1971 Women's Tennis Circuit
The 1971 Women's Tennis Circuit consisted of a number of tennis tournaments for female tennis players. It was composed of two series of events ; the Virginia Slims Circuit and the ILTF Pepsi Grand Prix as well as non-tour events.
Virginia Slims Circuit
Prior to the establishment of this circuit there was an inequality between the prize money purses for male and female tennis players which gave rise to complaints from a number of the leading female tennis players of the time. Nine of them, including Billie Jean King, became later known as the "Original 9" after being banned from the then existing multi-gender invitational professional events run by the influential United States Lawn Tennis Association due to their boycotting of the Pacific Southwest Championships. This resulted in the first Virginia Slims-sponsored event being held in September 1970 in Houston, an event which laid the groundwork for the establishment of the annual Virginia Slims Circuit the following year. In 1971 the total prize money available from the Virginia Slims events was $309,100 and Billie Jean King became the first female athlete in history to earn more than $100,000 in one season.Schedule
This is a calendar of all events sponsored by Virginia Slims in the year 1971, with player progression documented from the quarterfinals stage. The table also includes the Grand Slam tournaments and the 1971 Federation Cup.;Key
| Grand Slam tournaments |
| Virginia Slims Circuit |
| ILTF Pepsi Grand Prix |
| Non-tour events |
| Team events |
December (1970)
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
| 5 Jul | Swedish Open Bastad, Sweden Grand Prix Circuit Clay – 32S/32D |  Helga Masthoff4–6, 6–1, 6–3 |  Ingrid Bentzer | Christina Sandberg  Linda Tuero |  Ana María Pinto Bravo Heide Orth Ann-Charlotte Dahlberg  Odile de Roubin |
| 5 Jul | Swedish Open Bastad, Sweden Grand Prix Circuit Clay – 32S/32D | Helga Masthoff Heide Orth 6–2, 6–1 | Ana María Pinto Bravo Linda Tuero | Christina Sandberg Linda Tuero | Ana María Pinto Bravo Heide Orth Ann-Charlotte Dahlberg Odile de Roubin |
| 5 Jul | Open Welsh Championships Newport, Wales Grand Prix Circuit Grass – S32/D16 |  Virginia Wade 6–3, 6–4 |  Judy Tegart Dalton | Winnie Shaw Helen Gourlay | Kerry Harris Elizabeth James Gail Chanfreau Joyce Williams |
| 5 Jul | Open Welsh Championships Newport, Wales Grand Prix Circuit Grass – S32/D16 | Helen Gourlay Kerry Harris 6–3, 8–6 | Gail Chanfreau Winnie Shaw | Winnie Shaw Helen Gourlay | Kerry Harris Elizabeth James Gail Chanfreau Joyce Williams |
| 5 Jul | Swiss Open Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Prix Circuit Clay – S32/D16 | Françoise Dürr 6–3, 6–3 | Lesley Hunt |  Marijke Schaar  Alena Palmeová-West |  Lea Pericoli Fiorella Bonicelli  Silvia Gubler  Laura Rossouw |
| 5 Jul | Swiss Open Gstaad, Switzerland Grand Prix Circuit Clay – S32/D16 | Brenda Kirk Laura Rossouw 8–6, 6–3 | Françoise Dürr Lea Pericoli | Marijke Schaar Alena Palmeová-West | Lea Pericoli Fiorella Bonicelli Silvia Gubler Laura Rossouw |
| 5 Jul | Carroll's Irish Open Dublin, Ireland Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Margaret Court 6–3, 2–6, 6–3 | Evonne Goolagong | Betty Stove Lesley Bowrey |  Geraldine Barniville Sue Minford Veronica Burton Tam O'Shaughnessy |
| 5 Jul | Carroll's Irish Open Dublin, Ireland Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Kathleen Harter Winnie Shaw 6–4, 4–6, 7–5 | Gail Chanfreau Evonne Goolagong | Betty Stove Lesley Bowrey | Geraldine Barniville Sue Minford Veronica Burton Tam O'Shaughnessy |
| 12 Jul | North of England Championships Hoylake, England Grand Prix Circuit Grass – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles | Billie Jean King 6–3, 6–3 | Rosie Casals | Margaret Court Patti Hogan | Evonne Goolagong Judy Tegart Dalton Virginia Wade Julie Heldman |
| 12 Jul | North of England Championships Hoylake, England Grand Prix Circuit Grass – 32S/16D Singles – Doubles | Rosie Casals Billie Jean King walkover | Margaret Court Evonne Goolagong | Margaret Court Patti Hogan | Evonne Goolagong Judy Tegart Dalton Virginia Wade Julie Heldman |
| 19 Jul | Green Shield Midland Championships Leicester, England Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Evonne Goolagong 6–2, 6–4 | Patti Hogan | Helen Gourlay Judy Tegart Dalton | Kristien Kemmer Kerry Harris Barbara Hawcroft Fay Toyne |
| 19 Jul | Green Shield Midland Championships Leicester, England Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Judy Tegart Dalton Evonne Goolagong 8–6, 6–4 | Barbara Hawcroft Patti Hogan | Helen Gourlay Judy Tegart Dalton | Kristien Kemmer Kerry Harris Barbara Hawcroft Fay Toyne |
| 19 Jul | Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Austria Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Billie Jean King 6–2, 4–6, 7–5 | Laura Rossouw |  Helga Schultze Rosie Casals | Heide Orth Tory Fretz Ana María Arias Brenda Kirk |
| 19 Jul | Austrian Open Kitzbühel, Austria Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Rosie Casals Billie Jean King 6–2, 6–4 | Helga Niessen Masthoff Heide Orth | Helga Schultze Rosie Casals | Heide Orth Tory Fretz Ana María Arias Brenda Kirk |
| 26 Jul | Dutch Open Championships Hilversum, Netherlands Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Evonne Goolagong 8–6, 6–3 | Christina Sandberg | Kora Schediwy Betty Stöve | Trudy Waldhof Katja Ebbinghaus Brenda Kirk Alena Palmeová-West |
| 26 Jul | Dutch Open Championships Hilversum, Netherlands Non-Tour Event Singles – Doubles | Christina Sandberg Betty Stöve 6–1, 6–2 | Katja Ebbinghaus Trudy Waldhof | Kora Schediwy Betty Stöve | Trudy Waldhof Katja Ebbinghaus Brenda Kirk Alena Palmeová-West |
August
September
October
November
December
Grand Prix Circuit
Points system
The Grand Prix tournaments were divided into four groups. Group A consisted of the three Grand Slam events – French Open, Wimbledon Championships and US Open – while the other tournaments were divided into Groups B, C and D by prize money and draw size. Points were allocated based on these groups and the finishing position of a player in a tournament. The points allocation is listed below:Standings and bonus pool earnings
A bonus pool of $50,000 was available for the top 13 points ranked players. To qualify for a share of the bonus pool the players had to participate in a minimum of nine tournaments.| Rk | Name | Tour. | Points | Bonus |
| 1 | Billie Jean King | 9 | 181 | $10,000 |
| 2 | Françoise Dürr | 9 | 119 | $7,500 |
| 3 | Evonne Goolagong | 6 | 116 | – |
| 4 | Margaret Court | 6 | 106 | – |
| 5 | Helen Gourlay | 12 | 83 | $6,500 |
| 6 | Rosemary Casals | 8 | 71 | – |
| 7 | Judy Dalton | 9 | 70 | $5,250 |
| 8 | Virginia Wade | 10 | 69 | $4,000 |
| 9 | Linda Tuero | 7 | 60 | – |
| 10 | Kerry Melville | 7 | 55 | – |
Rankings
The 1971 singles rankings as per Lance Tingay.Prize money leaders
| No. | Player Name | Prize money |
| 1 | $117,000 | |
| 2 | $65,000 | |
| 3 | $62,000 | |
| 4 | $33,876 | |
| 5 | $29,767 | |
| 6 | $26,148 | |
| 7 | $26,000 | |
| 8 | $25,000 | |
| 9 | $24,000 | |
| 10 | $15,300 |
Statistical information
These tables present the number of singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles won by each player and each nation during the 1971 Virginia Slims Circuit. They also include data for the Grand Slam tournaments.1) total number of titles ;
2) highest amount of highest category tournaments ;
3) a singles > doubles > mixed doubles hierarchy;
4) alphabetical order.
Key
Titles won by player
| Total | Player | ||||||||
| 25 | ● | ● | ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● | 12 | 11 | 2 | |
| 14 | ● ● | ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● | 2 | 12 | 0 | |||
| 10 | ● | ● | ● ● | ● ● ● ● ● ● | 2 | 7 | 1 | ||
| 5 | ● ● | ● ● ● | 2 | 3 | 0 | ||||
| 4 | ● | ● ● ● | 0 | 4 | 0 | ||||
| 3 | ● ● | ● | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2 | ● | ● | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 1 | ● | 0 | 6 | 0 | |||||
| 1 | ● | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1 | ● | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| 1 | ● | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| 1 | ● | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Titles won by nation
| Total | Nation | ||||||||
| 30 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 2 | |
| 10 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 1 | |
| 9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 0 |