Original 9, Hewitt in Tennis Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021
(AP Photo/Hamish Blair)Billie Jean King and the other members of the Original 9 who laid the groundwork for the women’s professional tour are the first group elected together to the International Tennis Hall of Fame, joining Lleyton Hewitt and Dennis Van der Meer in the Class of 2021. In results announced Wednesday, Hewitt was the only one of five nominees in the Player Category who was voted in. He won Grand Slam singles titles at the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002, reached No. On Sept. 23, 1970, they all signed $1 contracts with World Tennis Magazine publisher Gladys Heldman to participate in the first women-only tennis tournament. Now all four Grand Slam tournaments offer equal prize money to women and men.
Millman back in practice after backyard tennis in pandemic
FILE - In this Jan. 25, 2020, file photo, Australia's John Millman, left, shakes hands with Switzerland's Roger Federer following their match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia. Just four matches after his five-setter against Federer on one of the biggest stages in tennis, Millman was having to scramble to find a practice court. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)BRISBANE Just four matches after losing his five-setter against Roger Federer at the Australian Open, John Millman was having to scramble to find a practice court. So, Millman went the social route, playing on backyard courts that belonged to people he sometimes was meeting for the first time. In tennis, Millman said, the problem runs deeper than the pandemic despite a recent push to increase prize money for the early rounds and qualifying tournaments at the Grand Slam events.