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LOVE STORY: Heldman founded World
Tennis magazine and the Virginia Slims circuit.
Courtesy Julius Heldman
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on one side of the
net, Billie Jean King and Rosie Casals, five-time Wimbledon
doubles champions. On the other, Ilana Kloss, a former
No. 1 doubles player, and her playing partner, Gladys Heldman.
The
stakes weren’t quite what they had been a few years
earlier when the women were playing at the All-England
Club. This was Heldman’s 80th birthday party, and the
court was in her backyard. But octogenarian or no, Heldman
and women’s
tennis were synonymous.
Founder of World Tennis magazine
and the Virginia Slims circuit that revolutionized the
women’s
game, Heldman died June 22 in Santa Fe, N.M. She was 81.
Heldman didn’t
begin playing tennis until she was 25 and a mother of two.
Four years after taking up the game,
in 1951, she was the top-ranked player in Texas. In 1954,
she played at Wimbledon. But it was as a businesswoman that
she
reached world-class success.
In 1953, she founded World
Tennis, a 16-page newsletter she produced out of her
home. Heldman was editor-in-chief,
writer, publisher and chief of advertising for many years,
routinely spending 48-hour sleepless periods getting
the publication out on time.
World Tennis grew into a glossy
magazine with 250,000 readers
and an influential voice. Dubbed “the bible” by
tennis players, it inspired two generations of young pros.
Martina Navratilova credits Heldman’s periodical for “connecting
her to the world of tennis” as a child growing up in
communist Czechoslovakia.
Heldman’s loyalty belonged to
the athletes. From writing scathing editorials about the tennis
establishment to raising
money to fly European players to the U.S. national championships, “she
had the interest of the players at heart,” says her husband,
Julius, PhD ’42. “She was the mother of tennis.”
In
1970, Heldman approached Philip Morris CEO Joe Cullman
with a proposal. The tobacco company had recently launched
a cigarette aimed at women; its slogan invoked the feminist
movement and became an advertising icon—“You’ve
come a long way, baby.” Heldman convinced Cullman that
the new brand would benefit from a partnership with women’s
tennis. One year later, the Virginia Slims circuit began.
Nine players signed $1 contracts, including Casals and
King and
Heldman’s youngest daughter, Julie, a former Stanford
player who rose to a top-5 ranking as a pro. As Heldman
had predicted, the circuit drew fans, money and attention.
By the
mid-’70s, female tennis stars were as well known as their
male counterparts. “Without Gladys, there wouldn’t
be women’s professional tennis as we know it,” says
King.
Heldman eventually sold World Tennis to CBS, started
a successful junior tennis circuit and retired to Santa
Fe in 1981. The magazine folded in 1991.
Heldman is survived by
her husband; daughters Carriz and
Julie, ’66; three grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. | 
