Julie Heldman

Early life Heldman was born in Berkeley, California, the daughter of Julius and Gladys Heldman. Julius was the 1936 USA National Junior Champion. He was a scientist and a leading amateur player, and Gladys Heldman was the founder, editor, and publisher of World Tennis magazine and the founder of the women's pro tour in 1970. Heldman is Jewish. where she was a UCLA Law Review editor and was Law School Graduate of the Year, as well as UCLA Graduate Woman of the Year.

Heldman's most important title was the Italian Open, where she beat Ann Jones in the semis and Kerry Melville in the final.

During her career, Heldman reached the semifinals of three Grand Slam singles championships: the 1970 French Open, the 1974 Australian Open, and the 1974 US Open.

She also won doubles title at the US Women's Clay Court Championships and at the Canadian Open in 1974.

She was one of the Original 9, which was a group of female tennis players who joined the Virginia Slims Circuit, even with the risk of suspension for doing so. The Virginia Slims Circuit eventually led to the creation of the WTA Tour.

Women's pro tour In September 1970, Heldman's mother Gladys ran the first Virginia Slims tournament in Houston where nine top women players (the “Original 9”) competed. At the end of the tournament, the Original 9 voted to have Gladys run a women’s pro tour, which she established and ran from 1970 through 1973. Julie Heldman was one of the Original 9 players who competed in the Houston event, and she played on the tour until she retired in 1975.

Federation Cup Heldman played on the US Federation Cup teams that captured the world team championship in 1966 and 1969. She also played on the U.S. Federation Cup teams in 1970, 1974, and 1975. She was the captain of the team in 1975. Her career win–loss record in Federation Cup competition was 21–9.

Maccabiah Games

Heldman won three gold medals at the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, in singles, doubles (partnering Marilyn Aschner), and mixed doubles.

Other career highlights Ranked in the USTA Top 10, 1963–65, 1968–69, 1971–75 Ranked in the World Top 10, 1969–70, 1973–74 Virginia Slims Professional Tour, 1971–75 U.S. Wightman Cup Team Member, 1969–71, 1974; Most Valuable Player, 1969; Team Captain, 1974–75 U.S. Bonne Bell Cup Team Member, 1973–1974; Most Valuable Player, Team Captain, 1974 Winner of USTA Service Bowl 1975

Halls of Fame Heldman was inducted into the: Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame, 1978 National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 1989 ITA Women's Hall of Fame, 1998 International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, 2001 International Tennis Hall of Fame, 2021

Personal life After Heldman ended her playing career, she worked as a television commentator and journalist, with CBS, NBC, PBS, and HBO at the US Open and Wimbledon from 1973 to 1978. She published articles about tennis in various magazines, including World Tennis and Seventeen. She was the first woman to cover a men's tennis event (the 1976 Avis Challenge Cup). Chris Evert called it a "must read."

Portrayal in film Bridey Elliott plays Heldman in the 2017 movie Battle of the Sexes.

WTA Tour finals

Singles 1 Legend Grand Slam 0 WTA Championships 0 Tier I 0 Tier II 0 Tier III 0 Tier IV & V 0 Olympic Games 0 Result No. Date Tournament Surface Opponent ScoreLoss 1. Oct 1968 Mexico City Olympics (Exhibition), Mexico Clay Peaches Bartkowicz 3–6, 2–6

Doubles 2 (1–1) Legend Grand Slam 0 WTA Championships 0 Tier I 0 Tier II 0 Tier III 0 Tier IV & V 1 Olympic Games 0

Result No. Date Tournament Surface Partner Opponents ScoreLoss 1. Oct 1968 Mexico City Olympics (Demonstration), Mexico Clay Rosy Darmon Edda Buding Helga Niessen 3–6, 4–6Win 2. Oct 1968 Mexico City Olympics (Exhibition), Mexico Clay Rosy Darmon Peaches Bartkowicz Valerie Ziegenfuss 6–0, 10–8