Martina Navratilova finished the year asworld No. 1 for the record-breaking sixth time in her career. She won 13 singles tournaments during the season, including twomajors at theWimbledon Championships and theAustralian Open, as well as theVirginia Slims Championships. She also finished runner-up at the other two majors, theFrench Open and theUS Open. | |
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Duration | March 25, 1985 – March 23, 1986 |
| Edition | 13th |
| Tournaments | 53 |
| Categories | Grand Slam (4) WTA Championships Tour Events (48) |
| Achievements (singles) | |
| Most titles | |
| Most finals | |
| Prize money leader | |
| Points leader | |
| Awards | |
| Player of the year | |
| Doubles team of the year | |
| Most improved player of the year | |
| Newcomer of the year | |
←1984 1986 → | |
The1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series was the 13th season since the foundation of theWomen's Tennis Association. It commenced in March 1985, and concluded in March 1986 after 52 events.
TheVirginia Slims World Championship Series was the elite tour for professional women'stennis organised by theWomen's Tennis Association (WTA). It was held in place of theWTA Tour from 1983 until 1987 and featured tournaments that had previously been part of theToyota Series and theAvon Series. It included the fourGrand Slam tournaments and a series of other events.[1] ITF tournaments were not part of the tour, although they awarded points for the WTA World Ranking.
The season was dominated byMartina Navratilova, who won 13 tournaments and reached the finals of the fourGrand Slam events. She defeatedChris Evert atWimbledon and theAustralian Open. Navratilova also won theVirginia Slims Championships in March and ended the year atworld Number 1. Evert, the winner of ten titles in 1985, emerged victorious atRoland-Garros, whileHana Mandlíková won theU.S. Open. Newcomer of the YearGabriela Sabatini won the first title of her career in Tokyo. In doubles, the pairing of Navratilova andPam Shriver won the title at Roland-Garros and the Australian Open,Jordan andSmylie won the Wimbledon title andKohde-Kilsch–Suková were victorious at the US Open.
The table below shows the1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series schedule.
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Mar | WTA of PGA Palm Beach Gardens, United States Clay – $50,000 – 32S/16D | 3–6, 6–3, 6–3 | |||
1–6, 6–1, 7–6 |
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Dec | Pan Pacific Open Tokyo, Japan Carpet (i) – $250,000 – 28S/16D/29Q | 7–6, 3–6, 7–5 | |||
6–0, 6–4 | |||||
| Nutri-Metics Open Auckland, New Zealand $50,000 – grass −16S/16D/32Q Singles –Doubles | 6–3, 6–1 | ||||
6–1, 6–3 |
| Week | Tournament | Champions | Runners-up | Semifinalists | Quarterfinalists |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Feb | Lipton International Players Championships Boca West, United States Hard – $750,000 – 128S/64D Singles –Doubles | 6–4, 6–2 | |||
6–2, 6–3 | |||||
| 24 Feb | Virginia Slims of California Oakland, United States Carpet (i) – $150,000 – 28S/16D | 6–2, 6–4 | |||
7–6(7–5), 6–1 | |||||
| Virginia Slims of Oklahoma Oklahoma City, United States Carpet (i) – $75,000 – 32S/16D | 6–4, 4–6, 6–3 | ||||
2–6, 7–6(7–1), 6–1 |
These tables present the number ofsingles (S),doubles (D), andmixed doubles (X) titles won by each player and each nation during the season, within all the tournament categories of the 1985 Virginia Slims World Championship Series: theGrand Slam tournaments, the Year-end championships and regular events. The players/nations are sorted by:
| Total titles | Player | Grand Slam tournaments | Year-end championships | Regular tournaments | All titles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | Doubles | Mixed | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Mixed | ||
| Total titles | Country | Grand Slam tournaments | Year-end championships | Regular tournaments | All titles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singles | Doubles | Mixed | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Singles | Doubles | Mixed | ||
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The winners of the 1985WTA Awards were announced in 1986.[3]