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NEWPORT Decades have passed since the WTA made a tour stop in City-by-the-Sea Bay with Virginia Slims of Newport, but the nine pioneering women who made sure their contemporaries have a place to play will be honored here this weekend.
Original 9 is the first group to ever be included in an international tennis hall during the ceremony on Saturday night.
They will be joined by Australian star Lleyton Hewitt, a two-time Grand Slam champion, in class 2021. Also honored on Saturday with Class 2020, their attendance ceremony was canceled a year ago due to the COVID pandemic by Goran Ivanisevic and Conchita Martinez, who toured the Hall of Fame this week.
The festivities begin at 6pm and are held in the front yard, near the entrance to Bellevue Avenue.
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On September 23, 1970, the original 9 took bold action that would forever change the course of tennis history. Opposing the growing gap between prize money and women’s playing opportunities in professional sports, they signed a $ 1 deal with World Tennis Magazine publisher Gladys Heldman to compete in a new women’s tournament.
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Eight of the women participated in the draw and Rosie Casals claimed the first title. The awesome success of the event led to the creation of the Virginia Slims track and paved the way for today’s WTA tour.
The nine women who will be rewarded on Saturday are Casals of America, Peaches Bartkowicz, Julie Heldman, Billie Jean King, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, Valerie Ziegenfuss and Judy Tegart Dalton and Kerry Melville Reid of Australia.
Alexander Bublik is not worried about the casino curse
For more than 30 years, the casino’s curse plagued top players in the Hall of Fame Open, but John Isner stopped it in 2018, when he became the first seed as a Van Alen Cup raiser.
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He copied this feat the following year and won the Alexander Bublik final.
Now it’s Bublik’s turn. Kazakhstan’s future player ranks 37th in the world and is this week’s best seed.
He has faced little resistance on the way to the semi-finals. After receiving the tournament’s quarter-finals, he knocked out 2016 champion Ivo Karovic in three innings before cruising past Jason Jung on Thursday 6-2, 6-4.
Bublik, who is in the semi-finals with South African Kevin Anderson on Saturday, doesn’t consider it the number one seed, and it doesn’t see it as a great achievement.
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“There’s not much to say. I think it’s good,” he said after his victory on Wednesday. “It means you’re not in one of the strongest tournaments of the year. When you finish at 37 and you’re the first seed, it means the field isn’t that strong.”
Welcome back, Kevin Anderson
The last time Kevin Anderson played at Newport Casino, George W. Bush was still in office. It was so long ago, it was 2008, and Anderson’s stay was pretty short, and he lost in the second round to Ivan Navarro.
The 35-year-old South African has returned much better on his return and has made it to the semi-finals by putting together a 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 victory over American Jack Sock on Thursday.
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Anderson was asked what he remembers from his first trip here in 13 years.
“I remember the pieces, but not too much,” he said. “I knew I was having fun. I remember we went on a boat trip that was pretty gorgeous. It’s been a bit of a weird experience that came back all these years later thinking back when I was 22 and kind of just starting my career.”
Anderson’s out-of-court life has certainly changed since his last visit. In 2019, she welcomed her first child, her daughter Keira. On the field, he says he feels good and ready to run towards the title of his seventh career single.
“I still have a lot of motivation and a lot of work to do,” he said.
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