(AP Photo/Mic Smith, File)Billie Jean King and the other members of the Original 9 who laid the groundwork for the women’s professional tour are the first group elected together to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, joining Lleyton Hewitt and Dennis Van der Meer in the Class of 2021.
In results announced Wednesday, Hewitt was the only one of five nominees in the Player Category who was voted in.
“I guess you could say we were women’s tennis suffragettes, in a way," Pigeon said.
On Sept. 23, 1970, they all signed $1 contracts with World Tennis Magazine publisher Gladys Heldman to participate in the first women-only tennis tournament.
3, that women would finally be able to make a living playing professional tennis.