Rosemary Casals

For other uses of the name Casals, see Casals (surname).

Rosemary "Rosie" 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.

Rosie Casals

Rosie Casals, 1981
Full name	Rosemary Casals
ITF name	Rosie Casals
Country (sports)	United States
Born	(1948-09-16) September 16, 1948 (age 76) San Francisco, California
Height	5 ft 2+1⁄2 in (1.59 m)
Turned pro	1968
Plays	Right-handed
Prize money	US$ 1,362,222
Int. Tennis HoF	1996 (member page)
Singles
Career record	595–325
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 3 (1970)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (1967)
French Open	QF (1969, 1970)
Wimbledon	SF (1967, 1969, 1970, 1972)
US Open	F (1970, 1971)
Doubles
Career record	508–214
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open	F (1969)
French Open	F (1968, 1970, 1982)
Wimbledon	W (1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1973)
US Open	W (1967, 1971, 1974, 1982)
Other doubles tournaments
Tour Finals	W (1971, 1973, 1974)
Career titles	3
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian Open	SF (1969)
French Open	SF (1969, 1970, 1972)
Wimbledon	W (1970, 1972)
US Open	W (1975)
Team competitions
Fed Cup	W (1970, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981)
Wightman Cup	W (1967, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982)

Early life

Casals was born in 1948 in San Francisco to parents who had immigrated to the United States from El Salvador.^[1] One of her paternal great-uncles was the world renowned Spanish cellist Pablo Casals, whom she would never meet.^[2] 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.^[1] When the children grew older, Manuel Casals took them to the public tennis courts of San Francisco and taught them how to play the game. He became the only coach Casals had.^[1] However, Nick Carter, gave some lessons. Casals attended San Francisco's George Washington High School.^[3]

At five-feet-two-inches tall, she was one of the shorter players on the court.^[4] 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."^[1][5]

Later in her career, she became known for her brightly colored outfits, designed for her by Ted Tinling.^[6]

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 ^[7] 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.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[8]

Casals won 112 professional doubles tournaments, the second most in history behind Martina Navratilova.^[9] Her last doubles championship was at the 1988 tournament in Oakland, California, where her partner was Navratilova.^[9]

Casals played in a total of 685 singles and doubles tournaments during her career.^[6]

Fights for rights of professional and women players

With Billie Jean King, Casals challenged the large difference in prize monies awarded to male and female players. Women earned much smaller prizes. In 1970, Casals and other women threatened to boycott the Pacific Southwest Championships if they were not paid higher prize money and not given more media attention. The ruling body of U.S. tennis, the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA), refused to listen to their demands. In response, the women established the 1970 Virginia Slims Invitational. The attention generated by this successful tournament, which was won by Casals, quickly brought about the formation of other women's tournaments and greater prize monies for women.^{[citation needed]}

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Casals's name and picture.^[10]

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. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[11]

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 (2 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent	Score
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)

Women's doubles: 21 (9 titles, 12 runner-ups)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
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)

Result	Year	Championship	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Loss	1967	U.S. Championships[12]	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

Key

W

F

SF

QF

#R

RR

Q#

DNQ

A

NH

(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Tournament	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	Career SR
Australia	A	A	A	SF	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A / A	A	A	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 5
France	A	A	A	4R	4R	QF	QF	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	A	A	A	A	0 / 7
Wimbledon (UK)	A	A	4R	SF	4R	SF	SF	2R	SF	QF	4R	4R	QF	QF	A	3R	2R	1R	2R	3R	1R	A	0 / 18
United States	3R	1R	SF	4R	3R	SF	F	F	QF	QF	QF	1R	QF	4R	A	1R	1R	4R	2R	3R	2R	2R	0 / 21
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 51

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^[13]

See also

• Performance timelines for all female tennis players who reached at least one Grand Slam final

References

1. Telgen, Diane, ed. (1993). Notable Hispanic American Women (1. ed.). Detroit: Gale Research. pp. 81–83. ISBN 9780810375789.
2. Rosemary Casals. https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/casals-rosemary-1948
3. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
4. Kim Chapin (October 24, 1966). "A bright future for Little Miss Bombshell". Sports Illustrated.
5. Cheryl McCall (May 31, 1982). "Why Is Tennis Maverick Casals Really Rosie? She's Starting a New Tour for Stars Over 30". People Magazine. 17 (21).
6. Collins, Bud (2010). The Bud Collins History of Tennis (2nd ed.). [New York]: New Chapter Press. pp. 556–557. ISBN 978-0942257700.
7. Education & Resources – National Women's History Museum – NWHM
8. "MYLAN WTT PLAYER DATABASE (seasons completed) - as of September 25, 2014 - (Seasons 1974-2014)" (PDF). World TeamTennis. September 25, 2015. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 27, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2015.
9. Joel Drucker (March 3, 2009). "Casals far more than King's sidekick". ESPN. ESPN.
10. Wulf, Steve (March 23, 2015). "Supersisters: Original Roster". Espn.go.com. Retrieved June 4, 2015.
11. Pedersen, Erik (April 13, 2016). "Natalie Morales Game For 'Battle Of The Sexes'; Jimmy Smagula Books 'Rebel In The Rye'". Deadline. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
12. Source for US Open mixed doubles finals Archived September 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
13. Wimbledon: The Official History of the Championships. Barrett, John. Collins Willow 2011 ISBN 0-00-711707-8

External links

• Rosie Casals at the Women's Tennis Association
• Rosie Casals at the International Tennis Federation
• Rosie Casals at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
• Rosie Casals at the Billie Jean King Cup
• Rosie Casals at Wimbledon