Valerie Bradshaw (née Ziegenfuss, 29 June 1949) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 former female professional tennis

Tennis

Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...

 player. She started off as an amateur player at the beginning of the 1970s before turning professional.

She is most famous for being one of the so-called "Original 9

Original 9

The Original 9 is the name given to the group of nine female professional tennis players who formed a new tennis tour, the Virginia Slims Circuit, in 1970 that was the basis for the later WTA Tour...

" along with eight of her fellow players, who rebelled against the United States Tennis Association

United States Tennis Association

The United States Tennis Association is the national governing body for the sport of tennis in the United States. A not-for-profit organization with more than 700,000 members, it invests 100% of its proceeds to promote and develop the growth of tennis, from the grass-roots to the professional levels...

 in 1970. Their actions brought about the creation of a new tennis tour, the Virginia Slims Circuit, which was the basis for the WTA Tour.

During her career she reached the fourth round at the French Open (in 1972

1972 French Open

List of the 1972 French Open champions:-Men's singles: Andrés Gimeno def. Patrick Proisy, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1, 6–1*It was Gimeno's 1st Grand Slam title.-Women's singles: Billie Jean King def...

) and the US Open

U.S. Open (tennis)

The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...

 on two occasions (1969

1969 French Open

List of the 1969 French Open champions:-Men's singles: Rod Laver def. Ken Rosewall, 6–4, 6–3, 6–4-Women's singles: Margaret Court def. Ann Haydon Jones, 6–1, 4–6, 6–3-Men's doubles:...

 and 1975

1975 French Open

List of the 1975 French Open champions:- Men's singles : Björn Borg def. Guillermo Vilas, 6–2, 6–3, 6–4*It was Borg's 2nd career Grand Slam title, and his 2nd French Open title.-Women's singles:...

). She reached one singles final the Virginia Slims of Oklahoma in 1972. She had far more success in doubles tournament, with twelve doubles final appearances, including six tournament victories.

She won a bronze medal in doubles in the 1968 Olympics

1968 Summer Olympics

The 1968 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Mexico City, Mexico in October 1968. The 1968 Games were the first Olympic Games hosted by a developing country, and the first Games hosted by a Spanish-speaking country...

 in Mexico City

Mexico City

Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...

 partnering Jane Bartkowicz.

“Original 9”

In 1970 the top women tennis players started to become frustrated at the lack of equality within tennis in terms of prize money on offer for male and female players. The publisher Gladys Knight (who wrote for "World Tennis" magazine) offered up $5000 of her own money which would allow the players to negotiate their own contracts. Ziegenfuss and the other players, including Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King

Billie Jean King is a former professional tennis player from the United States. She won 12 Grand Slam singles titles, 16 Grand Slam women's doubles titles, and 11 Grand Slam mixed doubles titles. King has been an advocate against sexism in sports and society...

 and Rosie Casals, signed $1 contracts in the summer of 1970 and formed their own tour, the Virginia Slims Circuit.

Singles 1

Legend
Grand Slam	0
WTA Championships	0
Tier I	0
Tier II	0
Tier III	0
Tier IV & V	0
Olympic Games	0

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Opponent	Score
Runner-up	1.	15 February 1972	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA	Hard	Rosie Casals	4-6, 1-6

Doubles 10 (6-4)

Legend
Grand Slam	0
WTA Championships	0
Tier I	0
Tier II	0
Tier III	0
Tier IV & V	0
Olympic Games	0

Titles by Surface
Hard	3
Clay	1
Grass	0
Carpet	2

Outcome	No.	Date	Tournament	Surface	Partner	Opponents	Score
Winner	1.	27 May 1967	La Jolla, California, USA	Hard	Stephanie Grant	Jane Bartkowicz    Sue Shrader	8-6, 9-7
Runner-up	2.	26 October 1968	Olympics-Mexico City Exhibition, Mexico	Clay	Peaches Bartkowicz	Rosy Darmon    Julie Heldman Julie Heldman Julie Heldman is a retired American tennis player who won 22 professional tennis titles.In 1969 she was World No. 5, her highest career world ranking, and was ranked No. 2 in the U.S.-Tennis career:...	0-6, 8-10
Winner	3.	1969	Cincinnati, Ohio, USA	Hard	Kerry Harris Kerry Harris Kerri Harris is an Australian former professional tennis player, active from 1967 to 1975, who reached the semi-final of the 1972 Australian Open, and reached four Grand Slam doubles finals, of which she won one, in the 1972 Australian Open.-Career:Harris first reached a Grand Slam final in the...	Emilie Burrer    Pam Richmond	6-3, 9-7
Winner	4.	18 March 1971	Detroit US Indoors The US Indoors, known formally as the U.S. Indoor Championships, was a national tennis championship for women that was sanctioned by the United States Tennis Association and held 79 times from 1907 through 2001 at various locations and on various surfaces. The event was affiliated with the WTA... , Michigan, USA	Carpet	Mary-Ann Eisel	Jane Bartkowicz    Judy Tegart Dalton	2-6, 6-2, 6-3
Winner	5.	20 February 1972	Washington DC VS of Washington The Virginia Slims of Washington is a defunct Grand Prix and WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1972 to 1991. It was held in Washington, D.C. in the United States and played on indoor carpet courts from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990... , USA	Carpet	Wendy Overton Wendy Overton Wendy Overton was an American professional tennis player active in the 1970s. She is known mostly for her performance in doubles.She began her tennis career in Florida at the age of 11. She was ranked world No...	Judy Tegart Dalton    Françoise Durr Françoise Durr Françoise Durr is a retired tennis player from France. She won 26 major singles titles and over 60 doubles titles....	7-5, 6-2
Runner-up	6.	5 June 1972	Hamburg, Germany	Clay	Wendy Overton Wendy Overton Wendy Overton was an American professional tennis player active in the 1970s. She is known mostly for her performance in doubles.She began her tennis career in Florida at the age of 11. She was ranked world No...	Helga Masthoff    Heide Orth Heide Orth Heide Orth is a German tennis player.She grew up in Essen in the industrial Ruhr valley and began playing tennis with her father at the age of 13. She became the West German junior champion in 1960 and competed on the women's circuit for many years. She played in the national Fed Cup team 15 times...	6-3, 6-2, 0-6
Runner-up	7.	15 January 1973	San Francisco, California, USA	Hard	Wendy Overton Wendy Overton Wendy Overton was an American professional tennis player active in the 1970s. She is known mostly for her performance in doubles.She began her tennis career in Florida at the age of 11. She was ranked world No...	Margeret Court    Lesley Hunt Lesley Hunt Lesley Hunt is a former tennis player from Perth, Western Australia.Particularly noted as a junior player, in 1964 at the age of 14 she won a rare double in the Western Australian Women's open, taking both the Open and Junior titles. She won the Australian junior championship in 1967 and 1968...	1-6, 5-7
Winner	8.	22 November 1976	Johannesburg, South Africa	Hard	Laura Du Pont	Yvonne Vermaak Yvonne Vermaak Yvonne Vermaak is a former tour tennis player who represented her native South Africa.Vermaak's best result was defeating Virginia Wade in the quarter-finals of the 1983 Wimbledon Championships.Late in her playing career, Vermaak became an American citizen....     Elizabeth Vlotman	6-1, 6-4
Runner-up	9.	9 January 1977	Washington DC VS of Washington The Virginia Slims of Washington is a defunct Grand Prix and WTA Tour affiliated tennis tournament played from 1972 to 1991. It was held in Washington, D.C. in the United States and played on indoor carpet courts from 1972 to 1975 and again from 1978 to 1990... , USA	Carpet	Kristien Shaw Kristien Shaw Kristien Shaw, also known as Kristien Shaw-Kemmer or Kristien Kemmer was an American professional tennis player.She had a career-high singles ranking of No. 10 in 1977.-Doubles 1 :-References:*...	Martina Navrátilová    Betty Stöve Betty Stöve Betty Stöve is a former Dutch professional tennis player. She is best remembered for reaching the ladies' singles final at Wimbledon in 1977. She also won ten Grand Slam titles in women's doubles and mixed doubles.-Career:...	5-7, 2-6
Winner	10.	5 November 1978	Buenos Aires, Argentina	Clay	Françoise Durr Françoise Durr Françoise Durr is a retired tennis player from France. She won 26 major singles titles and over 60 doubles titles....	Laura Du Pont    Regina Maršiková Regina Maršíková Regina Maršíková is a former Czechoslovakian tennis player.Maršíková's single titles were at Rome, Toronto and Christchurch in 1978, Phoenix in 1980 and Berlin in 1981...	1-6, 6-4, 6-3

External links

• WTA profile
• ITF profile
• Pressure Point match against Kathy Kuykendall