 1987, is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. Widely considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, Evert won 18 major singles titles, including a record seven French Open titles and a joint-record six US Open titles. Evert was ranked world No. 1 for 260 weeks, and was the year-end world No. 1 singles player seven times. Alongside Martina Navratilova, her greatest rival, Evert dominated women's tennis for much of the 1970s and 1980s.
Evonne Fay Goolagong Cawley is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. Goolagong was one of the world's leading players in the 1970s and early 1980s.
Tracy Ann Austin Holt is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. She won three major titles, the women's singles titles at the 1979 and 1981 US Opens, and the mixed doubles title at the 1980 Wimbledon Championships. Additionally, she won the WTA Tour Championships in 1980 and the year-ending Toyota Championships in 1981, both in singles.
Kerry Melville Reid is a former professional tennis player from Australia. During her 17-year career, Reid won one Grand Slam singles title and 26 other singles titles and was the runner-up in 40 singles tournaments. Reid was included in the year-end world top-ten rankings for 12 consecutive years (1968–1979). She won at least one tournament annually from 1966 through 1979, except for 1975. Her career-high ranking was world No. 5 in 1971, behind Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Evonne Goolagong, and Rosie Casals.
Françoise Dürr is a retired French tennis player. She won 50 singles titles and over 60 doubles titles.
Betty Flippina Stöve is a Dutch former professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final, the ladies' doubles final and the mixed doubles final during the same year at Wimbledon in 1977. She also won ten Grand Slam titles in women's doubles and mixed doubles.
The 1985 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 27 May until 9 June. It was the 89th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Slam tennis event of 1985.
Kathryn Jordan is a former American tennis player. During her career, she won seven Grand Slam titles, five of them in women's doubles and two in mixed doubles. She also was the 1983 Australian Open women's singles runner-up and won three singles titles and 42 doubles titles.
The 1984 French Open was a tennis tournament that took place on the outdoor clay courts at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. The tournament was held from 28 May until 10 June. It was the 88th staging of the French Open, and the first Grand Slam tennis event of 1984.
The 1988 WTA Tour was the 16th elite tour for professional women's tennis of the Women's International Tennis Association (WITA) for the 1988 season. The 1988 WTA Tour included the four Grand Slam tournaments, the WITA Tour Championships and the WTA Category 1-5 events. ITF tournaments were not part of the WTA Tour, although they award points for the WTA World Ranking.
The 1983 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 11th season since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on January 3, 1983, and concluded on March 4, 1984, after 64 events.
The 1984 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 12th season since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced in March 1984, and concluded in March 1985 after 53 events.
The 1986 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 14th season since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced on March 24, 1986, and concluded in December, 1986 after 41 events. The season was abbreviated in order to return the tour to a calendar year basis.
The 1987 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 15th season of the tennis circuit since the foundation of the Women's Tennis Association. It commenced in January 1987, and concluded in December 1987 after events.
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.
The 1973 WTA Tour was also the first season of the WTA Tour was officially formed by Billie Jean King following a meeting held in the Gloucester Hotel in London during the week before Wimbledon. It was composed of the third annual Virginia Slims Circuit a tour of tennis tournaments for female tennis players, sponsored by Virginia Slims cigarettes. and the ILTF Commercial Union Assurance Grand Prix, a circuit of tournaments sponsored by Commercial Union Assurance Company.
Svetlana Germanovna Parkhomenko is a retired Soviet and Russian tennis player and tennis coach. She was the winner of the Soviet singles tennis championships in 1985 and nine times Soviet champion in women's doubles and mixed doubles. On the international level, she was the winner of the 1983 European amateur championships in women's and mixed doubles, bronze medalist of the 1983 Universiade in women's and mixed doubles, and winner of eight WTA Tour doubles tournaments.