Rosemary Casals

Rosemary Casals (born September 16, 1948) is an American former professional tennis player. During a tennis career that spanned more than two decades, she won more than 90 titles and was crucial to many of the changes in women's tennis during the 1960s and 1970s. Casals was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996.

Early life Casals was born in 1948 in San Francisco to parents who had immigrated to the United States from El Salvador. One of her paternal great-uncles was the world renowned Spanish cellist Pau Casals, whom she would never meet. Less than a year after Casals was born, her parents decided they could not care for her and her older sister Victoria. Casals's great-uncle and great-aunt, Manuel and Maria Casals, raised them as their own.

At five-feet-two-inches tall, she was one of the shorter players on the court. Traditionally, tennis was a sport practiced in expensive country clubs. Casals's ethnic heritage and poor background immediately set her apart from most of the other players. "The other kids had nice tennis clothes, nice rackets, nice white shoes, and came in Cadillacs," Casals told a reporter for People. "I felt stigmatized because we were poor."

Later in her career, she became known for her brightly colored outfits, designed for her by Ted Tinling.

Tennis career Casals was known as a determined player who used any shot available to her to score a point. "I wanted to be someone," Casals was quoted as saying in Alida M. Thacher's Raising a Racket: Rosie Casals. "I knew I was good, and winning tournaments — it's a kind of way of being accepted." By age 16, Casals was the top junior and women's level player in Northern California. At 17, she was ranked eleventh in the U.S. In 1966, she and Billie Jean King, her doubles partner, won the U.S. hard-court and indoor tournaments. In 1967, Casals and King took the doubles crown at Wimbledon and at the United States and South African championships. The two became one of the more successful duos in tennis history. Casals was also a successful individual player, ranking third among U.S. women during this period.

Casals also became involved in World Team Tennis, and she played with the Detroit Loves in 1974, the Los Angeles Strings from 1975 through 1977, the Anaheim Oranges in 1978, and the Oakland Breakers in 1982, before serving as the player-coach of the San Diego Friars in 1983. She later played for the St. Louis Eagles in 1984, the Chicago Fyre in 1985, the Miami Beach Breakers in 1986, and the Fresno Sun-Nets in 1988.

Casals won 112 professional doubles tournaments, the second most in history behind Martina Navratilova. Her last doubles championship was at the 1988 tournament in Oakland, California, where her partner was Navratilova.

Post-tennis career and personal life Casals underwent knee surgery in 1978 and was forced to change career directions. Since 1981 she has been president of Sportswomen, Inc., a California company she formed to promote a Women's Classic tour for older female players. She also began the Midnight Productions television company. In 1990, she again teamed with Billie Jean King, this time to win the U.S. Open Seniors' women's doubles championship.

Portrayal in film Elizabeth Berridge played Casals in the 2001 TV movie When Billie Beat Bobby. Natalie Morales plays Casals in the 2017 film Battle of the Sexes.

Grand Slam finals Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionshipSurfaceOpponentScore Loss 1970 US Open Grass Margaret Court 2–6, 6–2, 1–6 Loss 1971 US Open Grass Billie Jean King 4–6, 6–7(2–5)

Doubles: 21 (9 titles, 12 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Loss 1966 U.S. Championships Grass Billie Jean King Maria Bueno Nancy Richey 3–6, 4–6 Win 1967 Wimbledon Grass Billie Jean King Maria Bueno Nancy Richey 9–11, 6–4, 6–2 Win 1967 U.S. Championships Grass Billie Jean King Mary-Ann Eisel Donna Floyd Fales 4–6, 6–3, 6–4 Loss 1968 French Open Clay Billie Jean King Françoise Dürr Ann Haydon-Jones 5–7, 6–4, 4–6 Win 1968 Wimbledon (2) Grass Billie Jean King Françoise Dürr Ann Haydon-Jones 3–6, 6–4, 7–5 Loss 1968 US Open (2) Grass Billie Jean King Maria Bueno Margaret Court 6–4, 7–9, 6–8 Loss 1969 Australian Open Grass Billie Jean King Margaret Court Judy Tegart Dalton 4–6, 4–6 Loss 1970 French Open (2) Clay Billie Jean King Françoise Dürr Gail Lovera 1–6, 6–3, 3–6 Win 1970 Wimbledon (3) Grass Billie Jean King Françoise Dürr Virginia Wade 6–2, 6–3 Loss 1970 US Open (3) Grass Virginia Wade Margaret Court Julie Tegart Dalton 3–6, 4–6 Win 1971 Wimbledon (4) Grass Billie Jean King Margaret Court Evonne Goolagong 6–3, 6–2 Win 1971 US Open (2) Grass Judy Tegart Dalton Françoise Dürr Gail Lovera 6–3, 6–3 Win 1973 Wimbledon (5) Grass Billie Jean King Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve 6–1, 4–6, 7–5 Loss 1973 US Open (4) Grass Billie Jean King Margaret Court Virginia Wade 6–3, 3–6, 5–7 Win 1974 US Open (3) Grass Billie Jean King Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve 7–6, 6–7, 6–4 Loss 1975 US Open (5) Clay Billie Jean King Margaret Court Virginia Wade 5–7, 6–2, 6–7 Loss 1980 French Open (2) Clay Wendy Turnbull Anne Smith Martina Navratilova 3–6, 4–6 Loss 1980 Wimbledon Grass Wendy Turnbull Kathy Jordan Anne Smith 6–4, 5–7, 1–6 Loss 1981 US Open (6) Hard Wendy Turnbull Kathy Jordan Anne Smith 3–6, 3–6 Win 1982 US Open (4) Hard Wendy Turnbull Barbara Potter Sharon Walsh 6–4, 6–4 Loss 1983 Wimbledon (2) Grass Wendy Turnbull Pam Shriver Martina Navratilova 2–6, 2–6

Mixed doubles: 6 (3 titles, 3 runner-ups) ResultYearChampionship SurfacePartnerOpponentsScore Loss 1967 U.S. Championships Grass Stan Smith Billie Jean King Owen Davidson 3–6, 2–6 Win 1970 Wimbledon Grass Ilie Năstase Olga Morozova Alex Metreveli 6–3, 4–6, 9–7 Win 1972 Wimbledon (2) Grass Ilie Năstase Evonne Goolagong Kim Warwick 6–4, 6–4 Loss 1972 US Open (2) Grass Ilie Năstase Margaret Court Marty Riessen 3–6, 5–7 Win 1975 US Open Clay Dick Stockton Fred Stolle Billie Jean King 6–3, 6–7, 6–3 Loss 1976 Wimbledon Grass Dick Stockton Françoise Dürr Tony Roche 3–6, 6–2, 5–7

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Casals was originally seeded 14th for the 1978 Wimbledon Championships, but a knee injury forced her withdrawal before the draw was made