Rosie Casals

Rosie Casals was born and raised in San Francisco and learned to play tennis on the public courts at Golden Gate Park when she was about 8 years old. She attended George Washington High School and graduated in 1966. 

She rose to fame in the 60’s and 70’s entering the U.S. Women’s top 5 in 1964, where she remained for 11 consecutive years. She is a 7 time Wimbledon Doubles Champion winning 5 women’s doubles with Billie Jean King and 2 mixed doubles titles with Ilie Nastase owning a total of 12 Grand Slam doubles titles. Rosie was the singles winner of the first ever Virginia Slims tournament in 1970, in Houston, Texas and one of the Original “9” who signed a One Dollar contract with Gladys Heldman in defiance of tennis’ governing body the USTA. 

She along with Billie Jean King fought for equal prize money for women and were the founders of the Women’s Professional Tour and of the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973. Known for her acrobatic and athletic style of play, Rosie also thrilled the crowds with her Teddy Tinling Sequence and velvet tennis dresses she accented with her colorful headbands. 

She is the winner of the first Family Circle Cup in 1973 earning $30,000, the highest purse ever awarded to a female or male athlete and first tournament to carry women’s tennis live on NBC. She was the color commentator with ABC’s Wide World of Sports Broadcaster Howard Cosell during the “Battle of The Sexes” in 1973 at the Houston Astrodome. Rosie was inducted into the Marin County Hall of Fame in 1995, the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. 

As one of the “Original 9” who helped start women’s professional tennis known as the Virginia Slims, Rosie was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame making her one of 3 (Billie Jean King & Nancy Richey) to be inducted into the Hall of Fame twice. Rosie established her sports promotion company Sportswoman Inc. in 1982 to organize and promote charity tennis events, corporate outings, clinics, exhibitions, speaking engagements and anything having to do with tennis.

She continues her entrepreneurial ventures and established the Love & Love Tennis Foundation in 2015 with good friend and Tennis pioneer Tory Fretz. The Love & Love Tennis Foundation raises money to promote the growth of Youth Tennis in the Coachella Valley regardless of gender or economic background. 

She along with the Gonzalez Foundation is one of the founders of The Latin American Tennis Foundation. It’s mission is to represent, enhance and provide equal opportunities for Latinos of all level and ages to play and excel in tennis. Rosie resides in Palm Desert California and is in the process of writing her biography!