The Thunderbird Classic was a Virginia Slims Circuit affiliated tennis tournament founded in 1952,^[1] as a combined men's and women's tournament called the Phoenix Thunderbird Championships Invitational.^[2] Also known as the Phoenix Thunderbird Invitation it continued as a joint event until 1970 when it was branded as the Phoenix Thunderbird Open the men's event was discontinued that year.

In 1971 the women's tournament was re branded as the Virginia Slims Thunderbird Classic and ran annually under a number of name changes until 1980 when it too was discontinued.

History

The tournament was founded in 1952,^[3] as the Phoenix Thunderbird Championships a joint men's and women's tennis tournament played at the Phoenix Country Club, Phoenix, Arizona, United States. In 1953 the word 'championships' was dropped from the tournament title. In 1969 the tournament went open under the brand name the Thunderbird Invitational.^[4] In 1970 the tournament was re branded as the Phoenix Thunderbird Open,^[5] and was the final year as a combined event when the men's tournament was discontinued.

In 1971 women's event became part of the Virginia Slims Circuit and was known as the Virginia Slims Thunderbird Classic, that event carried on till 1980 when it was last known as the Thunderbird Classic before it too was abolished. The tournament was originally played on indoor hard courts from 1953 to 1965, then outdoor hard courts from 1966 to 1970. The event was originally played at the end February annually, then moved to mid to late March. It was only in 1970 that it's scheduling was moved to October that year, however the women's event carried on with the new dates.

Finals

Singles

Billie Jean King seen here in 1978, won the last of her 4 Phoenix titles in 1977.

Year	Winners	Runners-up	Score
Phoenix Thunderbird Invitation
1967	Nancy Richey	Carol Aucamp	6–1, 6–4
1968	Patti Hogan	Tory Ann Fretz	6–2, 6–4
↓  Open Era  ↓
1969[6]	Nancy Richey (2)	Patti Hogan	6–2, 6–0.
Phoenix Thunderbird Open
1970	Vicki Berner	Stephanie Tolleson	6–3, 6–2
Virginia Slims Thunderbird Classic
1971	Billie Jean King	Rosie Casals	7–5, 6–1
1972	Billie Jean King (2)	Margaret Smith Court	7–6(7–3), 6–3
Virginia Slims of Phoenix
1973	Billie Jean King (3)	Nancy Richey Gunter	6–1, 6–3
1974	Virginia Wade	Helen Gourlay	6–1, 6–2
Thunderbird Classic
1975	Nancy Richey Gunter (3)	Virginia Wade	4–6, 7–5, 6–4
1976	Chris Evert	Dianne Fromholtz	6–1, 7–5
1977	Billie Jean King (4)	Wendy Turnbull	1–6, 6–1, 6–0
1978	Martina Navratilova	Tracy Austin	6–4, 6–2
1979	Martina Navratilova (2)	Chris Evert	6–1, 6–3
1980	Regina Maršíková	Wendy Turnbull	7–6(10–8), 7–6(7–3)

Doubles

Betty Stove seen here in 1973, won 5 Phoenix doubles titles.

Year	Champion	Runner-up	Score
1971	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Judy Tegart Dalton	6–3, 6–2
1972	Rosie Casals (2) Wendy Overton	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6–4, 6–3
1973	Kerry Harris Kerry Melville	Rosie Casals Billie Jean King	6–4, 6–4
1974	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	Mona Schallau Pam Teeguarden	6–3, 5–7, 6–3
1975	Françoise Dürr (2) Betty Stöve (2)	Rosie Casals Martina Navratilova	6–7, 6–4, 6–0
1976	Billie Jean King (2) Betty Stöve (3)	Linky Boshoff Ilana Kloss	6–2, 6–1
1977	Billie Jean King (3) Martina Navratilova	Helen Gourlay Cawley JoAnne Russell	6–1, 7–5
1978	Tracy Austin Betty Stöve (4)	Martina Navratilova Anne Smith	6–4, 6–7, 6–2
1979	Betty Stöve (5) Wendy Turnbull	Rosie Casals Chris Evert	6–4, 7–6
1980	Pam Shriver Paula Smith	Ann Kiyomura Candy Reynolds	6–0, 6–4

See also

• Arizona Tennis Classic (successor men's event)
• Phoenix Thunderbird Open (the men's event)
• Virginia Slims of Arizona

References

External links

• WTA Tour history