Toyota Championships Explained

Colgate Series Championships
Toyota Championships
Type:defunct
Event Name:Colgate Series (1977–81)
Tour:WTA Tour (1977–82)
Founded:1977
Ended:1982
Location:Palm Springs, CA, U.S.
Landover MD, U.S.
East Rutherford, NJ, U.S.
Surface:Hard, Carpet

The Toyota Championships were the finales in an annual series of professional women's tennis tournaments for women from 1977 through 1982. They were a continuation of the earlier Colgate Series Championships (1977-80) They were the fall season finales of the Colgate Series, then later Toyota Series circuits.They operated in much the same way as the men's WCT Circuit which also had WCT seasonal finals held in the fall or winter. The championships were discontinued when Virginia Slims became the year-round sponsor of the Women's Tennis Association Tour in 1983.[1] [2] The best singles and doubles players of the circuit, based on ranking points earned, qualified for the championships.

The main full season finales were, called the Virginia Slims Championships in 1972-78, then the Avon Championships in the 1979-82 period, then the Virginia Slims Championships again from 1983 to 1989. In 1990 a single unified women's circuit began, with a rebranded year end championship event called the WTA Tour Championships (today known as the WTA Finals)

Finals

Singles

Series YearSeries-Ending TournamentLocationSurfaceChampionRunner-up Score
Colgate Series Championships Palm Springs, California, U.S. Hard 6–2, 6–2
Colgate Series Championships Palm Springs, California, U.S. Hard Chris Evert 6–3, 6–3
Colgate Series Championships Landover, Maryland, U.S. Carpet 6–2, 6–1
Colgate Series Championships Landover, Maryland, U.S. Carpet 6–2, 6–2
Toyota Series Championships East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. Carpet Tracy Austin Martina Navratilova 2–6, 6–4, 6–2
Toyota Series Championships East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S. Carpet Martina Navratilova 4–6, 6–1, 6–2

Doubles

Series YearChampionsRunners-up Score
1977 6–1, 4–6, 6–4
1978 Billie Jean King
Martina Navratilova
6–3, 6–4
1979 Billie Jean King
Martina Navratilova
6–4, 6–3
1980 6–3, 4–6, 7–6
1981 6–3, 6–4
1982 Martina Navratilova
Pam Shriver
Candy Reynolds
Paula Smith
6–4, 7–5

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Women's Tennis 1968–84: the Ultimate Guide. 2011. Remous. 500–505. John Dolan.
  2. Web site: Barry Lorge. Colgate Tennis Draws Spotlight With Cross-Country Move. The Washington Post. December 30, 1979.