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Serena Williams and Ruby Bridges will be inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame next year, the hall announced Thursday, adding the tennis great and civil rights icon to a previously announced list of women to be honored during Women's History Month in March. "The 2024 inductee class has broken barriers, challenged the status quo, and left an impact on history," the Hall of ...

NEWPORT, R.I. -- Fifty years after changing the course of professional tennis, the Original 9 on Saturday were elected into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Led by Billie Jean King, the Original 9 risked their careers, separating themselves from the tennis establishment, to fight for equal rights with their male counterparts.

To date, five women have been acknowledged in this way: Gladys Heldman: Class of 1979. Gladys Heldman was the International Tennis Hall of Fame's first female Contributor, and for good reason. She created the Virginia Slims Circuit, the precursor to the WTA. In 1953, as the mother of two young girls, Heldman founded World Tennis magazine.