This page was created by Collin Hardwick.
Pre-Title IX
In 1968 Open Tennis was founded and it allowed amateurs and professionals to compete against each other in the same tournaments (Lorge). When the Wimbledon converted to open tennis for the first time, the male singles winner was reported to have earned $4,800. The female singles winner of the time was Billie Jean King and she reportedly received $1,800 in prize money (Lorge). Open Tennis created larger prize money and helped promote tennis.
Before Open Tennis, professionals and amateurs were separated and the professionals had a difficult time finding games to play in (Lorge). This meant that there was little media coverage of tennis in the early 1900s and that the payouts were small or made discreetly (Ware 21).
Opportunities for women to excel were limited because payout indicated that they were not as imperative as male athletes and they were often pushed to outside courts (Lincoln). There were also less tournaments available to women because people did not think that spectators would want to watch women play (Ware 31). However, this theory was disproven because from 1971-1973 the women’s tour purses increased each year starting with a minimum prize of $1,000 and working its way up to 50,000 (Ware 32).
Scholarships for women were nonexistent prior to Title IX. (Ware 24) The 1970 Pacific Southwest Open offered $12,500 to men and $1,500 to women in prize money which turned out to be an 8:1 ratio (Ware 31). Additionally, women risked more than men because they only received money if they were good enough to make it to the quarter finals (Ware 31).
In the 1970s women did make some headway though. In the court case Roe v. Wade the Supreme court protected a women’s right to abortion (Ware 9). Upholding women’s rights through the law showed that women were taken seriously which at the time was victory for women rights and the feminist movement. Court cases such as Roe v. Wade challenged the cultural norms of men being the dominant gender in society.
