Early life

Casals was born in 1948 in San Francisco to poor parents who had immigrated to the United States from El Salvador. Less than a year after Casals was born, her parents decided they could not care for her and her older sister, Victoria. Casals's great-uncle and great-aunt, Manuel and Maria Casals, took the young girls in and raised them as their own. When the children grew older, Manuel Casals took them to the public tennis courts of San Francisco and taught them how to play the game. He became the only coach Casals would ever have. But Nick Carter, former touring pro, father to Denise Carter-Triolo, who was once nationally ranked and made it to the fourth round at Wimbledon, gave her some lessons. He was the teacher of many ranking junior players, including Jeoff Brown, national junior doubles champ, and others at Arden Hills club, Sacramento, California, where Mark Spitz trained. Casals used a continental forehand like he did, with the power in it that all his students had, using the "racket back, step, and hit" method.

While still just a teenager, Casals began to rebel on the court. She hated the tradition of younger players competing only against each other on the junior circuit. Gutsy and determined right from the start, Casals wanted to work as hard as possible to better her game. For an added challenge, she often entered tournaments to play against girls who were two or three years older.

Junior tennis was the first of several obstacles Casals faced during her tennis career. At five-feet-two-inches tall, she was one of the shortest players on the court. Another disadvantage for her was class distinction. Traditionally, tennis was a sport practiced in expensive country clubs by the white upper class. Casals's ethnic heritage and poor background immediately set her apart from most of the other players. "The other kids had nice tennis clothes, nice rackets, nice white shoes, and came in Cadillacs," Casals told a reporter for People. "I felt stigmatized because we were poor."

Unfamiliarity with country club manners also made Casals feel different from the other players. Traditionally, audiences applauded only politely during matches and players wore only white clothes on the court. Both of these practices seemed foolish to Casals. She believed in working hard to perfect her game and expected the crowd to show its appreciation for her extra efforts. In 1972 at the tradition-filled courts of Wimbledon, she was nearly excluded from competition for not wearing white. Later in her career, she became known for her brightly colored outfits, designed for her by Ted Tinling.

Tennis career

The frustrations Casals endured due to her size and background affected her playing style. Despite her sweet-sounding nicknames, "Rosie" and "Rosebud," she was known as a determined player who used any shot available to her to score a point — even one between her legs. "I wanted to be someone," Casals was quoted as saying in Alida M. Thacher's Raising a Racket: Rosie Casals. "I knew I was good, and winning tournaments — it's a kind of way of being accepted." By age 16 Casals was the top junior and women's level player in northern California. At 17 she was ranked eleventh in the country and was earning standing ovations for her aggressive playing style.

More experience on the national and international levels of play helped Casals improve her game. In 1966 she and Billie Jean King, her doubles partner, won the U.S. hard-court and indoor tournaments. That same year they reached the quarter-finals in the women's doubles at Wimbledon. In 1967 Casals and King took the doubles crown at Wimbledon and at the United States and South African championships. The two dominated women's doubles play for years, becoming one of the most successful duos in tennis history. (They are the only doubles team to have won U.S. titles on grass, clay, indoor, and hard surfaces). Casals was also a successful individual player, ranking third among U.S. women during this period.

Fights for rights of professional and women players

Despite her victories on the courts, Casals continued to fight tennis traditions on several fronts. Amateur tennis players (those who are unpaid) had always been favored over professionals (those who were paid). Because many amateur tennis players came from non-wealthy backgrounds, they were forced to accept under-the-table money in order to continue playing. This, in turn, made them professionals and prevented them from entering major tournaments that allowed only amateurs to play, such as Wimbledon. Fighting against this discrimination, Casals worked for an arrangement that allowed both amateur and professional tennis players to compete in the same tournaments.

Casals's together with Billie Jean King challenged the large difference in prize monies awarded to male and female players. Even though they worked as hard and played as often as men, women earned much smaller prizes. In 1970 Casals and other women threatened to boycott the Pacific Southwest Championships if they were not paid higher prize money and not given more media attention. The ruling body of U.S. tennis, the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA), refused to listen to their demands. In response, the women established their own tournament, the 1970 Virginia Slims Invitational. The attention generated by this successful tournament, which was won by Casals after a victory in the final over Judy Dalton, quickly brought about the formation of other women's tournaments and greater prize monies for women.

In 1979, the Supersisters trading card set was produced and distributed; one of the cards featured Casals's name and picture.

Joins tennis team

Casals soon became involved in another innovation: World Team Tennis (WTT). WTT involved tennis teams, each made up of two women and four men, from cities throughout the United States. Matches included both singles and doubles games. During her years with WTT, Casals played with the Detroit Loves in 1974, the Los Angeles Strings from 1975 through 1977, the Anaheim Oranges in 1978, and the Oakland Breakers in 1982, before serving as the player-coach of the San Diego Friars in 1983. She later played for the St. Louis Eagles in 1984, the Chicago Fyre in 1985, the Miami Beach Breakers in 1986, and the Fresno Sun-Nets in 1988.

The strain of playing almost constantly took a physical toll on Casals. She underwent knee surgery in 1978 and was forced to change career directions. Since 1981 she has been president of Sportswomen, Inc., a California company she formed to promote a Women's Classic tour for older female players. She also began the Midnight Productions television company and has broadened her own sporting activities to include golf. Casals continues to search for new chances to improve the game of tennis. In 1990, she again teamed with Billie Jean King to win the U.S. Open Seniors' women's doubles championship. Casals won 112 professional doubles tournaments, the second most in history behind Martina Navratilova. Her last doubles championship was at the 1988 tournament in Oakland, California, where her partner was Navratilova.

Casals played in a total of 685 singles and doubles tournaments during her career.

Casals was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1996.

Grand Slam finals

Singles: 2 finals (0 titles, 2 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Opponent in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1970	US Open	Margaret Court	2-6, 6-2, 1-6
Runner-up	1971	US Open	Billie Jean King	4-6, 6-7

Doubles: 21 finals (9 titles, 12 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1966	U.S. Championships	Billie Jean King	Maria Bueno Nancy Richey Gunter	6-3, 6-4
Winner	1967	Wimbledon	Billie Jean King	Maria Bueno Nancy Richey Gunter	9-11, 6-4, 6-2
Winner	1967	U.S. Championships	Billie Jean King	Mary-Ann Eisel Donna Floyd Fales	4-6, 6-3, 6-4
Runner-up	1968	French Open	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Ann Haydon-Jones	7-5, 4-6, 6-4
Winner	1968	Wimbledon	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Ann Haydon-Jones	3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Runner-up	1968	US Open	Billie Jean King	Maria Bueno Margaret Court	4-6, 9-7, 8-6
Runner-up	1969	Australian Open	Billie Jean King	Margaret Court Judy Tegart Dalton	6-4, 6-4
Runner-up	1970	French Open	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Gail Lovera	6-1, 3-6, 6-3
Winner	1970	Wimbledon	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Virginia Wade	6-2, 6-3
Runner-up	1970	US Open	Virginia Wade	Margaret Court Julie Tegart Dalton	6-3, 6-4
Winner	1971	Wimbledon	Billie Jean King	Margaret Court Evonne Goolagong Cawley	6-3, 6-2
Winner	1971	US Open	Judy Tegart Dalton	Françoise Dürr Gail Lovera	6-3, 6-3
Winner	1973	Wimbledon	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Runner-up	1973	US Open	Billie Jean King	Margaret Court Virginia Wade	3-6, 6-3, 7-5
Winner	1974	US Open	Billie Jean King	Françoise Dürr Betty Stöve	7-6, 6-7, 6-4
Runner-up	1975	US Open	Billie Jean King	Margaret Court Virginia Wade	7-5, 2-6, 7-6
Runner-up	1982	French Open	Wendy Turnbull	Anne Smith Martina Navratilova	6-3, 6-4
Runner-up	1980	Wimbledon	Wendy Turnbull	Kathy Jordan Anne Smith	4-6, 7-5, 6-1
Runner-up	1981	US Open	Wendy Turnbull	Kathy Jordan Anne Smith	6-3, 6-3
Winner	1982	US Open	Wendy Turnbull	Barbara Potter Sharon Walsh	6-4, 6-4
Runner-up	1983	Wimbledon	Wendy Turnbull	Pam Shriver Martina Navratilova	6-2, 6-2

Mixed Doubles: 6 finals (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Partner	Opponents in final	Score in final
Runner-up	1967	U.S. Championships	Stan Smith	Billie Jean King Owen Davidson	6-3, 6-2
Winner	1970	Wimbledon	Ilie Năstase	Olga Morozova Alex Metreveli	6-3, 4-6, 9-7
Winner	1972	Wimbledon	Ilie Năstase	Evonne Goolagong Cawley Kim Warwick	6-4, 6-4
Runner-up	1972	US Open	Ilie Năstase	Margaret Court Marty Riessen	6-3, 7-5
Winner	1975	US Open	Dick Stockton	Fred Stolle Billie Jean King	6-3, 6-7, 6-3
Runner-up	1976	Wimbledon	Dick Stockton	Françoise Dürr Tony Roche	6-3, 2-6, 7-5

Grand Slam singles tournament timeline

Key

W

F

SF

QF

R#

RR

Q#

A

NH

(W) Won tournament; reached (F) final, (SF) semifinal, (QF) quarterfinal; (R#) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; competed at a (RR) round-robin stage; reached a (Q#) qualification round; (A) absent from tournament; or (NH) tournament not held.

Tournament	1964	1965	1966	1967	1968	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	Career SR
Australia	A	A	A	SF	QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A / A	A	A	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	0 / 5
France	A	A	A	4R	4R	QF	QF	A	3R	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	2R	A	A	A	A	0 / 7
Wimbledon	A	A	4R	SF	4R	SF	SF	2R	SF	QF	4R	4R	QF	QF	A	3R	2R	1R	2R	3R	1R	A	0 / 18
United States	3R	1R	SF	4R	3R	SF	F	F	QF	QF	QF	1R	QF	4R	A	1R	1R	4R	2R	3R	2R	2R	0 / 21
SR	0 / 1	0 / 1	0 / 2	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 4	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 3	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 0	0 / 3	0 / 3	0 / 4	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 2	0 / 1	0 / 51

SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played

Note: The Australian Open was held twice in 1977, in January and December.

Casals was originally seeded 14th for the 1978 Wimbledon Championships, but a knee injury forced her withdrawal before the draw was made

[ Source: Wikipedia ]