1973: The US Open Becomes First Major to Offer Equal Prize Money
The USTA frequently heralds the fact that they were the first Grand Slam tennis tournament to offer equal prize money for the men and the women. Fun fact: That claim isn’t exactly true. While the US Open was undeniably the first major to award equal prize money, it really wasn’t the initiative of the USLTA that caused it to happen. Instead, it was an object lesson in organizational leadership from Billie Jean King and Gladys Heldman.
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