WTA Tour's First Stop Still Going Strong

Forty years since a brash group of players boldly banded together to create a circuit of their own, women's tennis has "come a long way, baby," as the original backer's tagline affirmed.

So, too, has the tournament that served as the fledgling Virginia Slims tour's first stop in 1971.

Now sponsored by Bank of the West and held 30 miles south at Stanford University, the San Francisco Bay Area event is the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world. It also is the kickoff women's event for the US Open Series and begins today.

"I was just so excited that we were having a tour," recalls Billie Jean King, who won the inaugural event and was the ringleader of the breakaway player group.

Today, the Bank of the West is one of 57 events in 33 countries on the WTA Tour, which is -- arguably -- the premier professional sport for women with $47 million in total prize money. It's come a long way, indeed.

Past champions read like a Who's Who of stars during the last four decades. Among the winners: Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams.

This year's lineup includes eight of the top 20 (No. 5 Samantha Stosur of Australia is the top seed); former No. 1s Maria Sharapova, Dinara Safina and Ana Ivanovic; plus defending champion Marion Bartoli of France, who defeated third-ranked Williams in the 2009 final.

"This year's player field has developed into one of the tournament's strongest," says Tournament Director Kim Hall Uliasz.

It all started with King and her cohorts.

Tired of unequal treatment and lower prize money, a group of women set about creating their own tour. With the backing of tobacco giant Philip Morris and its Virginia Slims brand, a 24-event women's circuit was born.

San Francisco was the first event.

"It has a place in history," says tennis pioneer King, 66, who is the de facto face of gender equality in sports.